More from the International Quilt Market and fabulous quilts

I was so overwhelmed with all I saw at Quilt Market.  I’m still sifting through all my notes. If you missed my first post about Quilt Market, please check it out for some fabulous quilts and booths.

I loved this booth, Fiber Art Furniture.  It was fun with some pretty whimsy furniture as you can see below. The chairs were especially appropriate as it was Halloween. Check out their website for more fun furniture. I guarantee it will make you smile.

Fiber Arts Furniture ChairFiber Art Furniture Chair

There were several book signings.  My talented friend Pearl Krush of Pearl Louise Designs was signing her book Quilting at the Village published by All American Crafts. Pearl, who designs fabrics and patterns, also has a fabulous Quilt shop, Thimble Cottage Quilt Village in Rapid City, SD. The book also tells a lot about her shop and I can’t wait to visit it some day.

Pearl Krush

I was walking by Amy Butler‘s booth as they announced the best booth awards.  Here is a picture of Amy in her booth just after she won first prize.  I love the greens and turquoises of her booth.

Amy Butler's booth

The Leilani Arts‘ booth was a visual treat with a beautiful display of all the silk yarns spilling from baskets. They were so lucious!

Baskets of silk yarn And here are more fabulous quilts from the exhibits.  I wish I could have seen all of the quilts exhibited there but there were just so many and I ran out of time.  The quilts looked like art and they were – quilted art.

Facade by Melissa Sobotka of Richardson, TX

Facade Quilt

Lunacy of a Starry Night by Annette Hendricks of Grayslake, IL

Lunacy on a Starry Night Quilt

Lava by Lta Ziv of  Pardes Hana, Israel

Lava Quilt

Tidepool Treasure by Betsy Abbott of Andover, MA

Tidepool Treasure Quilt

Forest Walk by Pat Durbin of Eureka, CA

Forest Walk Quilt

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of Quilt Market. I’m already looking forward to Spring Market.

Phyllis

Sew a Pumpkin Placemat!

Halloween is almost here – next weekend!  I love pumpkins – they represent Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Plus they are so delicious to eat in great desserts.  You can make this easy Pumpkin placemat in time for Halloween.  This free pattern will serve double duty as you can use it for a Thanksgiving table setting – just leave off the buttons.

Click to download the free pattern and instructions and start sewing.  All you need is the background fabric, orange fabric, green bias tape, baby rick rack, fusible web and if you are making it for Halloween, buttons.

I wish you a fun Halloween! My husband will be handing out our candy since I will be in Houston for the International Quilt Market.

Happy sewing!

Phyllis

Meow Meow! Whimsy cats on products

“Meow Meow” says the cat to all you cat lovers!  The cats with ‘tude from my Meow Meow fabric collection are on products in my

Zazzle store, starting with “The Master”, a cat who knows he’s the boss (but aren’t they all!).

The Master Cat Tee Shirt
The Master Cat Tee Shirt by phyllisdobbs
Find other Cat T-Shirts at zazzle.com
The Master Cat Mouse Pad
The Master Cat Mouse Pad by phyllisdobbs
View other Cat Mousepads at Zazzle.com

I am working on creating products with all 10 of the whimsical cats fron this collection and will add them to my store for a delightful and fun assortment to make you smile.

The attitudes were all inspired by own cat, who definitely has the ‘tude.

Meow,

Phyllis

Quilting for the dogs (and more)!

Don’t you love surprises!  Receiving a new book is always wonderful but this one has 3 quilt projects of mine in it.  5-10-15 + Fat Quarters, published by House of White Birches is a beautiful book filled with projects that you can complete with pre-cut fabric bundles.

Now, wouldn’t you just love to make this dog coat for your dog?  It’s made with “It’s A Dog’s Life” fabrics I designed for VIP by Cranston Printworks. (Just a note to tell you that some fabrics of this collection are in some Walmart stores as precuts). The pattern is easy to make so you can have the best dressed dog in the neighborhood.

OK, now that your dog is dressed, you can move onto making a cozy quilted pillow for a favorite child or each of your favorite children, since I’m sure you have more than one. This “chick pillow” is made with a full size pillow so it will fit nicely on a bed. Three pockets to hold little treasures are appliqued with a chick on each pocket. Can’t you just imagine the surprises that can be tucked away in these pockets for safekeeping until the next morning! (no snakes or snails I hope!)

