Our Top 10 Ways to Enjoy World Quilting Day

Worldwide QuiltiWorldwide Quilting Day logong Day is upon us again, taking place this Saturday, March 21, 2015.  Even though the day is highlighted, it actually kicks off a full month of activities, ending on April 21.  And we’ve come up with 10 great ways to enjoy this annual celebration:

  • 10.  Gather a few fabric-loving friends (and your favorite snacks) for a modern quilting bee.
  • 9.  Share your love of quilting with a young person.
  • 8. Join a local guild. (Already belong to one?  Join a second one!)
  • 7. Devote some time to your creative space by tidying up, or stitch up a new mug rug, or pincushion.
  • 6. Create a charity quilt for a nearby hospital or other organization.
  • 5. Choose a BOM quilt project — we’ve got some suggestions!
  • 4.  Book yourself on a quilting-related vacation, expo or weekend retreat.
  • 3.  Visit your local quilt shops, including those participating in Worldwide Quilting Day.
  • 2.  Enter WQD’s Star Block Challenge (you can enter from March 21 through April 21, 2015!
  • 1. Expand your creative repertoire to include fabrics you’ve never tried before, like 1930’s prints, wallpaper stripes, or wool

Of course, these suggestions are great any time of year, and we know you’ve probably got lots of other ideas… How will you spend the day?

Remember Our Summer Sew-Along??

Take a look at these finished versions, using our original PAULA BARNES COMPANIONS fabric choices, and various other combinations from our quilting friends!  Red Crinoline posted these and more great pix on their blog today…

Ursula Yeo

Kathy Wagner of Ontario, Canada – waiting to add 2 borders

As you will see from the blog post, this SAL was truly an impressive international effort! Thanks to those who shared their beautiful work, and if you’ve completed (or nearly completed?) your Marcus Fabrics Designer SAL from this summer, be sure to send us your picture, too!

The Marcus Sew-Along Quilt, Revealed!

SALButtonHORZ14Here it is!

SALRevealedDo you love it as much as we do? We’d like to thank everyone who has participated for the past nine weeks, block by block, and, as I promised, the end result is beautiful. Congratulations to everyone who kept up, and if you were not able to, we’re sure that this image of the finished quilt will inspire you to catch up in the completion phase.

And thanks to all of our talented and generous designers for taking time to participate, including the gorgeous finishing design by Paula Barnes and piecing by Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts with quilting and binding by Gloria Parsons of Olde Green Cupboard Designs.  

Complete instructions for the finishing are available on the Red Crinoline Quilts blog, but if you still need to catch up on the nine blocks first, here are the links to the blog posts:

Remember to leave a comment on the Red Crinoline Quilts blog for your chance to win the Grand Prize package:

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Who Won the Giveaways for WEEK #9?

Week9-CoinPursePrizeThanks to everyone for your enthusiastic response to our entire Sew Along, and Week 9 in particular  ; )  Without further delay, the winners of my personally curated Marcus fabric bundle and Vintage Coin Purse Kit are:

  • Laurie Smith
  • Grace Thorne
  • Kim Lange

Congrats to all – we’ll be in touch about your prizes.  And remember, everyone, you still have a chance to win the Grand Prize basket when you comment on the Big Reveal Blog post (October 3).   –   lisa

Marcus Sew-Along, WEEK #9

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.*

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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!

Keep Sewing Along… You Just Might Win This!

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This week I thought I’d unveil the Grand Prize basket of excitement, which will be awarded to ONE Sew-Along participant, following our Big Reveal….Goodies were donated by our participating designers, along with our friends at Martingale and Misty Fuse!

SAL-GrandPrizeGiftPack

Oooohhh, right?  There might even be an item or two that didn’t make the photo, so be sure to comment in the final week for your chance to win it all!  We hope you’ve been keeping up week-by-week,including WEEK 7 by Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts, and WEEK 8 by Dolores Smith of Homestead Hearth.  Both are shown below.

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Block 7 by Mary Ellen Robison / Red Crinoline Quilts

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WEEK 8 by Dolores Smith / Homestead Hearth

And stay tuned for the final block (designed by me!) this Friday, September 26, as well as the Big Reveal on October 3!  Keep stitching! — lisa

Did You Catch WEEK #6 of the Sew-Along?

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Hi everyone! If you’ve had a busy weekend or otherwise missed it, check out our sixth block…the Marcus sew-along excitement continues with Nancy Rink of Nancy Rink Designs.  It looks intricate, but Nancy makes it easy! Read all about this creative author and designer, then stitch up her sew-along block, taking advantage of her expert tips along the way.

With just three more “Friday” block posts to go, we’re two-thirds of the way there, but there’s still time to get caught up!  You’ll find the full sew-along details here, including the schedule. With two-thirds of the blocks completed, we know you can’t wait for the big reveal, and neither can we!!  Stay focused, and stay tuned….   -lisa

The Marcus Sew-Along WEEK #5!

