McCall's Quilting: Quilt Block Reference

One of my favorite websites that I go to on an almost daily basis is McCall's Quilting.  I subscribe to their email newsletter and I also get a lot of amazing quilting patterns from their site.  While checking my emails today, I was reading my most recent newsletter from McCall's Quilting, and just had to share their Quilt Block Reference with my readers.  If you enjoy making quilt blocks, then you definitely want to check this out...  FREE Quilt Block Patterns

ENJOY!

The Quilt that Built a Library...

I used to live in Princeton, Wisconsin, right up the road about a block and a half from the town library.  I walked to the library at least once a week to borrow books on quilting & sewing, as well as audio book cd's.  I love to listen to audio books while I sew.  I love thriller fiction, thus my favorite author being John Saul.  For being a small library, I never seemed to run out of good books to borrow, or audio books to listen to.  I miss living in Princeton, and I equally miss the library.  I stay connected by keeping up on the library's fund raiser, The Quilt that Built a Library.  I have also made and donate a quilt block to the cause, and encourage anyone reading this, if you can sew, make a quilt block and donate it if you feel so inclined!

The Princeton Public Library is not only trying to raise money to put on an addition, but they are also working with Project Linus through all of this.  You can read all about it here: The Quilt that Built a Library

International "Quilt a Block" fundraising project

launches in Princeton, WI. Calling all Global

Quilters to give the gift of love.

The Princeton, Wisconsin Public Library

www.princetonpublib.org needs a new building

addition. Project Linus www.projectlinus-madison.org

needs blankets for children. What could be a better

answer to both needs than your love of quilts?

By quilting a block you can give the gift of love to

a child in need. To contribute your quilted block

requires a $5.00, tax-deductible donation (per

block.) Your donation goes to the Princeton Public

Library building fund, and your quilted blocks go to

Project Linus to be made into quilts for children in

need.

Requirements:

• Finished sized block to be 12” x 12"

(entire piece 12 ½” x 12 ½")

• Fabric must be washable and pre-shrunk.

(no wool please).

• No buttons or sew-on embellishments that

a child may swallow.

• Styles may include, but are not limited to,

pieced, appliqué, embroidered or traditional.

• Themes: toys, animals, birds, faces, plants,

seasons, children’s book themes &

characters, whimsical, or whatever your

imagination can conceive.

• You may quilt as many blocks as you wish.

($5.00 per)

• Project open to anyone on planet Earth.

• All entries must be received by

March 31st, 2013.

How to enter:

Visit www.princetonpublib.org for complete instructions

or mail your block and $5.00 tax-deductible donation to

address below. Both street address and PO Box must be

included. Checks should be made out to Princeton

Public Library. Please include your name, address, city,

state, phone number and country if outside the US.

Princeton Public Library

424 West Water Street

PO Box 234

Princeton WI 54968

EXCLUSIVE QUILT DRAWING
All entries are eligible for an exclusive quilt drawing.
In May 2013, an elite panel, including Nancy
Zieman, creator of Sewing With Nancy the # 1
sewing program on Public Television, will judge all
blocks received. Thirty blocks will be chosen by
the judges to create a full-sized bed quilt (72" x
88") by Princeton Quilt Shop owner, Sandy Mason.
One lucky quilter will receive that quilt and be notified
by May 12, 2013. You must donate a block,
along with the $5.00 donation to be eligible.
The quilt will be shipped to the winner.
The Princeton Public Library reserves the right to photograph and display your blocks
to the public, along with your name, state and/or country.
Watch our website: www.princetonpublib.org
for updates and photos of your quilted blocks.
Follow us on Facebook under Princeton Public Library and
join our blog at: www.quiltingforlove.wordpress.com
Have Questions?
Terry Kohl
pr@terrykohl.com
920-398-3982
Vicki Duhr
duhr@princetonpublib.org
920-295-6777
www.nancyzieman.com
www.kendallgelthotics.com promo code:
quilt
www.twisterontheweb.com
Allan A. Mussehl ~ HAWKSVIEW FARM
Dave and Marcia Hyzer
www.oldhippiecandles.com
Baubles in Princeton, WI
www.nancysnotions.com


There's also an article about it featured in The Quilter Magazine's August/September 2012 issue!

How to Label a Quilt

I like to subscribe to many different newsletters that have to do with sewing and quilting.  I just got my email newsletter from http://blog.shopmartingale.com with information on how to label a quilt.  I have been looking for quilt labeling ideas, and thought I would share the information from their site.  Here's the link for you to go directly to the post and read about it yourselves... How to Label a Quilt

Quilt Magazine's Fabric Stash Quilt-Along!

