Tag Archives: quilting

Last Call for Lucy Boston!

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A big THANK YOU to all of our quilting friends for participating in our Lucy Boston Challenge this weekend at the Road to CA event!  With over 125 blocks completed this weekend, we appreciate your talents, comments and enthusiasm, and we can’t wait to unveil the finished project.  Pati says, “Looks like we will be making a couple of quilts for the ALS donation. Thank you all that participated.  I had the best time seeing how excited you all were to hand in your blocks.” 

Check out our final collection of paper-pieced blocks below …and watch for the announcement of our ten lucky Prize Pack winners, too!

Wishing everyone safe travels home, especially those on the East Coast, in advance of the coming blizzard…including Pati!!

100winner

Amy Tangiguchi brought the 100th block to the booth, which earned her a special prize.

All stacked up - an impressive grouping!

All stacked up – an impressive grouping!

Nancy brings in the 125th and final block!

Nancy brings in the 125th and final block!

Pati and Vicki make it to the end of the show! Congrats, girls!

Pati and Vicki make it to the end of the show! Congrats, girls!

A Little Bump in the Road (to California)

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PatiVickiRoadCA15It’s time for Road to California, taking place this weekend in Ontario, CA.  Pati (on the left) reports a missing shipment!!

“Even though our shipment didn’t arrive me and Vickie are “making do” with what we have.  We are smiling but we’re not happy about the missing shipment”. Hopefully it will show up, and be the only bump in an otherwise smooth Road Trip.  At least the weather looks good from here, Pati…

To cheer her up, be sure to stop by the Marcus booth, and tell her Lisa sent you  ; )  Pati and Vicki Bellino (of Marcus BOM and Strip-It quilt fame) will demo creative cutting & piecing, paper piecing and more, all weekend long.  And you can create your own Lucy Boston block for the chane to win a Marcus prize pack.  Pick up your free fabric and paper piecing pack, stitch up your block, and return it to be displayed in the Marcus booth during the show.  We’ll be picking TEN winners…Good Luck!

Look Who Made the AURIFIL 2015 Design Team…

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Guess what: Our own very talented Nancy Rink of Nancy Rink Designs is one of several quilt artists named to AURIFIL Thread’s 2015 Design Team!  Judging from the size of those spools, it looks like they’re all in for a really fun and eventful year.  AurifulDesigners2015NancyYou know Nancy from her colorful fabric collections and gorgeous BOMs and other quilt designs including AMISH WITH A TWIST, COLOR LOVE, MILL WORKS and POINTE PLEASANT, among others.  (That’s her in the solid black shirt, lower left end.)  We’re thrilled that Nancy will bring Marcus fabrics and Aurifil together in her gorgeous creations for the coming year, and beyond…

Congratulations to Nancy and all of the Aurifil designers!

New Views from Booth 1802

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It’s great to get booth pictures from new sources — it gives us a chance to see what our sales reps, designers and other associates found especially picture-worthy.  Here’s what they loved:

Marcus Fabrics

Boutique garments from a mix of Marcus Fabrics

Lynn Wilder quilt

Lynn Wilder of the Sew’n Wild Oaks Quilting Blog designed this quilt, entitled Emilie Elizabeth, using a mix of JUDIE’S ALBUM QUILT prints and PAULA BARNES COMPANIONS. Pattern Info: sewnwildoaks@gmail.com

Primo Plaids - Marcus Fabrics

PRIMO PLAIDS remain the quilter’s favorite for quilts, crafts & cozy clothing, with new patterns and colors each season!

Aunt Grace - Marcus Fabrics

Aunt Grace SIMPLER SAMPLER – BOM quilt by Vicki Bellino and assorted crafts!

Nancy Rink's purples highlight MILL WORKS fabrics & BOM program.

Nancy Rink’s purples highlight MILL WORKS fabrics & BOM program.

Pomegranate & Seasons - Marcus Fabrics

Cute crafts done in POMEGRANATE LANE cotton prints and coordinating SEASONS Wool Collection colors

Marcus Sew-Along, WEEK #9

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SAL-LisaBlockOnMatCROPPEDHi, I’m Lisa Shepard Stewart, marketing manager at Marcus.  If you’re a regular reader of our website, blog posts, press releases and newsletters, chances are I’ve written it.  In addition to working part-time for Marcus, I own a company called Cultured Expressions, specializing in the creative use of authentic African textiles for decorating, quilting, sewing and crafts.

Well, if you’ve followed us this far in the sew-along, you’re likely already a big fan of Repro prints.  But even if you’re like me, and the Repros aren’t necessarily your go-to category when you quilt, I’d encourage you to try mixing them in with your favorites and see what happens.  (The many deep, saturated colors and earthy tones of some repros would look great pieced in with bogolan / mudcloth from Mali or even Indian raw silks for a different take, but I digress…)

By now I know you can’t wait for the big reveal of the “Friends & Companions” quilt next week, so let’s get on with the instructions for the final block!  For this block, you’ll need the following from Paula Barnes Companions:     1035-0112 Black, 1034-0111 Burgundy, 1702-0116 Sage, 1038-0188 Beige, 1033-0128 Cheddar

Cutting Instructions:

– from Burgundy, Sage, and Cheddar:  Cut (1) strip 1½” x 15″ long
— from Black, Sage: Cut (4) squares 1½”
— from Beige:  Cut (4) strips 1½” x 2½” and (4) strips 1½” x 3½”

                        (OR Cut one strip 1½” wide x at least 28″ long (for Alternate piecing method)

Block Instructions (Read thru all steps before you begin)SALHowTo1

1. Sew burgundy strip to sage strip. Sew cheddar strip to the other side of the sage. Press. From this pieced strip, cut (4) 3½” sections.

