A Very Special Anniversary!

We can hardly believe that it’s been 35 years since Judie Rothermel designed her very first line of quilting fabrics! In 2022, we’re celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Judie’s iconic designs for Marcus Fabrics and her unique contribution to the world of quilting!

That first collection came about because Judie grew tired of tea-dyeing the available prints at the time to achieve an antiqued look. So, she set out to design a group of prints with the look she desired. It debuted in the Marcus booth at Quilt Market in 1987. Since then, she’s created thousands of beloved fabric designs for quilters, like Aunt Grace 1930s prints, Civil War collections, Old Sturbridge Village fabrics and sew many other… and there’s more to come!!

The official festivities begin September 1, 2022, so now’s a great time to browse through your treasured stash for your favorite “Judie Quilts”, fabrics, swatches, patterns and more, to enter various giveaways and contests to come  – stay tuned!

You can even begin sharing some of your favorites Judie quilts, swatches, etc. now on social media – please be sure to include #Judie35 or #JudieRothermel35, and tag us @marcusfabrics and @schoolhousequiltshop.

Congratulations, Judie!!

A Year’s Worth of Creative Excitement!

A fresh year means a fresh start for our creative projects…check out just a few of the exciting things coming your way in the coming months from Marcus and Studio 37!

Sneak Peeks!  Watch for these collections online beginning February 1:

And get caught up with our most recent releases, online now:

You’ll Love Laura Coia’s Take on Our AUNT GRACE Quilt!

Be sure to check out Laura Coia of Sew Very Easy, as she breaks down our AUNT GRACE quilt with her own great tips and techniques!  The video is titled “How to Sew a Quilt with Diagonal Rows.”   One great thing about quilting is that there’s always something new to learn, and Laura offers quick and easy variations you’ll want to incorporate into other projects, too!

Judie Rothermel’s AUNT GRACE prints give the quilt a vintage feel, with classic Nine-Patch and Snowball blocks arranged for an updated look.  Of course, prints from Judie’s newest  AUNT GRACE BASKETS OF SCRAPS would work equally well.  We’re working on a few more projects with Laura for Fall 2017, so stay tuned, and until then, subscribe to Sew Very Easy for lots of great  projects and inspiration!

Judie’s Prints Are the Key to Carol’s 4″ x 5″ Club!

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Wow! The excitement continues to build over Carol Hopkins’ exciting “It’s Not A Square” Club, and the outstanding job she did in curating the prints from Judie Rothermel’s new AMERICAN SWATCH BOOK collection! Carol chose the perfect blend of black, pink, red and blue prints.
In fact, it was Carol’s own admiration and respect for Judie’s reproduction expertise that led her to approach Marcus and Judie to create the collection especially for her new book The 4″ x 5″ Quilt-Block Anthology, co-authored with Linda M. Koenig (Martingale)
You know how rare it is for a quilting book to be released, with fabrics available at the same time, and we know you can’t wait to get started!  Look for these gorgeous fabrics to arrive in your favorite quilt shops in early June – that’s just about 5 short weeks away!

And the Winner of the “It’s Not A Square” Prize Pack is…

AmerSwatchBlogPrizeCongratulations to Jenny Brooks of Bartow, FL for winning our random drawing!  Her prize includes a copy of the big and beautiful book, The 4″ x 5″ Quilt-Block Anthology by Carol Hopkins & Linda Koenig, along with an equally big and beautiful bundle of AMERICAN SWATCH BOOK fat quarters!

Thanks to everyone for your fun comments – we know you can’t wait to create your 4″ x 5″ blocks, and it looks like for many of you, the rectangular blocks featured in Carol’s “It’s Not A Square” Club will be a new creative adventure  ; )  You’ve already confirmed for us that these unique blocks and Judie Rothermel’s fabric designs are a winning combination. Ask for the Club in your favorite local quilt shop beginning this summer.  And as always, thanks to our friends at Martingale for another great partnering opportunity!

If you’re a shop owner attending Quilt Market in St. Louis next month, be sure to attend Carol’s schoolhouse session on Thursday May 18 (11:00 to 11:30am, Room 267), and her book signing in the Marcus Fabrics booth #717 on Saturday, May 20 at 10am (arrive early – book quantities are limited!)

You’ll Love Carol’s New Club, Its Backstory, and Our Giveaway!


