New books, Magazines, Fabrics

Edyta Sitar's new book "Handfuls of Scraps" is here and is wonderful......on a par with her "Reasons for Quilts"!!  Photos of 36 Antique Quilts and patterns for 15.

Simple, but oh so dramatic, Uneven 9-patch with a glorious red/white pillar print used in the alternating blocks!

An early Medallion Quilt, always a Favorite with me!!

"Potholder Pam" Weeks was in the shop Tuesday and found a Potholder quilt in 

Edyta's new book!  She's an eagle-eyed Lady when focused on a particular type of quilt!!  

This came all in one day!  What to read first??

An Early American Life article by Linda Eaton of Winterthur Museum informs us of a whole new category of printed textiles recently discovered.........as early as 1760 American patriots, boycotting British-made fabrics, created their own by using stamps and oil-based inks and paints.  Linda would like to hear from anyone who thinks they own a textile that might be American stamp block-printed.  Find a copy of the magazine (Oct 2014)and check this out for yourself!

Also, a long-awaited must-have book is coming this Fall........Linda Eaton of Winterthur Museum is publishing a revision of the ground-breaking book by Florence Montgomery in the 1970's, "Printed Textiles:British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850".

"Patchwork Pillowcases" by Ann Hermes is also a must-have book for antique quilt/fabric lovers and students!  The history is complete and the color photos are wonderful for those who could spend hours studying them!!

Fons & Porter magazine is noteworthy to me for the antique quilt articles by Gerald Roy and the quilt/pattern offered by IQSC (International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.)

And the audio book?  I Love audiobooks to listen to when I am in my sewing room and/or driving in the car.  Ken Follet is a favorite author and this is the first of a series "Pillars of the Earth".  Looking forward this fall to the arrival of the third book in his current trilogy......the first two books were riveting! 

New Moda fabric!  "Celeste" by Sentimental Studios.....4 bolts, 3 of which are loverly large-print Jacobean style for borders, layer cakes and charm squares.

You might remember this quilt from the New England Quilt Musum photos in previous posts......that border fabric seemed familar to me and you will find out why below!!

Found a bolt of the border fabric hiding in my shop!  I was straightening and re-organizing and there it was!  I felt like I had seen that black/red border fabric before and I had!  The fabric is "Vivaldi" from Windham Fabrics.

Should have included this option for making the outer Triangle border of my Colonial Medallion WIP.......I often make a paper-piecing pattern when I want absolute accuracy as you will see with a little quilt made years ago.

This little quilt pattern is  Carol Hopkins' from her Civil War Legacies series of patterns.  That pink border was in Jo Morton's first line of fabric if I remember correctly (2002-03).  My friend and I both made the quilt ....she made the sawtooth star version and I made the Lemoyne star version.  Both of us had trouble fitting the triangle border onto the first border......triangle borders were too long.  Soooo.....I made a paper-piecing pattern and then my border fit perfectly.  Another way to fix the problem is to change the width of the plain border but it would have been to wide (imho) for this small quilt.

I recommend trying to make your own paper-piecing patterns for just a part of a block (or as in this case, a border) that is difficult to piece......sure made life easier!!  Don't be afraid to experiment!

This is a lovely new grouping of Lights (always need more Lights!) from Jo Morton called "Melodies" and they do indeed Sing!  Same prints as in previous grouping called "Haberdashery".....now we have a full range of color complements!

This is the blue colorway with the paisley that is shared with the red colorway.

 Red colorway with the shared paisley.

 Lavender colorway shares the paisley with the green colorway.

 Green colorway with the shared paisley.  Can't wait to get these washed and ready to use!!

Time to go to my sewing room to trim a bunch of little railfence blocks and listen to the last disk of my current audiobook "Play Dead" by Halan Coben.....good mystery with lots of twists and turns....read by Scott Brick, one of my favorite readers.