Quilt Sandwich Fabrics

Dreamy baby quilt!

Hello! So I got some cute fabric for Christmas and I was super excited to start a project with it but then I said to myself - Becca, you need to finish some stuff up! So I went through my big rubbermaid containers of finished quilt tops and I found a few things that I really wanted to finish. Top of the list was this cute baby quilt I made based on a pattern in one of my favorite books and made with some of our cutest pastel fabric at Quilt Sandwich! 

One of my favorite quilt books from last year was The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman. If you're at all interested in modern quilting, you've probably seen it. It is fast becoming the go-to book for modern quilt patterns, excellent fabric choice ideas and clearly written instructions and quilting guidelines. There are tons of photos, each quilt pattern has a few color options shown, and Elizabeth makes her quilt backs as fun as the front.

ANYWAY, when I got it I was so excited to start sewing! In case you don't know, I also work at In The Beginning Fabrics in Seattle, and I was able to get some extra scraps from one of their collections called Dream A Little Dream With Me, designed by Keri Beyer. This is a sweet collection of pastel fabrics filled with adorable motifs. It seemed perfect with white solid and I knew it would make a lovely baby quilt.

This is the pattern called Fenced In, which is based on the traditional Rail Fence pattern. It's very easy and really fun to make! The book shows a larger quilt, so I just made it smaller and it went together pretty quickly. For the quilting I did free motion stippling, and let me just tell you - it takes a LONG time. (And that's on this little quilt!) It also uses a ton of thread, so be warned. I do like how it looks though.

It's a little difficult to see the quilting on this close-up, but check out the cute fabrics! I love how it has a bit of a Scandinavian feel, especially on the sunny yellow fabric. The pink floral is super cute too, and I love the pretty green print.

Quilt Sandwich has four of the Dream A Little Dream fabrics as well as the white solid, so I focused on those four prints but supplemented with some of the other pieces. You can easily create this look with just the four designs from Quilt Sandwich, or add a few pastel scraps from your own stash. 

Here's one more picture of the quilt on a chair. I also did the binding in the scraps, so it reflects the scrappiness of the quilt. 

You can learn more about Elizabeth Hartman's book at her blog, Oh Fransson! (The link is to the right in the Creative People We Like! list.) 

The Dream A Little Dream fabrics are located in our Plants Floral & Trees section. Check it out! 

We've got lots of great fabric on order, so stay tuned for more fun stuff! 

Becca

 

 

We're having a big old sale!

Happy New Year! I hope the first ten days of 2012 have been treating you right. Do you have any sewing-related resolutions? One of mine is to GET CRAP DONE! I have decided that I have to finish a few projects before I start anything new (well, anything big. Small stuff is okay.) Another thing I'd like to do is choose a more difficult quilting or sewing technique and get better at it. (Note that I did not say "master" it. I know my limits for the year, people.) I've got some challenging patterns in mind that would be fun to try! So stay tuned for more of my sewing adventures this year. 

ANYWAY. Who doesn't love a deal, amiright? Especially this time of year! It's sale season and Quilt Sandwich is happy to oblige. Of course, we always have lots of awesome new fabric in our shop, but we also have a lot of great, high-quality fabric that's just a little bit older. And you know what? If you make something for a friend or loved one, they're not going to care how old it is! And our sale is a great way to stock up on fabric for your quilt backs - who wants to pay $9 or more a yard for a back?! That adds up! So, without further ado, here are just a few of the highlights of our sale section! 

This tranquil beauty is from the Dolce line by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit. We have some lovely coordinates for this print too, all in this soothing gray, orange and pink color combo. 

For a more colorful floral print, how about this cute one from Phoebe? The whole collection, designed by Wendy Slotboom for In The Beginning, features these juicy bright colors in adorable floral and butterfly prints. 

We just love this fun little Woodland Medley print! The jaunty blue background is so cute and it's full of fun nature motifs. Also available on cream.

Speaking of nature motifs, here's a more classic version. This gorgeous large-scale leaf print (from Moda's Botany collection) is a modern take on tonal prints but also manages to be classic with it's chocolate brown and aqua color scheme. 

Remember Amy Butler's beautiful Midwest Modern collection? Here's an awesome large-ish floral print in icy blue and green. These groovy flowers are perfect for a pretty quilt or bag.

We've got a lot of Jay McCarroll on sale too! Lots of cute prints from his Garden Friends and Woodland Wonderland collections for Free Spirit. These sweet strawberries are adorable and full of fun fruit and bright pastels. 

