Sweetheart Quilt to Show your Heart!

Although Valentine’s Day has passed, you can show affection all year with this Sweetheart Quilt made with hearts.  Its easy to make with pieced blocks and appliqué hearts.  This pattern was designed for the Quilt Dash, February 2014.  Its now available through the WhimsyColor Store.

Sweetheart Quilt pattern by Phyllis Dobbs

 

This quilt has one heart block that is different from all the others.  I placed it at the end of a row but you can place it anywhere in your quilt.  This looks like an on-point pattern but it is made with straight horizontal rows, which makes the construction go a little faster.  It also make it easier to resize for your quilt if you want it larger or smaller than this quilt with 20 blocks. The size is 45″ x 55″ which is a good size for a lap quilt.

I hope you are staying warm.  Quilting is a great therapy for cold days.

Stay warm and hope to see you Dashing!

Phyllis

Dashing for Quilt Patterns!

Love quilt magazines? Get a free 4 month subscription to The Quilt Pattern Magazine when you join the Quilt Dash and dash through some online shops. You can see more about the patterns and information in the magazine at the Quilt Pattern Magzine blog. Its free to dash and you will also get a free quilt pattern designed by Tammy Harrison – a classic Flying Geese Quilt pattern. This pattern is easy and is a great pattern for beginner quilters.

Flying Geese Quilt

You will be entered into a drawing for a free prize from each of the shops that you dash through in addition to finding some great deals for fabrics and notions. The November Quilt Dash starts on November 15 and continues for 2 weeks through November 29, giving  you two weeks to participate.

The weather has turned colder to let us know that winter is on the way. Fall and winter are perfect times to quilt while we are stuck inside a little more to escape colder weather. Our cold weather quilting gives us new quilts to snuggle in or to give to others for snuggling!

Stay warm and enjoy a quilt!

Phyllis

 

 

Quilt Pattern made with “Wild Flower” for Dashing!

For autumn splendor I naturally think of the rich colors of yellow and orange. To design a quilt on this theme, I used my new fabric collection “Wild Flower” from Quilting Treasures to create the quilt “Autumn Splendor” for the Quilt Dash October 2013.  This colorful pattern is now available through the WhimsyColor Shop.

Wild Flower quilt pattern autumn splendor

Each person joining the dash will also receive a free 4 month quilt magazine subscription and you will also be entered to win a prize from each quilt shop participating. You will find a lot of great fabric and notions as you dash that  you will love as an addition to your quilting supplies.

The Quilt Dash is going on now through the end of October and is free to enter.

So fall is finally here and cooler weather is approaching with, I hope, low humidity. To all of you, I wish you a “happy fall, y’all” from my southern studio!

Phyllis

 

Add a Little “Wild Flower” to your Day with Fabrics!

I want to introduce you to my newest fabric collection “Wild Flower” from Quilting Treasures! I love the bold bright colors of this colection and hope that you will too.

Wild Flower Zebra Skin Fabrics by Phyllis Dobbs

The main print features a black and white zebra animal skin print with yellow, fuchsia pink and orange flowers scattered randomally on top of the black and white print. Coordinating fabrics include a black and white as well as an orange and fuchsia pink zebra stripe fabrics. Other fabrics include a smaller flower design on each black and white backgrounds and tonal fabrics in several colors to round out the collection.

The “Wild Flower” collection will be in independent shops sometime during this month of October and can be ordered by shops now from Quilting Treasures.

I am getting ready to attend the fall Houston International Quilt Market and will also be at the International Quilt Festival that follows market. I will be in and out of Quilting Treasure’s booth as well as the Gutermann thread booth during Market and in the Gutermann booth during Quilt Festival.  I would love to meet all of you who may be attending either show, so please stop by!

Also, please check back for some free patterns with the “Wild Flower” fabrics. I have designed several quilt and sewing patterns to go with this collection and will post as soon as they are completed.

Well, back to prep for Quilt Market. I hope that you are having a colorful week!

Phyllis

 

Dash for a Free Quilt Pattern – a Splash of Color

I love color and this quilt pattern gives lots of it, which is why I named it “Splash of Color”. This pattern was designed the Quilt Dash and is now available from the WhimsyColor Shop.

Splash of Color quilt pattern

 

This pattern is easier than it looks and you can customize it with your own favorite colors. The finished quilt size is 56 1/2″ W x 80 1/2″ H. Its easy to customize for a smaller or larger quilt by doing it in 4 block increments so that you can have a small wall hanging quilt or a full bed sized quilt. The quilt is made with 24 identical blocks. You can also use your scraps to make this a scrappy quilt. Oh, the possibilities! And I know that each quilt made with this pattern will be uniquely your own, with each quilt having a different look and emphasis from this pattern.