2.  Sew one sage square to each of the four 2½” beige strips. Sew one black square to each of the four 3½” beige strips.*

SAL-Howto2

Note: In the first photo, the beige strip under the machine needle is about to be trimmed down to 2.5″ as the first two were. Next, the units are simply cut apart, then pressed.

(*As an alternate piecing method, stitch the first square to the beige strip. Without removing the piece from the sewing machine, trim the beige strip to 2½” long, Stitch the next sage square to the remaining length of beige strip, and again trim the beige strip to 2½” long. Repeat until you have the four green-tipped strips, and four black-tipped strips. Cut strips apart; press.

3. Stitch the green-tipped strips to the four Rail Fence sections, lining up the sage square and cheddar strip as shown.

4. Stitch the black-tipped strips to the units, lining up the black square to the burgundy side as shown.SAL-Howto3

5. Join the four units as shown; square up for an unfinished block size of 8.5″.

(Download the PDF version)

Week9-CoinPursePrizeRemember to leave a comment below for your chance at this week’s goodies – a bundle of Marcus fabrics in dark reds, one of my favorite palettes, and a Vintage Coin Purse Kit, a gift from Cultured Expressions, so you can create your own.  Good Luck, everyone!  

With your nine blocks now complete, we all THANK YOU for participating, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the process so far! Congratulations – your efforts will soon be well rewarded  ; )  See you next week for the Big Reveal!!  Late to the party?  Start from the beginning!

So, Who Won Those Gorgeous Wools & eBook?

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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!

It’s A Quilted Crow Girls Giveaway!

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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!

MarcusWoolBundleCROWS

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!

September is National Sewing Month!

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Celebrated officially in the US since 1982, National Sewing Month is a perfect opportunity to indulge ourselves in our collective passion for sewing, quilting and all things FABRIC! Visit your local quilt shops and fabric stores, visit or join your local guild, or just gather a few friends to share some creative time…the National Sewing Month website has project ideas and more for you!

English Paper Piecing vs. Paper Piecing

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One of our comments from WEEK #4 of our SewAlong asked Pati about the difference between English Paper Piecing and Paper Piecing.

“There is always a little confusion with this:

In English Paper Piecing-is a hands on sewing method –no sewing machine required.   Working with paper templates that are die cut from card stock in specific shapes and measurements like hexagons, diamonds, triangles etc…   fabric is cut little larger than the template all around –(I usually cut a generous  ¼”)   then hand stitched around the shape thru the paper  (or new glue pen method is being used a lot).   Then the fabric shapes are whip-stitched together to create you block design like Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Stars etc…  The beauty in English Paper Piecing is always the accuracy of the finished design and the hand work which is I love.  Watch out – very addicting for some.

Paper Piecing is sometimes confused with Foundation Piecing.  In Paper Piecing a design is printed or drawn on paper.   Fabric is placed on top of the paper design and stitched thru paper and fabric to create the design (usually using a sewing machine) after the blocks are sewn together the paper is torn off.  With Foundation Piecing –usually a light weight fabric is used and similar to Paper Piecing a design it can be printed or drawn on to the fabric or Crazy Quilt method where you just piece as you go but in all cases the base fabric is left in place.

Of course there are many other references for “paper piecing” –freeze paper, parchment paper etc..  This is just my spin on it.”

Our Designer SEW-ALONG Starts Today!

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SALButtonHORZ14

Are you ready?  Today we launch “Friends & Companions” our first designer Sew-Along, featuring quilt blocks created by MB Friends & Companions Kit Fabrics 2some of your favorite Marcus designers, using Paula Barnes Companions prints!  Get the details here.   Not quite ready yet?  Just follow the blog posts and catch up as soon as you can.  By visiting each designer’s blog on her designated week, you’ll get the instructions for that designer’s block.  Leave a comment, and you’ll also be entered into weekly prize drawings during the 10-week sew-along!  We begin today with Pam Buda…here’s the full schedule:

8/1 Pam Buda ~ Heartspun Quilts
8/8 Paula Barnes ~ Red Crinoline Quilts
8/15 Sarah Maxwell ~ Homestead Hearth
8/22 Pati Violick ~ Marcus Fabrics
8/29 Gloria Parsons ~ Olde Green Cupboard
9/5 Nancy Rink ~ Nancy Rink Designs
9/12 Mary Ellen Robison~Red Crinoline Quilts
9/19 Dolores Smith ~ Homestead Hearth
9/26 Lisa Shepard Stewart~ Marcus Fabrics
10/3 Red Crinoline Quilts ~ Quilt Revealed! SAL-Prizes

At the end, we reveal the gorgeous quilt (trust us, you’ll love it!) and we’ll also choose one winner will receive our Grand Prize goodie basket.  Here’s a sneak pic of just a few of the basket contents…thanks to our friends at MistyFuse and Martingale, and to all of our designers.  Sew along with us each week!