Houston Quilt Market, Part 2 – Spectacular Quilts Exhibited!

I promised to show some of the spectacular quilts on exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Market in the first part of my Houston Quilt Market blog post. These are just some of the amazing quilts exhibited. I’m always awed at the beauty of the quilts and the talent involved to create them.

Monarch Butterfly quilt Gloria Hansen

Monarch: About to Fly by Gloria Hansen of East Windsor, NJ. This quilt is a digital painting based on a photograph of a Monarch that she took before it flew away. The techniques are digital painting, machine piecing and quilting.

Bromeliads quilt at Houston Quilt Market by Deborah Beatty

Etherium Botanica Bromeliads – by Deborah Beatty of San Jose, CA. This quilt is based on her photography. The technique is digital painting, machine and hand piecing, machine quilting, and hand painting.

Desert Daze by Debra Crine quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Desert Daze – by Debra Crine of Marco Island, FL. This quilt was inspired by beautiful colors and landscapes of the southwest, with southwestern motifs added after the design was complete. The techniques used were paper piecing, fusible applique and machine quilting.

In my mind quilt at Houston Quilt Market

In My Mind – by Eun-Suk Lee, Cheong-Ju-Si, Chung-Buk, of the Republic of Korea. This quilt was created to show a red line of hope leading to the clarity that traditional Korean patterns have a place in modern quilting and to be a Korean artist in a Western art form.

Heidis Schlowers orchid quilt on display at Houston Quilt Market

Heidi’s Schlowers – by Andrea Brokenshire of Round Rock, TX. This quilt was inspired by the beautiful Cattleya Orchid and a child trip with her sister to Disneyland. The techniques were hand painted silk applique fused on a pieced batik confetti background, machine quilted and thread painted.

Apple Blossom Dance Quilt by Maggi Weiss at Houston Quilt Market

Apple Blossom Dance – by Maggie Weiss of Evanston, IL. Powdery spring blossoms inspired this quilt. The techniques were torn fabric, applique and machine quilting.

3D Sunflowers Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

3-D Sunflowers – by Martha DeLeonardis. Design source – a vintage sunflower block quilt. The techniques used were turned edge woven fabric, machine pieced, applique and quilted.

Tree of Life Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Tree of Life – by Allison Lockwood of Shell Beach, CA. This quilt was inspired by the Tree of Life that is an important symbol in nearly every culture and a trip to Thailand. Techniques are hand appliqued, hand quilted, embellishments applied by hand.

Synergy Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Synergy – by Nancy Sterett Martin and Karen Sistek of Owensboro, Ky. They were inspired by a photograph of a close-up of a poppy in creating this quilt. The techniques are hand painting on silk and machine quilting.

Tree Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

Tree – by Kathy York of Austin, TX. This quilt was inspired by the thought that if buildings could dance, they would upon the sight of such a lovely tree. The techniques were fusible applique, machine and hand quilting, and hand embroidery.

Prairie Grass Quilt

Prairie Grass – by Frieda Anderson of Elgin, IL. This triptych was inspired by the mid-west fields and prairies of Frieda’s hometown area and swaying in the wind on a spring day. The techniques used were fused collage and machine quilting.

Flowers for Me Diptych quilt

Flowers for Me Diptych – by Lynn H. Woll of Tacoma, WA. This quilt was inspired by a bouquet of flowers that Lynn bought for herself when she was feeling down. The techniques used were raw edge applique and embellishment.

Mae's Dance quilt by Carolyn Crump

Mae’s Dance – by Carolyn Crump of Houston TX.  Mae Jones, a quilter from Florida, passed away a year ago. Her family gave Carolyn Mae’s sewing machine, fabrics and quilting tools. Carolyn used the machine to make this quilt and named if for Mae. The dancers symbolized the power of needle and thread. The technique used was machine quilting.

As you can see, there were some spectacular quilts on exhibit. There were many more that I did not get pictures of due to time constraints. I hope you enjoyed seeing these few.

Phyllis

International Quilt Market (Houston) – Part 1

As I think all quilters know, Quilt Market and Quilt Festival were just held in Houston the end of October through early November. I attended Quilt Market, which is open to the trade only, although I wish I had the time to stay over for Festival. I will give you some of Market from from my viewpoint now and will show some of the gorgeous and spectacular quilts exhibited in Part 2.

Bee Yourself Quilt and Table runner by Phyllis Dobbs for Quilting Treasures

I was really excited at market at the debut of my new fabric collection with Quilting Treasures, “Bee Yourself” (you can see pictures of the fabrics in my earlier post). This “Bee Yourself” Quilt and Tablerunner were displayed in Quilting Treasures booth. (The fabrics will be available December 2012).