The Quilt Dash starts on August 15 and goes on for 2 weeks, during which time you can receive this pattern free.  You can enter at any time during the 2 weeks and its also free to participate in the Quilt Dash. You can find some great sales and other products in the quilt stores that you visit. In addition, you will be entered into a drawing for a prize from each shop.

Shops, you can still sign up to participate to get new quilters and fabric lovers to Dash through your online stores.

I hope you will join us in the Quilt Dash for this  “Splash of Color” quilt pattern. I would love to see the quilt that you make from it.

This pattern is now available in my Craftsy store.

Happy Dashing!

Phyllis

Quilt Art Used for Quilt Shop Signs

I’m always flattered when someone contacts me about my art or fabrics. I was especially delighted when a new quilt shop contacted me about using my Quilt Art for their store signs. Jody Winn, the owner of  “A Winn-ing Quilt Shop, LLC“, contacted me prior to the opening of her new quilt shop.

Winn-ing Quilt Shop Store Sign

 

A Winn-ing Quilt Shop, LLC, opened on July 3, is located at 1002 Diamond Ridge, Ste. 1050, Jefferson City, MO, 65109. I hope if you are in the area you will stop by and check out her great selection of fabrics and notions! Jody found my art on products in my Zazzle store and wanted to coordinate everything with my art and business products for her store. Jefferson City looks like its about half way between Kansas City and St. Louis. These cities are frequent locations for the Spring International Quilt Market so maybe I will be able to visit Jody’s shop some day.

The above sign is on the building above her store. The sign below is on the store window. And if you are driving around in Jefferson City, you may also spot a similiar sign on her car door.

Winn-ing Quilt Shop store Sign

 

My quilt art is also being made into a fabric collection, titled “Xanadu”, and is due out soon. I will post more information when it’s ready for shipping.

Meanwhile, I have been adding more products made with my Quilt Art to my online Zazzle stores. My main store, PhyllisDobbs, has lots of products with colorful quilt designs in assorted color combinations, including business cards, smart phone and tablet cases, return address labels, mugs and much, much more for the quilt lover. I also have a business store, BusinessWithFlair, that concentrates on business related products designed for any quilt business. I hope you will check them out.

 

I wish Jody a big, huge success with “A Winn-ing Quilt Shop, LLC”.

Phyllis

This Quilt is a Mystery!

I can’t tell you what this quilt is at this point because its a mystery.  This free quilt pattern is yours for hopping through the shops in the Mystery Quilt Dash.  Only at the end will you find out what the quilt looks like.

Mystery Quilt Dash

The Mystery Quilt Dash starts Monday, July 1 and goes on for 2 weeks through July 14, so you have plenty of time to complete your dash.  You can start any time during these two weeks. Its free to join the Mystery Quilt Dash where you will find some great quilting products and sales as well as get the pieces to the mystery quilt.

I hope that you will join us in the Dash! I enjoyed designing this quilt which would also make a great scrappy quilt.

Have a fabulous holiday week celebrating the 4th of July!  If you are traveling, be safe!

Phyllis

Patriotism – Red, White & Blue Stars and StripesQuilt

A patriotic quilt is a wonderful way to show your love of our country. I designed this “Patriotism – Red, White & Blue” quilt so that you can sew it for every day use of for our patriotic holidays of July 4, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. This patriotic quilt pattern is available through the WhimsyColor Shop.

Patriotism quilt, red white & blue

“Patriotism – Red, White & Blue, Stars and Stripes” quilt  is 59 1/2″ wide x 69 1/2″ high. The blocks can be adjusted to make the quilt larger or smaller or to use for table runners and placemats.  I used different red fabrics for the stripes to make it look a little scrappy.  You can make it more scrappy by using different blue fabrics for the star block backgrounds.  Its always fun to see how quilters can take a pattern and make it their own with their  fabric choices, making each quilt look so different from the other.  That’s just the nature of quilting though and what makes it such a great artisan craft!!

Sew a quilt of red, white and blue as a gift to a veteran to say thanks or for a special occasion.

Phyllis

Spring Quilt Market in Portland, Part 2

The International Quilt Market is always beautiful and filled with great products. The recent Spring Quilt Market in Portland, OR, was no exception. Here are some of the photos I took during market.

The first thing I notice when attending a Quilt Market in Portland is the beautiful flowers that are in bloom everywhere.  Rhododendron is always in bloom with spectacular colors and are in abundance outside the convention center.