Now for something completely different! This retro-inspired New York City print is really fun and in a cool color combo of steel blue and dark red. Maybe the man in your life needs his own placemat or boxer shorts?

We've also got six home dec fabrics by designers such as Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Vicki Payne. If you haven't sewn with home dec fabric yet, give it a try! It's slightly heavier weight makes it perfect for bags, pillows and more.

First, for a classic look, try this wonderful black and ivory chain print. If you're a fan of Jonathan Adler, you will love this! I think Adler would make giant pillow shams with this, but it would also make a very dashing jewelry roll. 

Next up, Stone Path, this groovy Amy Butler print from her Love collection! These colors are fab, and the print is really cool too. Again, pillows would be smashing, or how about a yoga mat bag? Amy's website has a free pattern for one and it's easy! 

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to our Sale section and start shopping! Regular cotton quilting fabric is all $7 a yard or less (many at $6 a yard!), and the home dec fabric ranges from $6 - $10 a yard. And since we love our customers, we're also offering AN EXTRA 15% OFF if you purchase 3-yard (or more) cuts! That means if you must purchase at least 3 continuous yards of a fabric to get the discount. There's no limit to the amount of fabric you can get this discount on, but each cut needs to be at least 3 yards, and the offer is good ONLY on fabric in the sale section. While supplies last!

Thanks! 

Becca

 

New year, new fabric!

Happy New Year! We have lots of great new fabrics in our shop right now and I think you'll love them. For today's preview, I will share a fun new line by Moda called Domestic Bliss. We have 6 bolts of these super-cute fabrics as well as a charm pack that is to die for! Really, it's adorable. Here are the fabrics we have: 

Aren't they great? We both love the color scheme - the turquoise, magenta, gold and pink is very groovy! It's a little bit 70's but not tacky. And the different designs are all interesting - cute flowers on a pin-dot background, a variety of medallions with cute flower details, and unique graphic prints like big rectangles or little crosses. This neat retro-inspired line would be perfect for a pretty throw or bed quilt, or try it for a table runner. 

You know what's perfect for making table runners? Charm packs! There are oodles of patterns out there for making table runners using charm squares, or if you don't want to use a pattern you can just sew the squares together and it will look great. (Or make up your own pattern!) 

Fun! Head on over to Quilt Sandwich Fabrics for these and other fine fabrics! We'll be back soon with our "Best of 2011" list so stay tuned! 

Becca

 

Sassy Sassaman!

Hey-o! What's happening? If you need some new fabric to brighten up your winter (and when don't you need new fabric?!), we just got in some Jane Sassaman fabric that will have you feelin' groovy in no time! Jane is know for her fanciful and colorful floral designs that are full of fun details. These larger-scale prints would be perfect for pillowcases or a bag, but you can use them in a quilt if you find one with some larger quilt blocks or wide borders. Don't be afraid of the large-scale prints! There are lots of patterns out there now made for larger-scale fabrics. (Amy Butler and Free Spirit have free quilt pattern downloads available on their sites too!)

Here's a quick look at the four new pieces we have from Jane's line called Early Birds.

Wowza! Those are bright! I love her swirling, curvy lines used in the branches - it just seems to add a lot of energy to these prints. The bright colors really pop on the black background, but we also loved this red print too. Let's look a little closer at some of these. 

Here's Strawberry Serenade. 

Aren't those bleeding hearts adorable?! I love them. And the cute bird! So many fun things in this fabric and the colors are amazing. The blue is very vibrant, and all of the greens in the leaves are awesome. It's like a tropical explosion on fabric! 

Here's a border stripe called Berry Patch Border. This cool border stripe is printed on one selvage and is about 12 inches tall. It features fun strawberries and flowers and exotic fern leaves. The rest of the fabric is just the pink flowers dotting a nice black background. Easiest pillowcases ever! 

At the bottom here we have a detail from Primrose Posy. Now, as soon as I saw this fabric, I was like "we're getting that!". I don't know what it is, but I just love it. Maybe it's the polka dot background, or the red/pink/black/white color combo that is so fun, or maybe the nice grid design it makes, I just think it's the cutest. 

We have a couple of other Jane Sassaman fabrics too, with more of Jane's trademark grooviness. Here are two from her Garden Divas line. 

