The QM staff always loves to see the quilts people make from our patterns. Now you can show them off  in our new gallery.

1. If you’re not already a member, join Quiltmaker’s site for free.

2. Post pictures in this gallery of quilts that you’ve made from Quiltmaker patterns.

I know there’s not a lot there yet, but I’m confident you’ll see more quilts posted soon!

The Sept/Oct issue of Quiltmaker features a page of brand-new products, debuted during International Quilt Market/Spring in Pittsburgh. Space on the page was limited, but we promised more information via Quilty Pleasures, so have a peek:

Just Another Button Company introduced “Just Pins,” sets of adorable polymer clay objects formed around the heads of straight pins. They’re grouped in themes; those shown are autumn sets. Find “Just Pins” at your local quilt shop or locate a retailer in your area. An alternative is to order directly from Sweet Annie’s.

We were so inspired by the pins and the hand-dyed fabrics from Weeks Dye Works (read more about them below), Carolyn went to our studio and whipped up a candy corn pin cushion on which to display them. Use our free pattern to make your own! My head is spinning with ideas for pin cushions made especially to display “Just Pins” in various themes.

Clover does the best gadgets, and the new Stack ‘n Store Bobbin Tower is no exception. Any regular bobbin will snap into the tower, which holds 30 bobbins. Each wheel separates from the tower, and the thread ends are secured to keep things tidy.  I like Clover’s idea of using the light green wheels for one type of thread, and the dark green wheels for a different type. Watch the one-minute video by Nancy Zieman to see how it works.

I still love to send or receive a hand-written note. Jacqueline de Jonge’s “Be Colourful” notecards are perfect for a short sentiment. There are five glorious quilt designs from which to choose. Find info on purchasing the notecards and Jacqueline’s quilt patterns at becolourful.com.

There are lots of ways to make triangle-squares, and it’s worth the effort to keep trying until you find a way that works for you. Triangle Tiger Tape sticks to the wrong side of a square (which is layered right sides together with another square). You sew along both edges of the tape and cut with scissors between the seams— to yield two triangle-squares. The tape can be reused several times.

Simplicity’s Bias Tape Maker generated a lot of interest at quilt market. All you do is load the machine with fabric strips you cut yourself, push the “feed” button and watch 12 feet of single-fold bias tape appear in less than 60 seconds.

The tip to make 1″-wide tape is standard; beginning in September, tips will be available to make bias tape in widths of  3/8″, 1/2″ and 3/4″.

I always enjoy meeting a small business owner who is pouring heart and soul into her work. Such is the case with Miranda Weeks McGahey, who is behind the beautifully hand=-overdyed wool and fibers at Weeks Dye Works. Our candy corn pin cushion benefitted greatly from the rich colors. Next time you need some wool or choose to add embroidery to a project, try the soft, marbly textures of fibers from Weeks.

We never know what will be new at quilt market, but it’s always an adventure to find out!

Our Sept/Oct ‘09 issue started shipping from the printer yesterday. That means it will begin to arrive in subscriber mailboxes soon. I wonder what part of the U.S. will get their issues first? We haven’t received our initial copies yet in the office. It’s scheduled to be on newsstands by August 11. In the meantime, QM staff is getting all the web pages ready to launch by the end of this week.

When you get your issue, you’ll notice in my edit letter that I’m giving away a 45.5″ x 45.5″ color option!

It’s from the Shining Star pattern, designed by Joyce Robinson. Our color option uses Cambridge Square, a Quest for a Cure fabric by Ro Gregg for Northcott, plus fabric for the binding and backing.

How do you get a chance to win? It’s simple–just leave a comment here mentioning your favorite project in the Sept/Oct ‘09 issue by 12 noon Mountain time on Friday, October 2. I’ll use random.org to select one winner. Good luck everyone!

Update: Our initial box of first-bound copies arrived in the office Friday 7/24. I think magazines should be starting to arrive for some subscribers soon. Most of our web pages for the issue are live now, although we still have a few to post.

Update #2: This giveaway is closed–Congratulations to Vickie #126.