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This month, we introduce “It’s Not a Square” an exciting new program we know you’re gonna love! It’s a 12-month Club by reproduction expert Carol Hopkins, with AMERICAN SWATCH BOOK prints by Judie Rothermel. Best of all, we timed the fabric production to coincide with Carol’s new book, The 4″ x 5″ Quilt Block Anthology: 182 Blocks for Reproduction Fabrics (Martingale, March 2017).  We chatted with Carol to uncover some of the interesting backstory that led to this exciting Club concept:

 

  • The rectangular shape of the blocks is a big feature of the book. What brought that about?

I’ve been a part of a block exchange group for about 25 years.  Four of us had just finished a year-long exchange of 6” weather vane blocks and were looking for an easier, and less time consuming, block.  We decided to frame a 3” x 4” rectangle with a 1” border—easy cutting, two fabrics, done!  However, on her way home from our lunch meeting, Linda Koenig had a brainstorm which she followed up on with a note to all of us, suggesting that instead of just framing a plain rectangle, we create designs that would fit inside a 4” x 5” rectangle.  She tempted us by enclosing a set of four blocks she made and we jumped in, not realizing just how challenging it would be to come up with block designs that weren’t square!CarolHopkins

  • Your new book is titled, “The 4” x 5” Quilt Block Anthology: 182 Blocks for Reproduction Fabrics”. How long did it take to amass such a variety of designs, and how did you know you were “done” at 182?

We each agreed to design four blocks a month for a period of nine months.  Since we make identical blocks for each person in the group, that meant we each sewed 16 blocks a month.  That’s a lot of sewing, but the good news is, we each had 16 new blocks at the end of the month!  When Linda showed our blocks to members of another group she belonged to, they, too, decided to design blocks; however, they did not exchange blocks.

AmerSwatchGiveawayAt the end of nine months, 182 different blocks had been created.  The quilt on the cover of The 4” x 5” Quilt Block Anthology, contains all of the blocks designed by the two groups, and was made by Linda, who, sadly, passed away shortly before the book went to press.  Other quilts in the book and its companion on-line photo gallery vary in size from wall hangings to bed quilts and showcase a variety of fabric designs and colors.

  • Tell us about the color palette – any special significance?

In our block exchanges, my group always uses fabrics that look old–Civil War reproductions, pink-and-brown prints, blue prints with shirtings, plaids /checks/stripes, and red-and-green combinations.  Linda suggested the 1880s color palette of red, blue, black, pink, and shirtings because it was one that we had not used before.

While we were able to select fabrics from our decades-old personal stashes, I was concerned that there was not a fabric collection in the marketplace that captured the look of the blocks in the book.  Martingale’s Chief Creative Officer and I approached Pati Violick from Marcus Fabrics about the possibility of asking Judie Rothermel, the pioneer designer of reproduction fabrics, to create a fabric line in our color palette.  Thus, the collaboration between a book and fabric company emerged, and I had the rare opportunity to help curate a collection of 22 prints from Judie’s personal collection of antique fabrics that resulted in the AMERICAN SWATCH BOOK line.

CarolBlogGuideBlocksI’ve taken the book and fabric collaboration a step further to create the It’s Not A Square Club that will debut in quilt shops this summer.  Using the American Swatch Book fabrics, The 4” x 5” Quilt Block Anthology book, and detailed monthly block guides, club members will make six different blocks a month to create a 57” x 78” sampler quilt of 72 rectangular blocks.

  • CarolSpoolsAside from quilts, how do you see quilters using blocks of this size and shape, either individually or grouped together?

I envision quilters using individual 4” x 5” blocks for things like mug rugs, purses, fabric postcards, and even pockets on clothing.  A grouping of just a few blocks could make unique doll quilts, basket liners, table runners, wall hangings, or mini samplers.  One of the most fun things I can think of is getting a group of friends together to work on blocks for themselves or to swap with other quilters.  The book includes tips and guidelines to help you set up a block exchange or organize a club.

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AmerSwatchGiveawayLooks like one you’ll want to add to your project list this summer!  And to get one lucky winner stared, we’ve again teamed up with Martingale to offer this book-and-fabric bundle. To enter the random drawing, subscribe to our blog (at right), and tell us in the COMMENTS what you would love most about making this quilt… Comments received by next Wednesday, April 12, 2017 are eligible for the drawing…  Go!

Sneak Peek: Join Carol Hopkins’ New Club!