Once again, tons of fun details on the flowers and leaves, and gorgeous colors! These are a bit more muted than Early Birds, so if you prefer something a little less bright, check out these beauties! They are gorgeous in person.

To give you an idea of how these larger prints look in use, here is a pillowcase I made for my friend Jody using this zinnia fabric. (Also, these are king size pillowcases to help you get an idea of the scale.)

Now, isn't that stunning?! Who wouldn't love going to sleep on something like that. I really like how they turned out. 

FINALLY, if all of this color is too much for you, we have this groovy graphic black and white print called Garden Tiles. 

Love it! 

I hope these wonderful fabrics give you some great ideas for gifts (for friends or yourself!) or just make you smile a bit today. Find them in our Designer Prints section!

See you soon! 

Becca

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super fast Christmas gifts!

Happy 3rd day of December! It's getting to the gift-giving time of year. If you need a really fast and easy idea, may I suggest a fun holiday potholder? They make great gifts for a hostess, friend, coworker, family member, whoever! If you don't have time to make one, read on to find out how to buy our samples.

Take a look at these cuties!

I love these fun retro potholders made with Sheri Berry fabric! They're all cute and here's a gift idea that I'll give you for free: layer the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies in a clear jar, tie a ribbon around the top and attach a fun cookie cutter and the cookie cutter potholder! People will LOVE it. You could do something similar with the festive drinks potholder, but put it with a tea kettle or drink mixes. 

These two potholders have a more classic style with poinsettias, stockings, candy canes and presents. Pretty and festive! 

Now, these are awesome! Super groovy, so you know it must be Michael Miller fabric! A funky friend will love these fun potholders! 

I have a few of these babies already made, so if you'd like any, leave a comment. We're charging $5 each. If you want to make some, head on over to our Holiday section and check out the great selection. A lot of our holiday fabrics are on sale, and you don't need much fabric to make some cute and easy potholders. Make sure to use one layer of regular batting and one layer of insulated batting (such as Insul-Bright). Your friends and family will love a hand made gift! 

Becca

Quilt Sandwich HQ 

Boho Karavan

Hello! I can't believe it's almost December! We have had a great year so far at the ol' Quilt Sandwich, and we are looking forward to more amazing fabric in 2012. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've got new fabric to talk about!

We have some selections from two new Free Spirit lines and even though we ordered them at different times, they really look great together. The first is Boho, by Annette Tatum. This groovy line combines geometric patterns, delicate henna designs and bold Ikat prints, all in a soft and sophisticated colorway. 

Okay. How awesome are the cheveons?! LOVE THEM! Both colorways (Eggplant and Butter) are great too. Henna is a fabric that features pretty henna designs in teal on a soft peachy color. In the middle is this cool larger-scale Ikat print, which is a big trend right now. Next, this stripey pattern called Indian Stripe in pretty cherry red, pink and white has a neat hand-printed feel. I love these colors, they make me excited for spring! Get started on a cool sewing project for spring now! 

Next, here is Valori Wells' newest collection called Karavan, which features motifs and colors that will transport you to ancient Persia. 

Marrakech features these awesome elephants and will jazz up all kinds of sewing projects. The elephants are pretty big - about 9" across - so use them as the focus fabric in a quilt (or fussy-cut the elephants for quilt blocks) or for larger projects. They would make great colorful pillowcases or throw pillows, or maybe some fun placemats. We really love this next print, called Quartz. This cool graphic print is so fun to look at - very eye-catching and in striking colors! Finally, this pretty floral called Kashmir has all of the warm colors of an Indian spice market. 

You can really mix and match these fabrics - the prints from Boho are simpler and would make great coordinates for the busier prints in Karavan. Try the Eggplant Chevrons or Cherry Indian Stripe with the Marrakech elephants, or Henna or Chevrons in Butter with the Kashmir floral. And the turquoise Quartz print really brings out the pretty teal designs in Henna. 

If you're looking for something exotic and unique, look no further than these gorgeous fabrics! You will find Karavan in Designer Prints, and the Boho fabrics in Plants, Floral & Trees (Henna) and Dots, Stripes and Solids section (everything else). 

Happy sewing! 

Becca

Quilt Sandwich 

 

Quilt Market recap!

Hey there! So, I got to go to International Quilt Market in Houston a few weeks ago! It was AWESOME! First of all, the show was HUGE. I guess they're not lying when they say everything is bigger in Texas, because the convention center was ginormous. I went to Quilt Market with my other job, as office assistant of In The Beginning Fabrics. ITB always has a booth at Quilt Market, so I went with them to help out in the booth. 