If you read my “Opinions, please” blog post from a few weeks back, about the Lone Star Quilt I’m making for my niece, you might be wondering how it is coming along. I got all the diamonds pieced, and started adding strips of white and black to the edges of them, then I decided to collect a few more opinions, this time about what fabric to use for the background squares. I had purchased a busy black & white floral that I was pretty sure would be perfect, but it wasn’t. So I dug in my stash and found a tone-on-tone blue. I also thought perhaps I should consider buying yardage of a bright red floral. Here are those three choices being auditioned.

I asked for opinions here at work, and got a variety of votes/suggestions, including this one of using a different bright floral for each square.

I kind of liked that idea, but found I didn’t have enough big pieces in my stash to pull it off, without buying more, so I’m going to go with the “path of least shopping”, and use the blue, then add more bright floral pieces for the border.

I just have to rave about Spoonflower, a website where you can design your own fabric, and get it printed! (for a price of course, but it’s not too bad) When QM Executive Editor June Dudley found Spoonflower and asked if someone on staff would like to try her hand at fabric design, I quickly volunteered to be the guinea pig. I started with a couple of quilting motifs I had designed for Quiltmaker patterns.

These were Adobe Illustrator drawings, which I adapted to create shapes that could be filled with color. I chose one of my favorite color combinations: lime green and aqua green, and started playing with different effects: layering shapes on top of background colors, blending backgrounds, adding stripes, repeating motifs of different sizes–basically just having fun with shape and color. Almost too easily, I had five different “prints” that I liked. I went to Spoonflower’s FAQ section and watched the very-user-friendly videos about how to save my files for their printing process.

I uploaded my designs and ordered yardage.

Within a very short time, I received a package in the mail, containing my first-ever fabrics, beautifully wrapped in tissue with a personal note from a Spoonflower tech. They arrived in time to be included in “Fabricadabra”, an article in our Quiltmaker July/August ‘09 issue.

Here’s a block I designed and made with them.

This was a great experience. Give Spoonflower a try!

I had the pleasure of meeting Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts at International Quilt Market last fall in Houston.

What a delightful and extremely talented quilter! Not only does she design beautiful quilts, she also designs fabric for Moda Fabrics and her first book, Hop To It! has just been published by Landauer Publishing.

You can find the pattern for one of her quilts, Botanic Beauty, in our July/August ‘09 issue, and we’ll be working with more of her designs in future issues.

Edyta has a unique knack for combining different types of fabrics in the same quilt—from batiks to traditional cottons. In an exclusive Quiltmaker interview with Edyta, I asked her if she would share her formula for choosing fabrics for her quilts. She replied “I choose my fabrics by using my ‘Rule of 5.’ The five refer to large, medium, small, stripe and dot prints. If you’d like to learn more about my method for choosing fabrics, I have included complete details of this process in my new book Hop To It! ” Read the complete interview. For information on ordering her book, contact Landauer Publishing at 800-557-2144, info@landauercorp.com, landauercorp.com.

We’re going to give away four copies of her new book. Just leave us a comment with your favorite quilting tip and we’ll randomly choose four lucky people on July 24th to receive a copy of Hop To It!

Thank you all for sending in your strawberry pie recipes! They all looked wonderfully delicious, and I’m looking forward to trying some of them this summer. Four winners of the fat quarters from the Wildwood collection by Erin McMorris for FreeSpirit were randomly selected. They are Connie Douty, Angie Nudge, Pat Young and Jan in TN. Each of these winners should have an email from me for their address and the fabric will be on its way.

Thanks for all the great comments and enthusiasm regarding selvages, and welcome to the readers of The Selvage Blog. The winner of the blocks and the book Quilts From the Selvage Edge by Karen Griska is Natima—her number was randomly generated and I’ll be sending her the blocks and book right away. Congratulations! Watch Quilty   P   leasures for more fun giveaways!

I bound a wavy-edged quilt last week and so it needed a bias binding. I used a tool/ruler that makes  it so easy! 

It’s called The Bias Tool and it’s available from The Quilter’s Mercantile. Their photo shows how it fits perfectly on a half-yard cut. My fabric was a larger piece but it still worked well.  

The ruler guides you to cut perfect bias strips, and guides you to nip off the corners of the bias strips so they fit magically together, end to end. 

I usually do my bindings by machine, with a method that looks a lot like hand sewing. I decided to try a different final stitch this time, in contrasting thread. I’m liking the result!

Here again is my finished baby quilt, ready for the next little girl in my life.