School Days

This time of year, the school bells ring again for so many of us and our children.  A house on a quilt is a symbol of our community and our lives together in society. It's no wonder that house quilts remind us of comfort and the togetherness of family, friends, and neighbors. They really appeal to us, maybe because "home is where the heart is." 

Little Old One Room Schoolhouse,  23 x 27", by Ruth Powers, at Ruth Powers Art Quilts

The traditional schoolhouse of the frontier, complete with a bell tower, beckons us back to learning, as leaves swirl in the early autumn breeze.  Quilt designer Ruth Powers offers this charming scene as a pattern, along with so many other beautiful designs.

Little Houses, 48 x 60", by Ruth Powers, at Ruth Powers Art Quilts

Ruth writes, "Much of my work is inspired by nature;  my daily walks fill my senses with color and design possibilities." In creating Little Houses, Ruth has done an excellent job of selecting different blues and greens for the sky and earth, while selecting the complementary colors of bright orange and orange-red for the homes. Ruth notes that this is a great pattern for using up fat quarters and scraps.

Welcome Home, 64 x 64", by Alex Anderson,at Alex Anderson Quilts

Here's a delightful neighborhood of cheerful houses done in russet and gold. Internationally-famous designer Alex Anderson has brightened the traditional fall quilt by adding contemporary colors of aqua blue and rose pink which make the maple leaves and houses sparkle against the dark background. Easily pieced using half square triangles, "Welcome Home" has become a classic best-seller from JWD Publishing. You can view all of Alex Anderson's books and patterns at Alex Anderson Quilts.

Schoolhouse Block, 19 x 22", from "There's No Place Like Home" by Sonya Chinn, at Sonya's Snippets

Long-arm quilter Sonya, creator of the Sonya's Snippets blog, sewed this charming applique scene as one of the blocks for a block-of-the-month quilt which she calls 'There's No Place Like Home'. This quilt was based on "Home Is Where the Heart Is", a block-of-the-month from The Stitch Connection.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.  These quilts appeared in a series of articles on house quilts, including Our Town and Our Town Part 2.

Free Pattern Day: Halloween

Here is our first Free Pattern Day ! We have a huge stash of free patterns in our Free Quilt Inspiration Archive (like more than 50 mb altogether) and we are excited about sharing them with you. We’ll be putting a new Free Pattern Index tab at the top of this page so you can see what we’ve posted as we go along. Of course, we’ll continue to add new free patterns we've found to our sidebar. Let’s get started with more than 25 free projects for Halloween*.

Jack-o-Lanterns and Pumpkins

Row 1: "Applique Jack-o-Lantern", free pattern, by Kimara and Michelle, at Wee Folk Art; "Jack’s Lantern", by Lyn Brown at LynBrown.com. Row 2: "Jack-o-Lantern", free pattern, by Sonja Callaghan at Artisania; Halloween Wall Hanging, free pattern, by Carol R. Zentgraf at James Thompson & Co. Row 3: "Oh pumpkin, My pumpkin", free pattern, by Jennifer Morgan and Linda Ambrosini for Hoffman Fabrics – Bali Batiks, free pattern download here. Row 4: "Country Pumpkin Patch", free pattern, at The Learning Channel

Li'l Pumpkin table topper, free pattern, by Tammy German and Brenda Bailey, at Pie Plate Patterns 

Black cats, pumpkins, and the moon

Halloween Applique Scene, free pattern, by Christina Sherrod at Crafts and Fabric Links

Stairway to Cat Heaven, by Marty Mason at Marty's Fiber Musings

The free applique templates and fabric requirements for "Stairway to Cat Heaven" are available from a McCalls Quilting Archive. The complete original pattern, by Barbara Dubovsky, can be purchased from the Quilt and Sew Shop.  This quilt also appeared in the Best of Cat Quilts series at Quilt Inspiration.