How about some pictures? Here's the George R. Brown Convention Center. See what I mean? HUGE. Also, I like the nautical flair - it reminds me of a cruise ship. 

This is part of downtown Houston, taken from outside the convention center. I thought Houston was very nice! We drove out of the downtown area one morning to get some things at Target (which was - say it with me - HUGE), and passed a lot of nice looking neighborhoods. Plus, the weather was lovely, in the 70's almost every day. A nice break from rainy Washington. 

Across the street from the convention center was a really nice, large park. This colorful structure was there and I'm not sure if it has a utilitarian purpose or if it's sculptural art but either way, I loved the colors and thought it was rather quilty!

This is what our booth area looked like before we got set up. 

BOR-ING! But not to worry, we got to work and made it all purty. This is the corner of the booth featuring a lot of cool projects using September Light (which Quilt Sandwich has!). It was very eye-catching! 

Here's another view of our booth - this picture is highlighting one of ITB's upcoming lines, Better Gnomes & Gardens. I seriously cannot wait to get this fabric! It is so dang cute. 

Now, I bet you'd like to see some other booths from the market? I was so excited to see what other vendors would be there, and let's face it - see some quilting celebrities! So let's cut to the chase - I MET AMY BUTLER! 

She is really tall! To give you an idea, I am 5'11" and I was wearing probably a two-inch heel. So, tall! I was surprised. She was also super nice. Her husband, David, is taking this picture and he was very nice too (and on a shallow note, not unattractive). Here are some pics of Amy's booth, which was gorgeous, of course!

I love how colorful and exotic Lark is. Amy's booth was so stunning and inspiring. (Quilt Sandwich has Lark too, by the by.) Next is David Butler's (aka Parson Gray) booth. Even though Parson Gray's fabric seems kind of masculine, I like that there is a woman's outfit made out of it. Actually, I wear gray a lot so I would probably totally wear that. It seems Seattle-ey. Anyway, a very mod booth! 

Right down the aisle from Amy was Anna Maria Horner's booth, which was obviously adorable. She had a nice comfy couch to lounge in, and tons of cute things to look at. I just love this warm color scheme and all of the different patterns! 

Across from Amy Butler and Anna Maria was the big Westminster booth. They had a lot of pretty things hanging up, including this lovely quilt. (I like that solid turquoise background! Note to self: solid turquoise on the back of a quilt looks good.)

Here's the booth for Art Gallery Fabrics, which I LOVED! I am totally going to be stealing some of these decorating ideas. I really love the white frames and the navy walls. 

Next: RIC RAC! I just love this explosion of gorgeous ric rac from May Arts. They were right by the In The Beginning booth and I could not stop looking at all of their beautiful ribbons. 

What's next? I took a lot of pictures! Oh yes - Echino/Kokka. People, this whole section was so cute I was kind of freaking out. It was WAY better than my pictures will tell you. 

Finally, here's the Dear Stella booth - this booth was really cool, very modern and chic and they even had their own bottled water! They also won an award for best new exhibitor. 

Whew! It was a whirlwind for sure. After the show ended at 4:00 on the last day, we had to tear our booth down. It took us two days to set up (they were fairly leisurely, but still, two days!) and a little less than two hours to take it down. By the time we were done we had packed everything up and got most of it onto this palette, which we then wrapped some crazy industrial strength plastic wrap around. Here's our booth in palette form! 

Goodbye Quilt Market! Hope to see you again soon! 

Becca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're havin' a big old sale!

Hey-o, folks! November already, amiright?! 

ANYWAY. Let's get right down to it. We have just added lots of great new things to our sale section! We've got over 100 fabrics that are $7 a yard OR LESS. Woo hoo! We've got stuff from Free Spirit, Moda, In The Beginning, Windham, Clothworks and more. So it's good fabric! AND, it gets better...

BACKING SALE! In order to make room for more great fabric, we're having a backing sale! What does this mean? Purchase at least 3 continuous yards of fabric from the sale section and we'll take an extra 15% off the already ridiculously low price! While supplies last. There's no limit to the amount of fabric you can get this discount on, but each cut needs to be at least 3 yards, and the offer is good ONLY on fabric in the sale section. So no trying to get that new Amy Butler for $7.50 a yard. Convo us with specific questions about quantity, etc. 

