I know its May and the weather is getting hot, but its not too early to start thinking about your Christmas quilting with this free quilt pattern that I designed!  Think “Let it Snow” to cool down with this adorable fabric collection from Quilting Treasures based on the art of Debra Jordan Bryan.

It was a treat to design this quilt with the fun, colorful fabric.  At 43 1/2″ x 48 1/4″, its a perfect size for a wall hanging, a lap quilt or for a little one to cuddle with. The quilt is pieced and is topped with appliqued green and red mittens in the wide border area. Buttons are used for accents on the mittens. The quilt center is a snowman panel with other snowman pieces in the corners. Its easy to piece and is a great project for beginners as well as all skill levels.

When you check out this pattern, look through all the other free quilt patterns from Quilting Treasures. I’m sure you will find several that you will love!

Happy quilting and stay cool!

Phyllis

If you are like me, you have a lot of clothing hanging in your closet that you no longer wear. But there is something you still love about these pieces – the color, fabric design, etc. Repurpose or upcycle it to give it a new life. I repurposed a pair of capri pants made with fabric that I loved into a decorative pillow for a guest blog post on FaveCrafts for Earth Week. I had never worn these pants and think that I bought them just for the fabric.

Although I chose to make a decorative pillow, you can make many different type projects using this technique. I added detail to the pillow top by sewing multiple wavy lines of both non-metallic and metallic Gutermann threads vertically to quilt the fabric to a piece of cotton batting.  I used different shades of both turquoise and coral threads in addition to a black thread. I also sewed turquoise, red and yellow beads randomly and to the flowers. Please visit the FaveCrafts blog post for full tutorial instructions as well as additional photos.

In addition to your closet, you can locate fabulous finds at thrift stores or yard sales to repurpose. I’m a fabric junkie so I always keep my eyes peeled for fabrics, as well as sweaters and other items I can sew into something else or use in other type of crafts.

Phyllis

I’m excited to give you a sneak peak at my newest fabric collection “Celebrate” from Quilting Treasures, filled with cakes and cupcakes. It will be available for shipping to stores in June 2012. As you can see, the colors are bright primary colors that are perfect for both boys and girls. The designs are also great for all ages, from kids to adults, after all, you never get too old to celebrate! It was really fun creating these designs but it did activate my sweet tooth! Fortunately, all the cakes and cupcakes were created with paint so no calories!

This design is the main design of a patch panel. Other fabrics in the “Celebrate” collection will include lots of fun designs and stripes all in bright “celebration” colors and all coordinated for delightful quilting and sewing projects. Think of a celebration or birthday quilt, or a banner or table runner for a birthday party.  There will be several free patterns available from Quilting Treasures when the fabric is in. Plus, I will create some patterns to post here on my blog for free download – I already have several ideas formed and just waiting to sew them. I just love designing patterns to go with my fabrics.

I can’t wait to show you all the fabrics when they are out!  And it won’t be long – I can’t believe June is so close already!  Meanwhile, I’ve been working away on the next fabric collection and am just as excited about it! Its still on the drawing board, but I’m loving it.

So please check back for fun fabrics and lots of free patterns and think cake and cupcakes. And here’s to a little celebration in your life each day.

Phyllis

During the photography session for my new quilt book Asymmetrical Quilts, I also took pictures of the session, photographing the photographer. Sometimes a photography session can be a little boring during the actual photography, but not with Becky Stayner of Sunny House Studio.  She is a fantastic photographer and has an amazing studio in the most charming house as you will see from some of the pictures I took and from the photographs in the book. All of the quilts were photographed flat, then were shot throughout the studio.

This photograph was in the main living room.  I fell in love with the fireplace as well as the bottles on the mantle!

The kitchen was filled with so many wonderful pieces of antique class and ceramics, some in turquoise and greens.

And as you can see, the kitchen was a perfect area for photographing this quilt. The turquoise chairs were a perfect accent.

In addition to the wonderful interior, the outside decks were a great location for several of the quilts. The back deck has a jasmine covered arbor.