Simply Spooky, free pattern, by Pearl P. Pereira for Red Rooster Quilts

Haunted Jacks, free quilt pattern for the 2011 Spellbound fabric collection for Andover Fabrics, by Renee Nanneman of Need’l Love, free pattern download available at FabShopNews

Jack Patchwork wall hanging, free pattern by Sue Thornton-Gray for Janome

Autumn Whimsy wall hanging as seen at Fabric Mom, free pattern by Debbie Mumm

Henrietta Whiskers block-of-the-month quilt project, by Anne Sutton at Bunny Hill Designs, free patterns (until November 2011)

Spiders and SpiderWebs

Itsy Bitsy Spiders, Wall Hanging Tutorial**, at AJ's Bowtique

Spooky Spun Sugar Little Quilt, Tutorial, by Vickie E., at Spun Sugar Quilts

Spiderweb Quilt, Tutorial, by Jackie Reeve at The Orange Room 

Spiders in My Attic, free pattern, at QuiltBug (a kit is also available under Quilt Bug's Quilt Kits)

Witches, bats, vampires, and the Project of Doom 

Witch and Halloween Kitty, free patterns, by Sonja Callaghan at Artisania

 
Free vampire and Harry Potter patterns by Jennifer Ofenstein at Sewhooked

Row 1: "Vampire Fangs", by Jennifer Ofenstein at Fandom In Stitches and “Bats”, from the Free Patterns Page at Sewhooked. Row 2: “Hedwig” (Week 11 block)  and “Cauldron with Felix Felicis” (Week 29 block) for the 2011 Harry Potter “Project of Doom” block-of-the-week project.

True Blood, free block patterns by Lilja Björk Sigurdórsdóttir at Lilijabs and Catherine Magraith at Fandom In Stitches

The designers of these free paper-pieced patterns are members of Fandom in Stitches, a design collective started by Jennifer Ofenstein of Sewhooked, to pay tribute to book characters like Harry Potter. Their extensive and unique designs includes many that will delight the kids in your life at Halloween.

Applique motifs and more mini quilts

Row 1:  “Say Boo” wall hanging tutorial and pattern, by AnneMarie at GenXQuilters. "Haunted House on the Hill", free pattern by Elizabeth Hill, at Purple Kitty Yarns. Row 2: “Halloween Treat” mini quilt, free pattern, by Sandra E. Andersen at A Legacy of Stitches

Spiderweb free-motion quilting, free video tutorial, by Leah Day at The Free Motion Quilting Project

*Image credits:  All images are copyrighted by their owners.  Please respect their generosity in sharing their free patterns, and the restrictions they have placed on the use of these designs. Complete information can be found at the designers' websites provided in the links.  If any links are broken, we'd love to know; email us at Quilt Inspiration.  Looking for a particular free pattern?  Email us and we'll see if it's in our archives ! **Tutorials vs. Patterns:  We've debated this topic, and decided to include some tutorials if they are patterns for making complete quilts or blocks. For example, "Itsy Bitsy Spider", Spooky Spun Sugar Quilt" and "Spiderweb Quilt" are called tutorials but they are really online patterns that include fabric requirements and step-by-step instructions, as well as in-progress photos.

Western quilts Roundup !

~ Stay tuned for the September Giveaway  ~

~ Stay tuned for Free Pattern Day (tomorrow !) ~

It's time to lasso those Western quilts, and to celebrate the cowgirl spirit. Dale Evans once said: "'Cowgirl' is an attitude really. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands; they speak up. They defend things they hold dear." These designers make their homes in Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Montana, and these quilts make us dream of horses, cattle, and wide open spaces.

Row 1: Prairie Moon Ranch, Cowboy Christmas Stocking,  and Cowgirl Up, by Shelly Pagliai at Prairie Moon Quilts
Row 2: Royal,  The Guardian, and Mellow Meadow, by Toni Whitney at Toni Whitney Design
Row 3: Rodeo Gals and Working Cow Horse, and Wranglers, by June Jaeger at Log Cabin Quiltworks
Row 4: Boot Bash block-of-the-month for 2011, by Molly Fryer at Molly’s Place
Row 5: Texas Cowboy Crests Embroideries,  Bronco Embroidery, Dancing Boots Crest Embroidery, and Texas Wildflowers Embroideries,  by Susa Glenn at Susa Glenn Designs

Quilts of the Wild West Part 5

~ Stay tuned for the September Giveaway  ~

When we think of Texas, we think of all things Western: cowboy boots, hats, saddles, and horses. Oh, yes: and prickly pear cactus... steer skulls... and armadillos.  These Texas cowboy motifs, Texas Wildflowers, and more, can be found in Susa Glenn's fascinating embroideries and quilt projects. We love her intricate designs, one-of-a-kind themes, and inspiring tutorials.

