More from Fall ’14 Quilt Market!

Back from another successful and busy Market in Houston, we’ve got some images to show off!  Thanks to our designers for sharing them with us.  Stay tuned for more…

Marcus Booth #1802 -Fall '14 Quilt Market

Marcus Fabrics Booth #1802…another beautiful display! Fabric collections shown left to right: Mill Girls; Molly B’s 1800’s – Victoria’s Violets; Aunt Grace Simpler Sampler; Judie’s Album Quilt mixed with Paula Barnes Companions; A Prairie Gathering; Judie’s Album Quilt.

Quilted Crow Girls Wool and Cotton

The Quilted Crow Girls combine some of the season’s best trends (wool with cotton and miniature projects) in their new Pantry Club program.

A Prairie Gathering - Pam Buda

A Prairie Gathering – A beautiful new fabric collection and quarterly quilt program by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts feature rich reds in a medallion design.

Red Crinoline Quilts, Marcus Fabrics

Just across the aisle from Marcus was Red Crinoline Quilts, featuring Paula Barnes’ fabric collections. Photo by Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts.

Did You Attend our Schoolhouse Sessions?

Schoolhouse Fall 2014 means three back-to-back sessions, presented by some of our best designers, sharing merchandising and design tips for independent quilt shops!  From miniature projects to fussy cutting to BOMs and more, here’s a sneak peek.

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Spooktacular Sewing Projects!

A recent Quilter’s Newsletter blog post features Faye Burgos’ frighteningly fun Halloween H’Owl panel design, and even offers it in a convenient kit.  Check out all of its project picks for Halloween fun!  Think it’s a bit late?  Not really… Halloween has gradually morphed into an entire season rather than just one day, so it’s become popular to decorate with ghouls & goblins from the first touches of cool weather, right on through the autumn season.  (Have you noticed people putting up orange lights and elobarate, spooky displays outdoors now, in advance of the Christmas lights?)  Enjoy!

Stitch up “Autumn Memories” by The Quilted Crow Girls

You’ll want to recreate this gorgeous felted wool and cotton print project designed and machine quilted by Deirdre Bond-Abel of Quilted Crow Girls Designs.  It uses the Crows’ new POMEGRANATE LANE and THE SEASONS WOOL COLLECTION fabrics, with piecing, applique and reverse applique techniques. Instructions are in the new Nov/Dec issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. 

Tomorrow…the Final Sew Along Block!

Hello Sew Along friends!  Just a reminder that TOMORROW we bring you the final block in our first designer Sew Along.  It’s my own design.  But since I can’t show it to you just yet, here’s another look at that fabulous prize basket….

If you’ve just been lurking for the past 9 weeks, it really isn’t too late to sew along with us…this post will give you the details including the blog post dates of each designer.  From those posts, you can collect the downloadable PDF instructions for Blocks 1 thru 8.

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So, Who Won Those Gorgeous Wools & eBook?

MarcusWoolBundleCROWSThanks to everyone for your enthusiastic comments about the Quilted Crow Girls’ wool collection and new book by Martingale!  We learned that many of you  have never tried wool applique on cotton, so we hope you’ll enjoy this new creative endeavor with some help from the Crows, Martingale and Marcus.  We’re pleased to announce that the winner of the wool bundle and eBook is Faith Stanton of Trenton, FL!  Congratulations, Faith — your autumn-toned FQ pack from THE SEASONS WOOL COLLECTION and eBook are on the way to you!

CrowBundlesAll other quilting friends, watch for the full 20-color range of these juicy wools and coordinating POMEGRANATE LANE cotton prints in your local quilts shops now!

The Crow Girls Love Aurifil Cotton Mako 28wt

As if the excitement from yesterday’s blog post wasn’t enough, several samples of Aurifil Cotton Mako 28wt thread arrived at the office, in colors selected by the Quilted Crow Girls specifically for THE SEASONS WOOL COLLECTION.  Gorgeous, lustrous threads — I had to show them off! Their picks include:  2887 (lighter green) and 5012 (darker green) 2630 (charcoal), 2468 (burgundy-brown), 2460 (pomegranate), 1310 (slate blue), 2975 (a gorgeous gold!) and 2445 (a rose pink).  We can see why the Girls prefer this thread for their wool-on-cotton applique projects. Thanks to Aurifil for the samples!