This is a great way to stock up on fabric for any reason, not just quilt backs! (Although let's face it, you quilters out there know that buying backing fabric gets SPENDY.) How about making some lovely pillowcases for holiday gifts? Or placemats? Or reusable shopping bags? Possibilities are endless! 

Here's a quick preview of just some of the goodies on sale. 

This beaut is from the Botany line by Moda. Brown and aqua are always a pretty color combo, and the sketches and delicate spider webs are gorgeous. 

I just love this chic print from Dolce by Tanya Whelan. Seven dollars a yard, people! You can't beat that. 

If you missed out on all of the Missoni for Target (easy to do in my neck of the woods), this awesome Jay McCarroll zigzag fabric may be just what you need. 

Next up, a striking nouveau floral design from Moda. I love the rich colors on the chocolate brown background. 

Finally, this adorable floral print (also on a nice brown!) from In The Beginning. Phoebe is a fun collection of sweet flowers and butterflies and is perfect for a cute patchwork quilt for a girl. 

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Quilt Sandwich Sale!

Becca

 

 

Stop: Flannel time!

Well, just in time for the cooler weather, we got our Anna Maria Horner flannel up today! It. Is. AWESOME! Anna Maria's chic designs are now warmer and fuzzier and we whole-heartedly approve of this cozy direction. We have three gorgeous patterns from Loulouthi, and you would be hard-pressed to find a prettier piece o' flannel anywhere. 

First up, here's In The Clearing! 

How cute are those tulip-shaped flowers?! I just love 'em. And what pretty colors - the soft gray is perfect for flannel, and goes great with all of the great pinks. The tulip section is actually a big stripe that goes from selvage to selvage. 

Next up, here is a cool zigzag pattern called, appropriately, ZigZag. 

The colorway for this one is called Icing, and it is as sweet as frosting! I love the pinks, but the coral, gray, gold and teal keep it from being overly cutesy. Chevrons are always in good taste, and if you missed out on the Missoni for Target collection (and refuse to get ripped off from the eBay vultures), this just might give you the zigzag fix you are craving. 

Finally, a gorgeous floral! 

I LOVE this color combo of orange, burgundy and aqua! It could not be cooler. The roses are beautiful and the big zigzag in the background adds a funky touch. 

What can you do with these flannels? Well, you can never go wrong with pajama pants. No doubt you know someone who would love some comfy pillowcases for a holiday gift! Or how about a cozy quilt? A basic quilt pattern will go together quickly and show off the cool prints. Even big squares will look great in these pretty fabrics. Yarn-tie them for a folksy look or do some easy quilting. Or choose one print you like and keep it really simple! 

These gorgeous flannels are available in our Designer Prints section, so check them out! 

Becca

 

Don't forget Halloween!

Halloween is fast approaching! Do you have a great costume in mind? If you are in need of easy and fast decor, why not get some cute Halloween fabric from Quilt Sandwich? All of our Halloween fabric is on sale! We have some really cute ones too. 

First, here are some fun, retro prints from Sheri Berry's line, Costume Club. 

I love the colors! The lime and aqua is a nice addition to the usual Halloween orange and black, and it's just dang cute too! Here are some placemats I made last year with these fabrics - they have a nifty pocket for silverware and were really easy to make! (Note: we are sold out of the white fabric with owls.)

Next up is a collection of four prints from Moda. These are reminiscent of civil war prints but updated in the Halloween colors - besides orange and black, there's cream and acid green. 

I really love all of these fabrics too. There are fun dots, a neat plaid and this pumpkin and diamond stripe. Here's a cute project idea, too - Trick or Treat bunting! I got the iron-on letters at a local craft store, but the bunting would look just as cute without the letters. 

Finally, we have this really cool spiderweb print. 

I really like the soft yellow with it - it's a pretty version of Halloween! This fabric would also be cute for placemats or a simple table runner. 

Another fun project idea for any Halloween fabric is a fast tote bag for candy. Or how about super easy cloth napkins?  And if you really don't have a lot of time, you can just put your Halloween fabric in a cool picture frame and have instant festive wall art! 

These frames (including mats!) were from Ikea and really cheap. I usually just have pretty paper in them, but for Halloween I used these graphic fabrics in them. This is a really great, inexpensive and fun way to decorate for the holidays! 

Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! And don't forget to get your Halloween fabric at Quilt Sandwich! Find it in our holiday section!

Becca

QS