The very groovy winners of the Benartex Piece, Love & Quilts contest featuring the "Woodstock" fabric line are posted at www.benartex.com; to see them and several other entries - over 30 quilts! - click HERE. The grand prize winning quilt, shown here, is "Walking on Sunshine" by Serena Brooks of Los Angeles, CA. Way to go, Serena!

A few months ago I promised to show you a quilt I made with my sister's kids a few years ago, so here it is :) At the time there were several foster children in the house, in addition to my nephews, so altogether seven kids worked on this quilt, ages ranging from 7 to 13. I invited 2-3 of them over to my parents' house each day over my holiday to make the blocks (Auntie Jo isn't crazy enough to think she can sew with all seven at the same time!), then put them all together at my quilt guild retreat a few months later. Here's the basic "recipe" for making the quilt:

• Have a sewing machine already set up with neutral color thread (we used a Bernette 80e), and a bin of fabrics to choose from (I used my stash of Benartex BOBs).
• Have kids cut strips of fabric to make wonky log cabin blocks. I started the younger ones with a large center square; the older ones with a small square. It doesn't matter if the finished blocks aren't really square; you'll be trimming them and adding sashing.
• Kids trace their hands on Steam-a-Seam 2, adhere to fabric, cut along lines. I let the older kids fuse them to fabric squares; I pressed for the youngest ones. (See the green block with the dog and hamster foot prints? And the two light blue handprints? I watched the twins - at opposite ends of the table - pick out exactly the same fabric at the same time!)
• Let the kids play with fabric scraps and make up their own designs when the quilt blocks are done. We ended up with several little patchwork pillows - one of the boys even "discovered" the four-patch block :)
• I took the blocks home with me and added black-background sashing strips and bright cornerstones, stitched the handprints in place with a large blanket stitch, and tied the layers together with colorful buttons and YLI Jeans Stitch at the corners of each square. Then I bound the outer edge and added several labels to the back of the quilt (each child made their own).

This is a great project for grandkids, school groups, neighborhood children,... set up additional machines and bring in a few extra grown-ups to help if you're planning to have more than just a few kids working at the same time. It's also a perfect shower or going-away gift for a group of adults to make :)

I finally finished the guest towels from Amy Butler's In Stitches - the ones I started back in May. Here's what they look like neatly folded...and hanging from a hook in the guest bath. (It needs some paint - right now everything is white, white, white.) Next guest suite project - a curtain & valance for the window in the bathroom. It already has mini-blinds, so all I need is a something pretty to cover all the hardware. I have a few yards of "Flower Mosaic" from the Benartex "Woodstock" collection that I think will work nicely.  I'm looking for something easy, but more interesting than just "cut a rectangle and hem the edges." I've marked pages in several books and magazines - more on that in late July, early August (next occupant expected mid-August).

Okay, I have to admit that I am one of those people who LOVE to buy those super-cute coordinating fat quarter bundles! But, there are times when my fat quarter storage reaches maximum capacity, and I need fat quarter help, STAT! Here are a few of my favorite projects that can easily be constructed from fat quarters.

These are two of my favorite Amy Butler patterns, the Swing Bag and the Drawstring Purse from the In Town Bags.

This is the Drawstring purse, and was made from four coordinating fat quarters of Benartex Woodstock fabrics plus a scrap of repurposed ribbon for trim. You can actually get enough fabric for TWO of these bags if you add another fat quarter for the lining of the second project! Super cute, and very suitable for summer.

I just love this project, the Swing Bag. I used different coordinating Benartex City Girl fat quarters for each side of the exterior, the interior, and the ouside and lining of the handles for a total of 6 fat quarters. This is actually a fun way to construct the bag, because you can make two coordinating but different sides to the bag, and just flip it over for a different look.

The Swing Bag is the perfect size for holding all your goodies at the farmer's market, the craft store, a day trip to the beach, or any other summer outing that requires a few extra props.

 I hope this gives you a few ideas of other quick and easy things to do with those fat quarters. I have a few other fav's for using up those stocks of fat quarters that I'll post about soon!

I've been poring over Amy Butler's In Stitches for quite a while and have finally decided to do two of the projects at the same time - the Big Dot Pillow from the cover (for my new guest room) and the Decorative Hanging Towels (for the guest bath). Right now the guest room is my "ironing room" and storage area, but soon all the boxes will be empty and there will be room for a bed and some pretty pillows. Instead of using solid fabrics on my towels like Amy did, I'm making extra patchwork and using it for both the pillow and the towels.

I've decided on a color scheme - remember all those lucsious fat quarters I got in February? The Woodstock collection from Benartex has the perfect shades of blue and green for the bathroom, plus the red/pink/orange I've already started in the bedroom. No, really, it's not garish, just cheerful and sunny. I picked up a few things at IKEA and the Crate & Barrel outlet (Naperville, IL) and the Springs/Wamsutta outlet that used to be here in Asheville. The cool colors tone down the hot ones, and the warm ones perk up the cool ones.  

I just finished rotary cutting my strips and I'm ready to go! Time to get out my trusty machine and Patchwork Foot #37... More on my patchwork adventures and changes I'm making to the applique instructions in future posts. Gotta check my stash of Steam-a-Seam 2 and make sure I have enough for all those circles!