Rhododendron in Portland

I was working with Gutermann of USA while at market. I also decorated their booth and used some of my fabric collections with Quilting Treasures to make the quilts. (Most of these patterns are available for free here on my blog – Halloween, Bee Yourself quilt,  Bee Yourself Placemat, Birthday banner .)  I love Gutermann threads and heard the same comment from so many people during market. Our sewing machines also love Gutermann, so if yours is acting grouchy, try Gutermann threads to make it smile.

Gutermann Booth Quilt Market

I was excited that my next fabric collection, “Wild Flower” with Quilting Treasures was being pre-sold at market. I can’t wait to show you pictures of this collection, so check back. A friend who also has fabrics with Quilting Treasures, J Wecker Frish, has a new fabric collection coming soon, “She Who Sews”.  As you can see in the picture below, it will be another fabulous collection .

She Who Sews Fabrics by J. Wecker Frisch

June Tailor, Inc always has a beautiful booth. The Hexagon Ruler ,”You Hexie Thing,” and Grid Marker are both fabulous quilting tools.  You can see the beautiful quilts and sewing that can be created using them.  Hexie’s are so hot in quilting!

June Tailor booth at Quilt Market

 

June Tailor Grid Marker

Another product, the Swatch Buddies, caught my eye. These are reusable plastic cards that let you mount fabric swatches on one side and write swatch information on the other side.  You can shop for multiple projects at the same time by creating rings of Swatch Buddies for each project. You can also use these for your color palette when building your fabric stash. Another use it to attach them to a fabric bin so that you can see what fabrics are in the bin. I really think that there are many, many uses that they will be handy for.

Swatch Buddies

This really cute tulle tutu was created by my friend Debi Schmitz for the Expo International booth  She used various accessory pieces from Expo International to decorate a bodice. Its so feminine!

Tutu by Debi Schmitz for Quilt Market

The Pfaff USA sewing machine booth had several really unique and beautiful quilts on display. This one, “Positively Paisley”, is by Robyn Smith of Austin Sewing Machines.  She used a combination of free motion and quilting designs created with the 5D Quilt Designer software.

Quilt Positively Paisley Quilt Market

This is a close up of the detail of one of the paisleys in the quilt.

Positively Paisley embroidery closeup

The quilt below, “Porcelain Peacock” in the Pfaff booth, was created by 5 ladies from The Quilting Hen. Its very dimension and textured.

Porcelain Peacock Quilt in Paff booth at Quilt Market

Therm-o-Web had a really cute display of projects you can make using HeatnBond.

Heatnbond projects by therm-o-web

One of the benefits of having Quilt Market in Portland is that there is so much natural beauty in area. I could easily spend a week touring throughout Oregon. We did have a half day after setup to sight see and went to Multnomah Falls that is located about 30 minutes from Portland. This waterfall is so tall (620 feet) that its just about impossible to get the entire set of falls in a single photo. In the bottom photo, the small light speck on the right side of the bridge is me.

Multnomah Falls, Portland Or

Multnomah Falls

The mountains in Oregon and Washington are spectacular and I had a terrific view of 3 of Washington’s mountains from my window shortly after takeoff.  Mt. St. Helens is the flat topped mountain at the left.  Mt. Rainier is in the center top with Mt. Adams at the right side.  They may be hard to pick out at first glance due to the puffy clouds.

Washington State Mountains

You can click to see my first post of the Spring Quilt Market with some of the spectacular quilts on exhibit.

Now, I’m already looking forward to Fall Quilt Market in Houston.

Phyllis

Watermelon Crawl – Free Quilt Pattern

Join the Quilt Block Dash, starting Monday June 3 – 13, to receive a free quilt pattern for this Watermelon Crawl quilt, designed by Tammy K. Harrison.

Watermelon Crawl quilt pattern

Watermelon Crawl is shown here as how it would look with 3 fabrics. It could also be made with your scraps for a gorgeous scrappy look. Or just make the “watermelons” in the block with an assortment of pink/red fabrics for some scrappiness.

Quilt Block Dash is a fun online shop hop where you receive parts of this free pattern and instructions from each shop that you hop to.  While in the shops, you will find some favorite fabrics and notions. You will also be entered into a free drawing at the end of the Quilt Block Dash for prizes from the shops you visit.

Quilt and fabric shops – join in with the Quilt Block Dash to get more visitors into your stores. Its also a great way to showcase your sales!  Its easy for all.

Meanwhile, I’m going through all my images of exciting things I saw at the International Quilt Market in Portland, OR and will be posting them soon! With my iPhone, it is so easy to keep snapping away, so I end up with tons of pictures to go through.

Check out the Quilt Block Dash and be a part of some quilting fun!

Phyllis