Pine Needle Winter-Spring 2012 Catalog

The Pine Needle's Winter-Spring 2012 catalog is here! It's in the mail and should be arriving in your mailbox soon. Here's a photo of the cover:

Winter-Spring 2012 Catalog

Of course I adore all the new fabrics from Marcia Derse ... she is one of my absolute favorite designers these days! I am loving the new designs by Metropolitan Quilts (Milan and Valencia especially) ... and the new "Antique Rose" Block of the Month that will start in May ... one of the best BOM quilts I've ever seen!

And then there's the Lemoyne Star workshop that Maggie is teaching ... if you are at all interested in stitching Lemoyne Stars, the ruler from Deb Tucker makes it so much easier!

New flannel quilts that I love are Timberline and Hearth and Home.

The catalog has has three quick and easy projects that can be made in an afternoon or a day:

• French Journal Quilt
• Sunflower Showcase Wall Hanging ... I wrote the pattern instructions for this one so let me know how it goes! This pattern features the gorgeous sunflower print and a two-color binding.
• Paris Postale Wall Hanging ... I also wrote these pattern instructions and definitely appreciate hearing from you.

Enjoy!

2011 Holiday Project Inspiration

I am inspired by the frenzy of holiday creativity happening these days. Pink Chalk Studio is sharing a "Countdown to Christmas" that I've particularly been enjoying. I love Allie Kat Mom's "Oh Christmas Tree" quilt:

Oh Christmas Tree by Allie Kat Mom

The quilt is made of half square triangles, plain squares and a star block at the top of the tree. I think it would look great in shades of green with an occasional red half square triangle. The simple, parallel quilting lines look great!


You can find detailed instructions for making this quilt here.


I am also loving Amanda Jean's square Christmas Tree skirt:

Amanda Jean's Christmas Tree Skirt

Amanda Jean, Crazy Mom Quilts, posted a terrific step-by-step tutorial for making the Christmas Tree Skirt on her blog.


Are any of you familiar with Ed Emberley? He is an artist and author of numerous drawing books ... here are just a few:


Drawing Book of Animals
Drawing Book of Trucks and Trains
BIG GREEN Drawing Book


Cloud 9 is introducing a line of fabrics (February 2012) inspired by his Drawing Book of Animals and I can hardly wait! I especially love the lion print ... can't help it as I am a Leo ...

Lions and Tigers by Cloud 9

... but the elephant print is darling too!

Elephants by Cloud 9

Enjoy!

Free eBook 4 Modern Quilt Blocks from Quilting Arts

Quilting Arts magazine has put together another free eBook:  Quilt Squares for Modern Quilters, 4 Free Quilt Block Patterns. I especially like "Rubik's Crush" by Ashley Newcomb ...

Rubik's Crush

... and "Birdhouse Rock" by Tina Givens ...

Birdhouse Rock

Birdhouse Rock Line Drawing

Can't wait to try these!

Click here to check out all their free eBooks:  Quilting Arts' eBooks. I found "Free Motion Machine Quilting" and "How to Bind a Quilt" especially good. Enjoy ... and a big thank you to Quilting Arts for publishing these eBooks! 

Learn to Quilt Fall 2011

The Fall 2011 Learn to Quilt class finished up last week. I am so proud and want to share their beautiful quilts with all of you. Please let me know if I got any of your names mixed up ... and if I did, I am so sorry. I will always remember your face (and your quilt)!


Lori is a girl on a mission! Her quilt will be a cherished gift. Not only did she finish her quilt top, she quilted it herself! 

Front of Lori's Quilt

Lori used up scraps and pieced the back!

Here is Ann's quilt ... look what a beautiful job she did matching the directional print in the outer border! The warm yellow middle border sets off the red geese ... and the soft green inner border looks great.

Ann's Quilt

One of Catherine's goals was to step outside her color comfort zone and use brighter, bolder colors. Her quilt is sunny and joyful ... and the red inner border sets it off beautifully.

Catherine's Quilt

Heather used softer colors in her quilt and decided to make the inner, striped border a little bit narrower so it sets off the center without overpowering the quilt. She is binding her quilt with the striped fabric cut on the bias ... I think that will be the perfect finish for her quilt!

Heather's Quilt

Noelle's quilt is a gift for her daughter. Aren't these soft, romantic colors beautiful? The soft blues for the stars and flying geese read clearly ... not easy to achieve when using a close range of values. Noelle used diagonal seams in her outer border to minimize their visibility.

Noelle's Quilt

Susan's quilt is made from beautiful, fall colors. The middle border of her fabric uses two directional prints. She did a great job orienting her fabrics so the subtle stripe in the brown fabric is consistent and the lines of dots in the taupe print flow visually.  

Susan's Quilt

Congratulations! I am thrilled and so very proud of you all.