In addition, a preview of my next fabric collection “Tricks and Treats” was also shown in Quilting Treasures’ booth.  I know we just had fun with Halloween since Market, but its never too soon to start planning for the next one. This fabric will ship early next year so that it can be in the stores in time for your Halloween sewing.

Halloween fabric Trick or Treat

Market started for me with a Schoolhouse presentation held Friday before Market opened. I discussed and showed wonderful projects that you can create with printed fabric blocks, whether they are “leftover” from your quilt project or bought just to make some of these projects. They all make great gifts. Since “Bee Yourself” has 12 blocks, I created several models using them.

Schoolhouse Quilt Market Bee Yourself Tablerunner

Andrea Rekrut of Quilting Treasures was my lovely assistant in helping show the models. This project is a tablerunner using 4 blocks.

Schoolhouse Quilt Market Bee Yourself Placemat

A placemat uses 2 blocks.

Schoolhouse Pillowcase Hide and Seek with Buddy Dinosaur Train

A pillowcase uses fabric and blocks from Quilting Treasures’ Dinosaur Train fabric, which is in fabulous colors.

The patterns for all of these projects, including the quilt, will be available on either Quilting Treasures website or here on my blog sometime in December when the fabric ships to stores. I will announce when they are available and will provide links.

I was in Gutermann of America’s booth during part of the show. Some of my Schoolhouse projects decorated the booth walls.  In addition, other quilts and projects I made were also on the walls. The quilt above the thread cabinet is from the “Celebrate” fabrics that I also designed for Quilting Treasures that debuted in May. They are great to create projects for birthday celebrations for both boys and girls, young and mature (I don’t like the word old).

Bee Yourself projects at Quilt Market

 

After Schoolhouse, I attended a meet and greet, Fabric 2.0.  It was packed. I was standing in the middle and this is the view from one direction. Melissa Schulz of Kathy Davis Studios is standing at the front of the picture in the orange dress.

As I walked the show, I saw some fabulous new products that I want to share with you.

I can always count on June Tailor to have some great new products and that held true again this year. The Creative Covers come in 3 style shapes and can be used to create stand along blocks or use for applique.  I love the look of an open block quilt like these.

June Tailor Creative Covers at Quilt Market

Another new cutting ruler from June Tailor is great for centering designs for cutting for tee shirt quilts. I have a bunch of tee shirts that I want to make into an quilt and this ruler will be a great aid. Also, a lot of fabrics have designs that you may want to center when cutting. I do.

June Tailor Centering Cutting Ruler at Quilt Market

Gutermann of America has some wonderful new treads, recycled polyester from water bottles.  It amazes me how you can take a water bottle and recycle it into something wonderful. It’s really treasures from trash and a great way to recycle and eliminate all the water bottle waste. 10 spools of thread can be created from one water bottle. I sewed with it and love the way it sews.

Gutermann Recycled Polyester thread at Houston Quilt Market

Expo International is always a fun and fabulous booth to visit with all their trims and embellishments. It would be so boring if we didn’t have trims to embellish our projects with. I was extra happy this year as they used some of my quilts to decorate their booth.

Expo International booth at Houston Quilt Market

Before I leave you, I want to show off another fabric collection that will be out early 2013. “Letters to Santa” is by Janet Wecker Frisch of Tidings of Great Joy for Quilting Treasures. Its pure vintage Santa and is beautiful!

Letters to Santa Christmas fabric by J Wecker Frisch for Quilting Treasures

Quilt Market is always such an inspirational show and this year was no exception. As you can see, exciting colors of fabrics, threads, buttons, trim, etc were everywhere. Check back as I’m working on another post to show you some really beautiful and amazing quilts in the exhibits.  They were just spectacular!!

And, there will be a “Bee Yourself” fat quarter giveaway shortly, so be sure to check back and enter!

Have a colorful day!

Phyllis

Keeping Busy with Fabrics

I love fabrics and I love designing fabrics almost as much as I enjoy eating. That says a lot as I love all food groups! This has been a busy year with fabric design for me. My “Celebrate” fabric collection by Quilting Treasures will help create a cheerful birthday celebration. My newest collection will debut at Quilt Market at the end of the month that will be quite the “buzz”! A sneak preview will be coming very shortly.

In addition, I have fabrics in the Cranston Village V.I.P. line this year with more coming for this line as well with some really great colors.