Cowboys Crests Embroidery Project, 44 x 54", including The Bronco and Dancing Boots, by Susa Glenn at Susa Glenn Designs

Susa Glenn took up digitizing machine embroidery in 2005 because she wanted to embellish her bag patterns and quilt tops with it. She says: "All of the embroidery designs on my site were designed and digitized by me. I take a lot of time getting the design and the stitching just right. Sometimes the drawing/digitizing takes just a few hours and sometimes it takes days (examples: The Bronco and the Dancing Boots). I enjoy digitizing three dimensionality into my embroidery designs that makes them come to life when they are stitched using rayon thread. Rayon has a nap which gives it the same light reflective characteristics as velvet and corduroy. It reflects light if viewed from one direction and absorbs it if viewed from the opposite direction." Susa even includes one or more projects, such as the quilt shown above, with each of her embroidery collections.  For closeups of all of the cowboy crests, click here.

Texas Wildflowers, 30 x 36",  including Armadillos, by Susa Glenn, at Susa Glenn Designs

Susa Glenn tells us: "The Cowboy Crests collection was inspired by my group of Japanese Crests that I digitized and designed a quilt for several years ago. Immediately after completing my Japanese Crests quilt, I created my Texas Wildflowers embroideries." The downloadable wildflower collection includes Texas Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, White Yarrow, Black Eyed Susans, Wild Daisies, Indian Blankets, a Sulfur Butterfly... and the Armadillo crest, because "A Texas meadow is just not complete without an armadillo or two."

Armadillos are mammals that are known for having a leathery armor shell; the Aztec called them azotochtli, which means “turtle-rabbit.” Although they are interesting creatures, armadillos can be a big  nuisance to homeowners, because of the digging and the damage they cause with their powerful claws. Susa Glenn explains the inspiration for her armadillo: "I didn't have a satisfactory design with which to embellish the corner blocks, and I wanted to add some humor to the wall hanging. We were being invaded by armadillos at the time and they were wreaking havoc on my wildflower meadow. Early one morning it came to me as in a vision that what I needed was an armadillo crest for those corners, so I jumped out of bed and created one! The ones at the top are the 'bad' armadillos and the ones at the bottom are the 'good' armadillos as they have assumed the dead position (!)"

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Susa Glenn.  At her site you can also find Hibiscus Cowboy Leather Tooling Designs, Cowboy Boot Stitching Feathers, Bodacious Sunflowers, an adorable ladybug Fly Away Home quilt project, and many beautiful Asian designs.

Batik Fabrics for Quilting, Garden Motif Black

Batik Fabrics for Quilting, Garden Motif Black.

Batik fabric sale:

108''Wide Quilt Backing Tonga Batik Garden Contempo Black Fabric By The Yard by Timeless Treasures.

Price: $ 16.98

Via: amazon

Quilts of the Wild West Part 4

Question: What is a "Boot Bash"? Answer: A free and fabulous quilt block-of-the-month for 2011, by Molly Fryer.  Molly is a creative quilter, rancher's wife, mom, Nana, and proud Texan.  She says: “In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup.” Or how about the next best thing: a quilt with 12 different cowboy boots, one for each month? It’s not too late to start ! Molly's motto is “Remember--no bitchin, only stitchin !”

Boot Bash BOM, Blocks 3, 4 and 5, by Molly Fryer at Molly's Place

We had a hard time picking our favorite Boot Bash blocks, as we love 'em all. Just look at the adorable blanket-stitched cardinal in the March block; the barbed-wire embroidery in April; and the realistic, cracked-leather boot for May.  The button-and-ribbon detail in the May block is the perfect touch. You'll find links to all of the blocks on the sidebar at Molly's place, plus recipes, tutorials, a Tree Time BOM (think: Christmas) and so much more.  Don't miss her comprehensive, easy-to-follow feathered star tutorial. In fact, there's so much to see that Molly says: "Hey, take a load off and stay awhile". We think we will... because Molly's Place feels just like home.

~ FOR A HAPPY HEART AND A BLESSED DAY, TAKE TIME TO QUILT AND A MOMENT TO PRAY ~ "Words to Live By", as seen at Molly's Place

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Molly Fryer.

Bedcover set Batik Pekalongan Motif Wayang

Bedcover set Batik Pekalongan Motif Wayang. Batik fabric - Bedcover. Size 180cm (4 pillows, 2 bolsters). for order via sms to 0856 43222 107