AmerSwatchBLOCKS CarolHopkins
It’s a rare occurrence in the quilt world to introduce a coordinated effort, where the book and the fabric are released together — It’s Not a Square is a new club designed by repro expert Carol Hopkins, with the AMERICAN SWATCH BOOK collection by Judie Rothermel! It ensures quilters will have the fabrics AND the inspiration at the same time, for maximum enjoyment.

“The unique feature of these blocks is that they aren’t square – they finish at 4″ x 5″. We recreated some classic blocks and also designed more than 50 original blocks that no one has ever seen before, ending up with 182 different blocks.” Carol says about her new book for Martingale (co-authored by Linda Koenig). “The 4″ x 5″ Quilt Block Anthology: 182 Blocks for Reproduction Fabrics” contains instructions for making all of the blocks!

We’ll unveil these gorgeous fabrics online soon*, but we couldn’t wait to partner with our friends at Martingale for the first of TWO joint book-and-fabric giveaways!  Enter the first giveaway now at Martingale, then watch this blog for the Marcus giveaway to follow.  And be sure to add It’s Not a Square to your creative schedule – the 12-month Club begins  August 2017!

(*Retailer-Only – log-in now to preview the collection and Club details)

AmerSwatchGiveaway

We (Heart) Batik Valentine’s Mugrugs!

If you LOVE mugrugs AND batiks like we do, then you’re sure to also LOVE our easy Valentine’s Day Mugrug design!  Not only can you make these by the dozen for all the loves of your life – you can also enter each and every one of them in our new Mugrug Challenge, for a chance to win one of our weekly prizes!  Check out the Challenge details, then read the how-to below make this design… it’s the perfect complement for a cup of tea made from fresh sage leaves and a couple of tea biscuits, as shown

HeartmugugFinished

First, I cut out a paper heart shape pattern to the desired size, plus about 1/4″ seam allowance all around.  (If you’d rather not hand-cut your pattern, you’ll find about a zillion of them online, print out your favorite ; ).

HeartMugrug

Using three tonal RADIANT REFLECTIONS batiks, I started stitching up a crazy quilt block directly onto the batting (I used Fairfield Soft & Toasty cotton batting), for an easy quilt-as-you-go construction method. I added fabrics randomly until the block was just larger than the heart pattern.  I cut both the pieced block and a backing fabric from the heart pattern, and stitched them right sides together all around with a 1/4″ seam, leaving an opening to turn. Next, just turn and press, closing the opening with hand stitches or a narrow strip of fusible tape.  Add a coordinating mug or teacup, a packet of cappuccino mix or some gourmet teabags, and a love note.  Maybe a matching batik napkin for extra credit?

Now, just take a picture, enter the Challenge on Instagram with #MarcusMugshot, and your Valentine is now ready to give!          —   lisa

“Show Us YOUR Mugshots!”

ShowMugShotGRAFHey Quilting Friends!  Ready for a FUN and EASY quilt challenge?  Well, whether you’re already a fan of the Mugrug, or aren’t even sure what one is, you’ll want to enter the Marcus Makers MUGRUG CHALLENGE!  Help us to achieve our lofty goal of “A Marcus Rug for Every Mug,”  now thru April 30, 2017 — here’s how…

Follow the various inspirations we’ve gathered from our own Marcus Makers (instructions for these mugrugs are available online!), or create your own look using at least ONE fabric print from Marcus or Studio 37, and feel free to add any solids of your choice.  In fact, it’s a great opportunity to go thru your Marcus stash for a few great coordinates to get started, then visit your local quilt shops for the newest collections, and more great mugrug ideas, patterns, tips and related activities…

DesignerMugrugsGROUP

Then, post your entry on Instagram using #MarcusMugshot, and remember to tag @marcusfabrics and/or @studio37fabrics for greater exposure! 

If you’re new to mugrugs, be warned:  mugrug making can be addictive, which is really not a problem, because they make great gifts, AND you can enter as many times as you like (one mugrug per photo, please).  Each Tuesday during the Challenge, we’ll choose random winners from the hashtagged entries to receive exciting fabric prizes and more — Join us!!

Gorgeous Quilt, Gorgeous Quilting

SturbXmasQuiltNancyWe got up-close & personal with Nancy Rink’s new holiday quilt design, featuring the OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE COLLECTION by Judie Rothermel. As you can see, the colors and motifs lend themselves to Christmas projects wtih the rich, traditional feel of Sturbridge.  Nancy’s knack for machine quilting artistry completes the masterpiece, with accents of red and green thread on the back.  Visit Nancy online for “Mill Girls Holiday” pattern information.