Join the Mystery Quilt Dash now through May 14 and quilt shop hop online to receive parts of this free quilt pattern. You won’t know what the quilt is until you get all the parts. You will also see great prices for your favorite fabrics and notions in the quilt shops that you visit to collect parts of this quilt. The Dash is free and you will be entered into a drawing for prizes from the shops that you are visiting.

I invite you to also check out the Quilt Block Dash which starts on June 3 for a free quilt pattern “Watermelon Crawl”.  I will post the quilt here shortly before the Dash starts.

Enjoy a little mystery!

Phyllis

Its spring and the bees are buzzing around all the fresh flowers. Enjoy bees even more with this free pattern for a small “Bee Yourself” quilt.  I designed it with my “Bee Yourself” fabric collection  for Quilting Treasures. There is a bee for everyone – which are you?

This quilt is a great size for a wall hanging, lap quilt or a child’s quilt at 31 1/2″ W x 36 1/4″ H.  Its a great quilt that can be made quickly or by a beginner. The blocks in the center are a one-piece panel, so the sewing consists of adding strips and borders.

For the free quilt pattern download, just click for full instructions and diagrams.  You can also see all of the fabrics on my website.

If you would like to make a larger quilt, table runner or large tote bag made with the same fabric, please see my prior blog post with links to these free patterns. They are all available on the Quilting Treasures website.

Bee happy,

Phyllis

The winner of the Meow Meow cat fabrics is Mary Snyder of York PA.! Congratulations Mary!  I put a number representing each of the comments left and let some trick or treat-ers draw the number. The number 4 was drawn representing the 4th comment, which was left by Mary.

The drawing was performed by a couple of Romans in toga costumes. Their costumes were wonderful and I appreciate their help with the drawing.

I also appreciate all the comments left and really enjoyed reading all the cat stories. Some of you had very interesting names for your cats. We all agree that cats are delightful and funny and that they add so much love and warmth to our lives.

Have a catty day!

Phyllis

For some reason, black cats are symbolic of Halloween. I wonder what the story was that created the Halloween black cat icon. As the “mom” to a black cat, I always make sure my black kitty is inside well before dark on Halloween. A few years ago, my husband overheard some really young kids that were out trick-or-treating early say as they tried to quietly pass by our house “this is the house with the black cat”. Since there were not many houses with really young kids close around, it made me wonder how notorious our black cat is. My husband did stop them and gave them some candy.

And I have to say that my black kitty is not scary by the wildest stretch of imagination – he’s so sweet and affectionate and loves attention. I hate it that he’s lumped as a superstitious “black cat”.

Since Halloween is approaching, I thought I would have a give-away of a fat quarter bundle of my “Meow Meow” cat fabrics. You can see by the colorfulness, that the inspiration from my black cat resulted in fun and bright fabrics filled with cat antics. You can see the entire fabric collection on my website.

To win the fat quarter bundle, just leave a comment and tell me your favorite black cat or Halloween story, cat story, or say “hi”. I will draw a name from those leaving a comment on Oct 31 – Halloween evening between giving out candy, and post it the next morning  I’m sorry but the drawing is open to residents of the US only.

Have a happy and safe Halloween and give a black cat a hug!

Phyllis

I love all things related to sewing and quilting! My mother taught me to sew at a very early age on an old Singer sewing machine (it wasn’t THAT old  with the foot petal operation although my grandmother had one). I have my mother’s tins filled with old buttons, etc, a bunch of vintage fabric scraps and her doll pin cushion, all of which I cherish. I used my love of sewing to create a fabric design using my favorite sewing notions  interpreted with a bit of whimsy that I showed you in my last post.

Periwinkle Blue Sewing Notions iPhone 4 Case by phyllisdobbs

Yellow Sewing Notions Laptop Sleeve by phyllisdobbs

Pink Sewing Notions iPad Case by phyllisdobbs

Orange Sewing Notions iPhone Case iPhone 5 Cover by phyllisdobbs

I will be busy sewing and quilting this weekend, getting ready for Quilt Market with my new fabric collection (sneak peek coming soon), a Schoolhouse event and new patterns that I will be posting here. Enjoy your quilting and sewing and remember how its “Sew Fun”!

Phyllis

Woohoo!  A favorite part of my job is when I receive a box of my fabrics! A just heard the door bell dingdong and went downstairs to see what the UPS guy left. The UPS or FedEx guys are the only ones that ring my doorbell in mid-afternoon, so I knew it had to be one of them.  There sat a huge box that was waaaaaaay too heavy for me to even move. So I looked to see who it was from, then went to get a pair scissors to open it. It was filled with my new fabric collection “Celebrate” from Quilting Treasures.

I can’t wait to get started on more projects using the fabrics! You can see what the fabrics look like plus some free patterns that are available for download from Quilting Treasures in my prior post. The fun colors are great for birthday celebrations for all ages.

Stay cool!

Phyllis

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head bring back childhood memories for me.  It was a fun toy that I loved playing with.  Hot Potatoes from Hasbro, a new fabric line from Quilting Treasures is delightful. It was even more fun with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head as an adult – designing several sewing and quilting projects with the fabric collection.  I designed and created the Hot Potatoes quilted play mat, large tote bag, half apron and potholder. The potholder is potato shaped and can hang from the apron.  The projects were featured in Quilting Treasures booth at the Spring International Quilt Market held in Kansas City.

I also designed additional pieces for this collection.  All will be free patterns for download from Quilting Treasures website.  The fabric will be available soon – August 2012. Please check back to see all the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head projects.

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

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