I had the honor and pleasure of being asked to make a block for the Quilt Magazine's Fabric Stash Quilt-Along.  I made two quilt blocks from the same pattern, and both of them were shared on the Quilt Magazine's website, Facebook page and Pinterest board.

Here are the photos of the two blocks that I made...

Thank you to Sara B and QUILT Magazine for letting me have this opportunity!

I hope for future opportunities to do this again :o)

University of Illinois - A Shadowbox Quilt

One of my favorite quilts shops, Quilts & Quilting, in Princeton, WI, will be closing its doors this summer.  The owners have decided to retire.  So I decided to take one last class with Sandy (the owner & quilting instructor), before I no longer could.  She taught a class for making a Shadowbox Quilt.  Since I had been asked to make a University of Illinois quilt for a queen sized bed, I took the opportunity to use the class and the Shadowbox Quilt pattern to make this University of Illinois quilt...  Here are photos of some of the progress of it while in quilt class, as well as finished photos of it on a queen bed.  I like this pattern so much, I already have fabric purchased for making a second one...but using teals and blacks instead of a university theme.

Since I don't own a long-arm quilter, I have to outsource any long-arm machine quilting... Sandy from Quilts & Quilting in Princeton, WI did the long-arm machine quilting on this quilt for me.

Below is copied from favequilts.com

American Tribute Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

American Tribute
Gifted by Windham Fabrics
www.windhamfabrics.net
Reviewed by Jessica Nichols, Editor of FaveQuilts.com

The American Tribute fabric collection from Windham Fabrics features 30 fabrics that you'll love to use in your patriotic quilts. Whether you're making a quilt to honor a service member for Memorial Day or a decoration for the 4th ofJuly, you'll find the fabrics you need in this collection. From small prints featuring stars and stripes to large prints with national symbols like eagles, American flags, and U.S. badges, this collection has every fabric you could want for a patriotic project.

As you might expect, the American Tribute Collection comes only in shades of red, white, and blue, with each of these colors serving as background to a wide variety of prints, many of which fall into distinct families. The collection offers almost more star prints than you can count. A simple gold star pattern comes in both navy and bright red, while a playful pattern of white star outlines overlapping each other in small clusters comes in navy, red, and a crisp, bright blue as well. Another star print family features monochromatic red and white prints in which stars of varying shades overlap each other and a navy print with red, white, and blue stars in the same pattern. Yet another print family features a lattice design interspersed with tiny stars. Gold on navy and red on antique white are the perfect color combinations for this subtle print. It contrasts sharply with the larger, brighter white-and-red and navy-and-white prints that also feature a lattice of stars. In matching navy and antique white prints, white and red stars are accented with chevrons reminiscent of military badges. More classic prints include a pattern of lines of stars separated by colored stripes and a pattern of large stars in two colors printed in simple rows of alternating colored stars. A lone star print, which seems to have no family, features subtle tan star outlines in varying sizes against an antique white background.

Aside from the numerous star prints, the American Tribute collection also offers several prints featuring U.S. badges or eagles interspersed with words like "honor," "glory," and "strength." The collection also features a pattern of flying eagles and American flags against a bright red background. A classic motif of two crossed American flags also appears scattered across navy and white backgrounds in two of the fabrics. Two of the more modern prints, in red and white, consist of patriotic words like "valor," "freedom," and "peace" printed in different fonts and separated by stars. The most unique designs in the collection are one fabric striped with white, red, and navy and shaded to show texture and another printed with red and blue stars, American flags, maps of the United States, and duo-tone prints of national monuments.

A patriotic quilter can't go wrong with the fabrics in the American Tribute collection. The variety of prints and styles in this collection ensure you'll be using these fabrics in all of your patriotic projects. Moreover, a portion of the sales of American Tribute fabrics are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project in order to further honor U.S. service members.

Win this Prize!

This give away is for one fat quarter bundle of American Tribute (30 fat quarters) to one lucky winner. 

For complete instructions and to enter for a chance to win this prize, click on...

WIN THIS PRIZE!

KoolBeenz / Wish Upon A Quilt: Give-Away #29

Hey everyone...there's a Give-Away taking place over on the KoolBeenz blog!

Wish Upon a Quilt is this week's sponsor and this is their 1st GiveAway on KoolBeenz's blog!  Wish Upon a Quilt is located in North Raleigh, NC close to the Brier Creek Shopping Center.  It's an awesome place to shop where you can get pretty much anything you need:  Fat Quarter bundles, Jelly Rolls, Yardage, Patterns, Sewing Supplies, etc.  They have alot to choose from! 