Now its time to move onto some serious quilting and make a table runner for yourself or as a gift. A “Warm Breeze” tablerunner is made with Jim Shore’s Angel Among Us fabrics by Quilting Treasures. I had the good luck to meet Jim Shore a couple of months ago (see my prior post).

Since you have now had a few days of sewing and quilting, take a break, eat some ice cream!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these quilt pictures and I would love to see any that you make with these patterns.  Check out the book and you will be delighted as I was with all the fun projects made with precut 5″ charms, 10″ squares and fat quarters.

Happy sewing!

Phyllis

 

Sew a reversible apron!

Trendy and flirty aprons are so much fun to wear and are so easy to sew.  I designed and sewed this reversible apron that was featured in the June issue of Quilter’s World. This one is unique in that it is reversible so it gives two distinct looks with one apron.  And for an extra detail, the bodice is quilted.

I chose my favorite colors when creating these aprons, purple and green (with a touch of turquoise) for one side and turquoise and purple for the 2nd side.  The fabric is from Quilting Treasures.  The pattern is the same for each apron side, however, I created 2 different looks by changing the bottom edges.  One edge is a straight border design while the other apron has a bottom edge with ziz zag design.

I hope you enjoy the hot weather by staying inside and sewing.  Aprons are easy to sew and a great way to show off your sewing skills!

Phyllis

Celebration Quilt

Aren’t the colors in this quilt fun and make you want to celebrate! And this quilt also helps to celebrate a worthy cause.  I wanted to show you the celebration quilt that I designed in for the recently published quilt book “Think Pink” published by House of White BirchesCelebrate Each Step is 44″ x 52″ and is made with fabrics from Quilting Treasures.

This book is filled with projects to give comfort to women as they battle breast cancer, plus a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book goes to breast cancer research.  I hope you make this quilt and help a worthy cause at the same time.

Happy Quilting!

Phyllis


Aprons!

OK all you apron lovers – check out this book “The Best Apron Book Ever“. !  I  received a copy which has an apron that I designed featured in it.  In fact, it made the cover!  The book, filled with 12 wonderful apron patterns, is published by The House of White Birches.  Aprons are so fashionable and so easy and fun to make!  Check back as I have a free apron pattern coming up that I think you will love!


Guest Blog on ThinkCrafts.com

I was invited to write a guest blog on ThinkCrafts.com by Create for Less.  I enjoyed writing about crafting and how it inspired and influenced a creative career for me.  I learned crafts early, taught by my mother and aunt.  As I see all the emphasis on various retro periods, I think of the crafts I was doing during each period.

ThinkCrafts.com is hosted by a craft expert and professional of many years, Maria Nerius and is a fabulous site for anyone who loves art, crafts, creative design and working with their hands.

I invite you to read my post and would love to receive comments from you.

Phyllis

Off to Pittsburgh for Quilt Market

My bags are packed, my Quilt Market projects are finished, my Schoolhouse talk is ready and my boarding passes are printed.  Flying is my period of rest, thinking and reading as things are always so hectic getting ready to leave.  I picked a James Patterson book to read in my flying and airport time.  And I’m looking forward to meeting up with friends who are also going to Market – dinners, lunches and just walking the show together.

I will return energized, inspired and ready to hop back to work on new designs and art.  I will post Quilt Market happenings and celebrity sightings when I return as well as the projects and patterns that I created for market.

If you are attending Quilt Market, I want to invite you to attend my Schoolhouse session “Using Trends to Boost Sales”, Thursday 3:35 in room 325.  And of course, I would love for you to visit the Quilting Treasures booth to see my new fabric “Its a Dog’s Life”.

Until I return,

Phyllis

Winners of Meow, Meow cat fabrics

Last night I drew the names for the winners of cuts of the Meow Meow cat fabrics from Quilting Treasures and congratulations go to the winners below.  They also have quilt blogs so click on their name to see their blogs.

The winners from commenting on my on Quilting Gallery guest blog –

Rick Najdzion and Jeanne (Genie) Medaugh

And the winner from signing up for my newsletter:

Teresa Sealy

A big thanks to all of you who commented and signed up for my newsletter.  Your comments were delightful and I wish all of you could have won!