#MondaysWithMarcus: “Make Something Sweet” with Tracy Souza!

#MondaysWithMarcus continues today with beautifully stitched words of wisdom from Tracy Souza of Plumcute Designs!

You’ll find Tracy’s free project here. Choose your favorite Marcus low-volume background fabric to add a bit of texture, and stitch!. Follow Tracy’s lead of framing your piece in a small embroidery hoop with ric-rac trim, use a traditional frame, or even incorporate the block into a quilt. It makes a perfect gift!

Come back each Monday thru May 17 for another fun free project from your favorite Marcus designers. This time around, several projects will also be redone by other designers, in their own signature styles, for a wider variety of creative options… You’ll find the complete line-up of projects on the Mondays with Marcus page, and our Facebook page. Join us!

#MondaysWithMarcus: “Bountiful Stars” from Red Crinoline Quilts!

Today, we feature this gorgeous 36″ square quilt by Red Crinoline Quilts, done in the BOUNTIFUL BLUES collection by Paula Barnes! You’ll love this design as a wall accent, or as an elegant table topper. Download the free pattern, or order the optional kit for maximum convenience.

Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts

Come back each Monday thru May 17 for another fun free project from your favorite Marcus designers. This time around, several projects will also be redone by other designers, in their own signature styles, for a wider variety of creative options… You’ll find the complete line-up of projects on the Mondays with Marcus page, and our Facebook page. Join us!

#MondaysWithMarcus: Pam Buda

This week, we’re featuring “Back in Time” by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts! It makes a great wall accent, doll quilt or table topper. She offers her adorable mini quilt in two colorways as a free project download, and video tutorial. It measures 19″ x 25″. Order your kit while supplies last!

Introducing #MondaysWithMarcus II: Sew Many Options!

Get ready for a brand new series of FREE PROJECTS and creative inspiration from your favorite Marcus and Studio 37 designers! Beginning March 8, these talented ladies will take us through the spring season with great projects you’ll love to create.

And this time around, we’ve added a twist: “Sew Many Options” is the theme, and with each featured designer’s Monday release, you’ll also see the same project interpreted by other designers in their own unique styles! Here’s a sneak peek:

Be sure to mark your calendars now, and tune in here, on the Marcus site, or on the MWM Facebook page for project links and information. Our first download, from Vicki McCarty, will be released next Monday, March 8. Then, be sure to Like, Follow and Share Marcus Fabrics and all of our designers for the best in quilting inspiration!

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Pam Buda!

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

Pam Buda’s been working on various projects from her newest collections. “The fabrics are from FOLK ART STARS and PRIMITIVE TRADITIONS, which will be in shops late March.  The quilt on the wall is the only one I have to photograph at the moment.  As you can see, I’m constructing it now.  It’s called Tiny Baskets.  It’s one of 5 new patterns using the entire Primitive Traditions collection and will be available in April. 

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Red Crinoline Quilts

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

This week’s check in with Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts

Paula reports: “Mary Ellen has been busy piecing the blocks for our new quilt made from my Bountiful Blues line. We chose one of our favorite patterns “Hanover Stars”. It’s a quick block that everyone will enjoy making. It can be made with or without the border but we paired it with the beautiful wide Bountiful Blues border print. 

The nice thing about a wide border is it makes your quilt larger without having to piece more blocks. It’s off to the quilter and then out for it’s glamour shot this week. I can’t wait to get it back and show you the finished product! Keep checking back on our Facebook and Instagram page for it’s reveal.

Great looking blocks, ladies!

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Deirdre Bond Abel!

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

This week, we catch up with Deirdre Bond Abel of Hat Creek Quilts. She’s juggling lots of great projects, and we’ll all benefit from her hard work…

“What I have been up to –

The first two weeks of January I was madly finishing patterns for a series of quilts that will be published later this year in Today’s Quilter magazine.

Since then it has been fun, fun, fun, playing with my gorgeous “The Midlands” fabric collection that have just been shipped to US stores and to other countries soon.

I have designed a free two block quilt called “Happy Trails”. The instructions can be found on my Instagram page @hatcreekquilts, So far I have only made one of each of the blocks but I am hoping to get back to them next week.

I have started an appliqué quilt that features each of the prints from The Midlands in one block on their own so they can shine.

I have never joined in on the hexagon movement but my Midlands fabrics are so gorgeous I had to see how they would look pieced in that format. I am totally loving the subtle flow of colours through the diamond setting.

I have just made a little table runner just using the gorgeous green for the collection and truly love how it turned out.

And of course there are so many designs in my head just waiting their turn to become a quilt.”

That’s quite an update, Deirdre, thanks!

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Vicki McCarty!

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

This week, Vicki McCarty of Calico Patch Designs shares a video all about what’s going on in her sewing room, including a new fabric collection and upcoming stitch-alongs! VIEW THE VIDEO

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Dolores Smith!

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

This week, Dolores Smith of Timeworn Toolbox Designs shows off an exciting new project…

CEDAR SHAKE by Dolores Smith

I love the colors of burnt orange and teal, and I’m using my new CEDAR SHAKE collection to do a Block of the Month program for Homestead Hearth.  It is from a quilt pattern of mine called “Scrappy Churn Dash”.  The BOM starts in March and is made with different sized Churn Dash blocks — it’s one of my favorite blocks to stitch!  Want to join us? You’ll find all of the details at Homestead Hearth! Oh, and remember to check out the two new colors of Toolbox Basics introduced in this line, and the coordinating wovens, too!

#MondaysWithMarcus: UpClose with Sheryl Johnson!

To keep the MWM momentum going as we prepare for the next series, we decided to give a weekly glimpse into the lives of our designers each week. No kits or supplies are needed, just sit back and get to know them better by enjoying some of their most recent creative escapades…

This week we check in with Sheryl Johnson of Temecula Quilt Co. She’s been hard at work, taking inspiration from the past, with her usual eggs-cellent results…

“I have been busy cooking up a special recipe with a rich history. Shirtings were a fashion necessity in the late 1800s,  used to make men’s shirts and Gibson Girl blouses through the turn of the century. Traditionally, these were lightweight cotton prints with small, simple black motifs on a white ground. Today, their low volume appearance makes them the  perfect pairing for your favorite dark and medium calicos. I believe the DELIGHTFUL DOZEN prints are a must for patchwork,  providing all important light contrast, and will make a great addition to your scrap basket.” 

What a great way to present your own batch of favorite fabric prints, a dozen at a time ; ) You’ll find these delightful designs in quilt shops in March!