Looking up at the jasmine arbor…..

I loved the table setting under the arbor which also made for a perfect location for a photo.

This shot was taken at the side edge of the wrap around deck.

Becky is setting up for this photo on a picnic table on the side porch. Another turquoise chair adds a great accent. (I was delighted that Becky shares a love of the color turquoise!)

Who says photography can’t be hazardous?? Becky stood on the top of a ladder to get the flat shots of each quilt.

The quilts are all stacked ready for each shot.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of Becky’s studio and the photography session.  She’s fantastic and I look forward to working with her again.

Phyllis

Its so exciting that my new quilt book Asymmetrical Quilts from Leisure Arts has been published and is ready for shipping. Instructions and patterns for 9 quilts are included in this book, all with an off-centered design. I created each quilt to be unique and all are made with wonderful fabrics. The designs use a combination of traditional and nontraditional blocks in nontraditional arrangements, with several of the quilts adorned with whimsy applique.

My copies are on the way to me and I can’t wait to get them. It was a lot of work putting this book together, but I enjoyed every second of it. The photographs were all taken in the wonderful studio of Becky Stayner.  I will be showing some of the photos I took of the photography sessions so check back to see these and her studio (hint – its in a really quaint house).

I owe a special thanks also to Lisa Mullins of  Wandering Stitches Quilting Studio for an amazing job in quilting the quilts. She added the touch of whimsy where needed to keep the theme of each quilt.

I hope you will check out the book and find that you can’t live without it!

Phyllis

The Olympic themed fabric collection Go for the Gold is one of Quilting Treasures latest fabric collections and is in time for the Summer 2012 Olympic Games in London. I  enjoyed designing several sewing and quilting patterns for free download from Quilting Treasures website. The fabric features the most popular summer games and is perfect for all sports lovers!

The tote bag is extra large and is roomy enough to carry all your gym or workout clothes and accessories at 24″ wide and 20″ high. The tote is lined inside with the beautiful flag fabric showing the flags of all the countries. The roll up yoga or exercise mat cover is available in two colorways.  The yoga mat carry bag has a carry sling strap so that you can easily carry your rolled up mat and cover hands free.

You can follow the preparations for the London 2012 summer games that will be held in July and August – its actually not that far off. Start sewing and you will be all set to help celebrate the games!

Phyllis

I just received a copy of Quilted Gifts from your Scraps & Stash, by House of White Birches.  Its a book filled with all types and sizes of quilted projects, from quilts, backpacks, pot holders to pillows and much more for 40 great projects for you to make. I’m delighted that one of my quilt designs is included in this book.

Daisy Pocket Quilt is the perfect size to use as either a wall hanging or bed quilt. The diagonal striped blocks are pockets so that kids can store their favorite items while adding a splash of color to their room. I used the bright, colorful fabric “Kids go Green” by Kari Pearson from Quilting Treasures to compete the quilt. The quilt is pieced with the large daisies fused and appliqued. I hope you will make one for the kid in your life – its an easy and fun quilt to make.

Happy Quilting

Phyllis

You can’t have too many aprons, right? They are fun to make and fun to wear. This is an apron pattern that I designed for Quilting Treasures and is available in their free patterns and projects download on their website.

The aprons are designed with The Wizard of Oz fabrics by Quilting Treasures.  I love the bright colors!  And I, like I think everyone in the universe, have always been a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz. I’m still hoping for Dorothy’s red shoes.

This apron is easy to make in just a couple of hours of sewing.  You can make it with two or three coordinating fabrics or sew it with just one fabric for two different looks.

I designed another apron pattern that I wrote about previously that is also available from Quilting Treasures for download.

Happy sewing with your apron.  With these free patterns, it is easy to get started.

Phyllis

I’m excited to show you the latest quilt that I designed for free download from Quilting Treasures‘ website. Designed with Loralie’s newest fabric collection, Spice Cats, these fun and whimsy cats will completely charm all you cat lovers.  I love the colors of this collection and the way they work together.

The quilt is designed in horizontal rows and is very easy to sew.  The size is 56″ x 72″, a great size for a throw to keep warm on these cold nights.