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It’s A Quilted Crow Girls Giveaway!

That’s right!  We’re again partnering with our friends at Martingale, this time to celebrate the release of the Quilted Crow Girls’ new book, Country Elegance. 

With their first hugely popular book Elegant Quilts, Country Charm, design duo Leonie Bateman and Deirdre Bond-Abel won fans around the world.  Now these talented Australian designers are back with stunning all-new designs featuring wool appliqué on cotton backgrounds.

Best of all, you’ve got TWO chances to win this free eBook courtesy of Martingale, PLUS a bundle of FQs from the Crow Girls’ gorgeous new group for Marcus, THE SEASONS WOOL COLLECTION, so leave a comment below, and on the Martingale blog too, to increase your chance of winning…Good Luck!

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It seems Australian design influences are big here in the US quilting market, and around the world.  Read more about some of the specific elements behind this exciting creative surge!

Pam’s Prairie Pocket Inspiration

Take a look at what Pam Buda’s been up to (aside from the Marcus SAL!)  Here she talks about one of her latest projects…

“I’m fascinated by creativity. It’s so unique to each person. For some it’s easy and others not so much. And…you never know when or where you might be inspired.  When it comes to fabric designing, it’s good to have a vivid imagination…to see possibilities in vintage fabrics and give them new life.Pam-Aug1

I found this antique “prairie pocket” while shopping an antique show last year. I think it’s a wonderful example of a functional, wearable relic of nineteenth century living. Back then, clothes didn’t have set- in pockets in the seams as they do now. Women would wear the prairie pocket(s) underneath their skirts. There would be a slit opening in the side seam of their skirts allowing access to the pocket underneath, where they would keep necessities of daily life, such as a flint and fuzz for making a fire, eyeglasses, and quite often needle, thread and patchwork Pam-Aug2scraps.

Closer inspection of the pocket patchwork reveals quite a few wonderful fabric prints. One print made its way into my newest fabric collection, PRAIRIE GATHERING. I changed a few elements from the original piece, which is really cute just the way it is. (It became Style # 5534-0111 in Pam-Aug3PamAug4red.)

Mosey over to my blog to read about two more prints I chose for the Prairie Gathering collection that came from a dirty, nasty piece of patchwork that I’m pretty sure was used to wipe a car engine!”

 Thanks, Pam… We love to explore the many places where inspiration can be found! 

Quilters, where do YOU find the best inspiration for your projects?

Review of “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”

Met2Brandy, our office & merchandising assistant and Christine, our summer intern (shown here) recently visited the Charles James exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Check out their review of the exhibit:

“It’s not too late to catch the Charles James exhibit (http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/charles-james-beyond-fashion) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://www.metmuseum.org/). The show closes on August 10, 2014.Mey6

Charles James created sculptural gowns and daytime pieces. The exhibit is broken into 2 sections – the special exhibition galleries (walk through the Greek and Roman galleries) on the Museum’s first floor and The Costume Institute’s Anna Wintour Costume Center (walk through the Egyptian galleries).
Met4Met7Visit the special exhibition galleries first because this is where the couture pieces are. There are videos that break down the construction of the gowns from 3 dimensional to flat patterns. James created this cream & gold dress following a huge Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit here in the US.  Can you see the O’Keeffe influence?
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The Costume Institute has less formal gowns and daytime pieces. You will also see more of Charles James’ process here. The satin jacket above  is Brandy’s favorite – maybe because of its quilted effect? It was made in response to the all the fur jackets being sported at the time.
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Fun Fact. Gypsy Rose Lee (inset) wore Charles James. The red dress shown is believed to be one she wore in a magazine editorial.