Head on over and check it out for your chance to win an 8 Fat Quarter Pack of Solids!
(Retail Value of about $20 USD)

This give-away will run for a work week from (Sat) 3-31 thru (Sat) 4-7 @ midnight EST.

Another Pick-a-Pocket Purse

I love making these purses!  Thanks to allpeoplequilt.com for putting the pattern on their website!
This pattern was designed by Monica Solorio-Snow of Happy Zombie.

I recently made this lap quilt for a customer and didn't have a chance to post the pictures until now...

All materials used in this quilt were purchased from
JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts

Plover, WI



For Sale:

Bedspread / Quilt - $300 USD

I made the quilt, but I outsourced the long-arm machine quilting to

Quilts & Quilting, Princeton, WI.

Two different views of the back...
Depending on where the sun was at :o)

Fire Fighter's Blanket...

This blanket was a special request from a friend of mine... I used an actual American Flag purchased from Kmart in Ripon, WI as the background!

I printed letters on paper, cut them out, and used them as my templates for the orange & black fabric letters, which I then appliqued onto the top of the quilt.  High loft batting was used for a nice thick finished quilt.  The fire fighter uniform was made from fabric that was cut out to look like a uniform.  Silver satin was used for the reflective stripes in the uniform.

Harley Throw Pillows

Made from scraps of Harley Davidson fabric I purchased on eBay...the picture shows the back of the pillow on the left and the front of the pillow on the right...

These are one-of-a-kind pillows!

I pieced together scraps of remnant fabric pieces...quilting the top for added depth.

Handbags, Purses & Totes...

It's been awhile since I've been able to post something new.  Life has been hectic, and I haven't had the time to sew nor a place to sew since my recent, temporary move to my parents' home.  Lot's has been happening, but for now, my sewing is limited so I don't have a lot of new things to post.  However, I will post some pictures of the bags I made over the holiday season for a few of my customer orders.  All my patterns are packed away in a tub in storage right now, so unfortunately I am unable to share with you the patterns for the following bags that I have pictured...

Boutique Pillow Covers

I have really gotten into making pillows lately.  I just love making them!  Especially quilted and patchwork pillows.  Here are a few recent ones that I made...

The pattern for these two Boutique Pillows is from the Annie's Attic Creative Quilters Fabric Club, Girly Girl Fabric Collection Monthly Kit.  The pillow with the pink flower, these fabrics came with the kit.  The pillow with the green flower, the fabrics were from my stash.  Pink and white trims were also from my stash.

SNOWFLAKES PILLOW

Pattern for this pillow can be found in the follow book:

Better Homes and Gardens
Quilt-Lovers' Favorites
from

American Patchwork & Quilting
Volume 11

As shown here, I put a zipper on the pillow cover and filled it with pillow stuffing.

This last picture shows the pillow at an angle so you can see the quilted/raised look of the pillow.

Preparing for the Holidays - Pillows & Stockings, Tree Skirts & Baby Bibs!

I've been working on some Christmas projects and I've got a couple of them done.  I still have more to go and will add more photos as I complete them, but for starters, here's the few things I've completed so far...

TWINKLE TOES

Pattern for this Stocking can be found in the following magazine:

McCall's Quilting
November/December 2011

Giant Thomas the Tank Engine Stocking

Teddy Bear Stocking

Jesus Birth Stocking

Teddy Bear Holiday Bibs

Jesus Birth Tree Skirt

A Giraffe for Edward

Recently I was partaking in a fun International swap and the person I sent to has a little boy who loves giraffes and was in need of a new blanket.  So here's what I made for him...

 I used a high loft batting for the fill, and yarn tied the quilt together after appliqueing the top of the quilt and putting the layers together.
I used a blue corduroy fabric for the top of the quilt and an animal print cotton for the back.
The giraffe is made from flannel, and the rest of the appliqued pieces are cotton.

There is no pattern for this.  It is a one and only Gina's Custom Creations original.
However, I did use a pattern to make the giraffe silhouette.
Giraffe silhouette pattern is from the quilt pattern:
"Central Park" by Kate Spain / Moda

You can see the post my swap partner made about it on her blog...

The Gingerbread House

Mini Treat Bags

One of my favorite websites to visit frequently is AllPeopleQuilt.com.  They always have great ideas and fun patterns.  And they also have contests once in awhile. 
They currently have the BERNINA Fall Bag Contest going on until November 30th, 2011.  The pattern is a free download from their site, and I've been having so much fun with it!  It's a great little bag to make with leftover fabrics from other projects, and they make perfect treat sacks for kids' parties, or even gift bags for small items!
Here are a few pictures of the mini bags I made just this week...

 I made the Heroes and Mickey bags slightly larger to accomodate
for the images on the fronts of the bags.