I designed other quilts with Loralie’s fabrics for free download from Quilting Treasures website. The Sunshine Resort quilt is a fun quilt with flip flops, ice cream, Loralie’s ladies swimming and other summer activities. The Nurse Central quilt is delightful for nurses with Loralie’s nurses and other nursing designs. There are a lot of other quilt patterns for free download, so check them out.

Happy quilting!

Phyllis

I have more photos to share with you of the beautiful and amazing quilts at the Houston International Quilt Market. I showed half of my photos of these fabulous quilts from the exhibits in my prior post. The quilts are fun, imaginative, colorful and unique in their original designs.

Word Gets Around was created by Louisa L. Smith, Loveland, Colorado. She had collected fabrics with text and manipulated all the fabrics by hand painting, dying and over dying to obtain the color she wanted. She created the curved movement of the quilt which is a play of “words” to create the title.

Memories Stick, created by Charlotte Noll, Lauderhill, Florida, is created using the quilt pins she collected. She wanted a quilt design that can be rearranged and appended as she continues to collect pins. Each pin has an embellished pillow and is connected to the others with safey pins. Each pin reminds her of the wonderful times when she collected them. Techniques used were fused and raw edge machine applique, machine quilted, digitally machine embroidered and hand beaded.

Fantasy in Paradise was created by Laura Steiniger, Tucson, Arizona to depict fantastical birds-of-paradise flowers. I love birds-of-paradise. The techniques used were machine applique, machine decorative stitches, machine quilted and hand embellished. The black background really makes the flowers pop.

New York City Lights, created by Ellen Yamaguchi, New York, NY, is heavily embellished with beads and charms. The beads were used to emphasize the swirls. She also added old New York City subway and bridge tokens and landmark charms to add interest. Techniques used include cut and assembled blocks using One-Block Wonder technique.

Colorplay 1: Pink, created by Twelve by Twelve. This was one of the quilts in an exhibit showcasing quilts by Twelve by Twelve, a group of 12 quilt artists who embarked on an art challenge together. For 4 years, each made 12 x 12 inch quilted art pieces on a particular theme. Each of the quilts displayed featered the 12 art quilts on that theme. Check out their website to see all of the collections they created as well as learn more about their challenges.

Woody by Bonnie Ouellette, Seneca, South Carolina, is embellished with glass beads. The tecnhiques inclue hand quilting and hand beading.

Garden Pool was created by Sandra Marietta, Palmetto Bay, Florida and is inspred by her Friday trips to Fairchild Tropical Garden. Techniques include fused and machine applique, fabric painting and machine quilting. Materials include various threads, batik and other fabrics, tetile paints, and was crayons.

“Austin tatious” by Barb Forrister of Austin, Texas features beautiful dimensional flowers. Techniques include dyed, painted and applique.

Saturday Market Delectables by Tina McCann, Depoe Bay, Oregan, was inspired by a trip to the farmers’ market and watching people carry various bags and baskets stuffed with food. The techniques include Nuno, needle and wet felted, machine pieced, free motion quilted, hand stitched and beaded.  This quilt is very dimensional so I wanted to show a closeup of one section to show all the detail.

A Starlit Night was created by Soon-Joong Kim, Seoul, South Korea, using the compass and kaleidoscope techniques. The quilt  was inspired by the earch and the rest of the planets.

In an Orderly World was created by Linda R. Syverson Guild, Bethesda, Maryland, and was inspired by an Art Deco design.  The techniques used were pieced, needle punched, hand and machine appliqued, machine quilted and hand beaded.

Ancient Weaver was created by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, California. The inspiration was the Mayan weaving traditions that are honored with Spider, the industrious weaver as the center of the wheel of life. Techniques are machine piecing and quilting, and commercial and original digitized machine embroidery.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing a few of the many quilts on exhibit. You can see part of the exhibit hall below, and this picture was taken less than halfway down the main hall of the exhibit.

I am already looking forward to my next trip to Quilt Market.

Phyllis