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Hi All!  In case you missed it during the busy Labor Day weekend here in the US, here’s a quick reminder that WEEK #5 of our Sew-Along is now posted on the Olde Green Cupboard blog!  It’s designed by Gloria Parsons and includes her great tips & techniques, so be sure to visit the blog now to download this block:

Gloria-sewalong blockIt seems that many of you love Cheddar, so Gloria serves it up on a four-basket design. We’re now at the halfway point (well, four blocks to go, plus the reveal!).  It goes quickly, doesn’t it?  If you’ve got friends who still want to join in the fun, point them here for all of the details, and stay tuned for WEEK #6 this Friday, Sept 5, over at Nancy Rink Designs! Enjoy…   -lisa

It’s WEEK #4 of the Marcus Sew-Along!

Hi, I’m Pati Violick.  As the Director of Marketing for Marcus Fabrics, I am very excited to be participating in our Sew Along. “Sew”, a little about me – I enjoy creating, and I especially love making little girls dresses for Quilt Market as well as making quilts. Those who know me well know these 3 things:

1. My husband calls me “Miss Ivory or Miss Beige”. Yes, it’s hard to believe since I work with color & prints on a daily basis, that everything else in my life falls into the neutral category including clothes, decor, even my dog Scout is a beautiful shade of taupe (and yes “taupe” is my favorite color!), although I certainly like all shades of grey & basic black too.

2. One of my favorite pastimes is English Paper Piecing. I have “thousands”of Pieces, (well maybe many, many 100’s) in all shapes, sizes and colors. I actually use some for special gifts like purses, small quilts or embellishments but, the majority of them are beautifully arrayed in baskets, boxes & pretty containers. Truth is, some are just to pretty to do anything with.

3. Last but not least – I come from a big family; I am the oldest of 8. I have been very fortunate in my job here at Marcus to forge new relationships, working with so many wonderful people here in our NY office & designers that have all become part of my family.

 

OK  — no surprise, my giveaway this week is all of the above: A stunning assortment of 8 fat quarters in my favorite colors with some wonderful paper pieces.  Now, on to Block #4 of the Sew-Along:

Cutting Instructions:

Light print  (1038-0188)  *Cut (6) 2⅞” squares; crosscut (4) once diagonally.
Black print  (1035-0112)  *Cut (4) 1¾” squares.
Green print   (1702-0116)  *Cut (4) 1¾” x 3⅝” rectangles.
Blue print   (1109-0150)   *Cut (2) 2⅞” squares.
Cheddar print   (1033-0128)  *Cut (2) 2½” squares.
Red print   (1034-0111)  *Cut (2) 2½” squares.

Directions:

*Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the (2) cheddar 2½” squares.  Match each with a 2½” red print square.
*Sew ¼” on each side of the drawn line; cut apart.
Pblock1

*Press to the red triangle.  You will have (4) Half Square Triangles measuring 2⅛” unfinished.

*Trim each Half Square Triangle to 2 1/16” by simply placing two edges of the Half Square in between the 2” and the 2⅛” mark on the ruler as shown.  pblockcomp1

*Sew the Half Square Triangles into a Pinwheel; press for opposing seams. The Pinwheel should measure 3⅝” unfinished.

*Arrange the Pinwheel, (4) black print 1¾” squares, and (4) green print 1¾” x 3⅝” rectangles as shown.

*Sew into rows; press to the green rectangles.  Sew rows together; press.
Your center unit should measure 6⅛” unfinished.pblock5*Using the 2⅞” light and blue print squares, make (4) Half Square Triangles using the same method as described previously. Half Square Triangles should measure 2½” unfinished.

*Sew (2) light print triangles to each side of a blue & light print Half Square Triangle unit; press to the light print triangles.  Make (4) units.pblockcomp2

*You’ll sew the big triangle units to the center square next.  To aid in this endeavor, finger press a fold (wrong sides together, just near the raw edge) in the center square to easily find the middle of the block.
pblockcomp3
Fold the light print triangle unit in half (right sides together) and finger press.  Match the finger pressed creases in each unit and pin.

*Sew each of the triangle units to the center square block; press to the triangle units.

Your block should measure 8½” unfinished.

pblock12Download the PDF version

Our Designer Sew-Along – Did You Catch WEEK #3?

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On Friday, Sarah Maxwell from Homestead Hearth unveiled the third fabulous block from Friends & Companions, our Designer Sew-Along!  Do you love it?  Get the complete instructions and learn more about Sarah and her business.

Want to join the fun?  It’s not too late!  Here’s the post with complete details, and links to the previous block posts so you can sew-along with us!