Sewing design fabric Phyllis Dobbs VIP

“Sewing Notions” is a fun design for anyone who loves to sew or quilt. I thought of all the handy items that I frequently use while sewing and threw them into this fabric design. I took a little liberty when designing – my sewing machine does not really have polka dots.

Coffee Cups, Bird Patch, Texting Lingo fabrics by Phyllis Dobbs

The other 3 fabrics in V.I.P.’s line are “Bird Patch“, “Coffee Cups” and “Texting Lingo”.

Back to work – this is a busy month in preparing for the International Quilt Market in Houston in 3 weeks where I will also be conducting a Schoolhouse event.  More to come shortly on that.

Phyllis

Hot Potatoes – Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head at Quilt Market

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.

Hot Potatoes Fabric free projects Quilt Market

Hot Potatoes Free sewing projects at Quilt Market

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

 

Showing Friendship with a Quilt!

Quilts are so comforting, both with the cuddling factor and the warmth of their beauty. Rita Clarke made a special quilt for a friend’s daughter who’s dog Shug had died. Pets are so important to us and are a part of our families so the loss of a pet is heartbreaking. Rita designed and made this quilt in memory of Shug using the pink fabrics in the “Its a Dog’s Life” fabric collection I designed a while back for Quilting Treasures.

Its a Dog's Life Quilt by Rita Clarke

Rita also embroidered Shug’s name in the sashing throughout the quilt. I’m sure that this quilt provides Mary a lot of  comfort and warm memories of Shug each time she cuddles with it.

Rita Clarke's It's a Dog's Life Quilt

Rita does take orders to create personalized quilts through her business Sew Creative by Rita.

I love Rita’s use of pink throughout the quilt. One of the things that amazes me with quilting is that you can get such different looks from the same fabrics, based on how you put the fabrics together and arrange the colors and the patterns of the fabrics. Other posts I have written feature a locker caddy and notebook, a dog coat, aprons, tote bag, and a quilt made with “Its’s a Dog’s Life” fabrics and each in different color combinations.

Thanks to Rita for showing me the pictures of the quilt she made! I think she’s a wonderful friend to make this beautiful quilt for Mary.

Happy quilting!

Phyllis

 

Think Snow with this Free Quilt Pattern!

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.

Let it Snow Free quilt Pattern by Phyllis Dobbs for Quilting Treasures

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

Sneak Peak – New Fabric Collection “Celebrate”

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!

Celebrate fabric collection from Quilting Treasures by Phyllis Dobbs

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

Asymmetrical Quilts – Book Photography in an Amazing Studio!

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.

Asymmetrical Quilt book photography fireplace

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

Asymmetrical Quilts photography in the dining area of the kitchen.

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

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography in the kitchen

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

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography on jasmine covered deck

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.

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography Sunny House Studios jasmie arbor

Looking up at the jasmine arbor…..

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography under jasmine arbor

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

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography on studio deck

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

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography photostyling on 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!)

Asymmetrical Quilts book photography by Becky Stayner

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

Asymmetrical Quilts stacked quilts after photography

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

Asymmetrical Quilts – my new book from Leisure Arts

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.

Asymmetrical Quilts book by Phyllis Dobbs

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

 

Quilt Designs in a New Quilt Book “Bed Runners and More”

I just received a copy of a beautiful new quilt book Bed Runners & More and am trilled that I have 2 quilts featured in this book. Bed runners add such a dramatic decorative touch to a bed and bedroom! Published by House of White Birches and edited by Carolyn S. Vagts, this book has instructions and patterns for 9 bed runners with some coordinating shams for different looks for the bedroom. The theme of the book is seasonal, with bed runners for the different seasons of the year.

The runners made for this book are for sale in both my Etsy store and this website.

Bed Runners and More quilt Summer Blossoms by Phyllis Dobbs

I designed Summer Blossoms runner with 2 pillow shams. I adore and love these hot and spicy colors in the Penny Lane fabric collection from Quilting Treasures. They definitely say “summer time”! This runner is 81″ x 27″ and the shams fit regular size pillows. The fuchsia flowers are appliqued.

Bed Runners & More quilt Warm Splendor by Phyllis Dobbs

My other quilt is Warm Splendor made with the beautiful warm and cozy fall colors in the Cornucopia fabric collection by Quilting Treasures. The size of this bed runner is 77 1/2″ x 30″ plus the prairie points on each end. Both of these quilt runners are easy to make and make great projects for a beginner quilter as well as the experienced quilter.

I hope you look for this book for the other fabulous projects included. It was fun designing my projects as well as sewing and quilting them, so I hope you will give them a try!

Happy Quilting!

Phyllis