March is National Quilt Month!
In honor of National Quilt Month and the upcoming National Quilt Day on March 20th, Havel’s Sewing would like to share a few quick links to some of our favorite quilt designers’ pattern shops.
Quilt in a Day with Eleanor Burns
So find a design and get quilting! If you choose a Quilt in a Day pattern, you can make 28 quilts before the month’s end!
One of our favorite resources here at Havel’s Sewing is the terrific blog dedicated to fabric called True Up. Filled with information on everything from types of fabrics to how to design fabrics to recognizing patterns and all the best store sales, True Up is an online treasure trove of all things fabric. If you want a base education in fabric, True Up is a great place to start.
Check it out.
If you’ve ever made a collage, then you’ve probably heard of that very popular decoupage product Mod Podge. The matte and gloss types are very popular with mixed-media artists. Here at Havel’s Sewing, we’ve even seen one of our very own make a very nice housewarming gift for friends using Gloss Mod Podge.
Project based on Anna Maria Horner's "Marriage Rules" in the June/July issue of Cloth Paper Scissors
But now, we’re completely taken with Fabric Mod Podge. We’ve tried using Matte Mod Podge to stick fabric to fabric, but it turned the fabric stiffer than we’d like. That’s why we were thrilled to find out about Fabric Mod Podge.
We’ve even found fantastic projects on the web that call specifically for Fabric Mod Podge. And, when you need a little Mod Podge inspiration, check out the blog Mod Podge Rocks.
The best blog for Mod Podge news and projects.
Mod Podge Rocks offers a great Mod Podge Formula Guide as well as a Fabric Embellishment Tutorial.
For more projects, check out a tutorial on embellishing plain sneakers with fabric scraps by clicking here.
Learn how to embellish a t-shirt using Fabric Mod Podge by clicking here.
Do you love fabric but want to do more with it than make sewn goods? Maybe you want to dye it or embellish it with beads or tin or wood. Or maybe you love to place paper and fabric together in unusual ways. Well, then, Interweave publishes the magazine that will continually inspire you!
Cloth Paper Scissors is published six times a year and offers news on techniques, projects and mixed media artists. Check out a back issue’s Table of Contents to get a feel for what they have to offer.
Stampington & Company publishes a variety of mixed media titles, but Sew Somerset seems to be the magazine most focused on artists who combine paper and fabric in their creations. Sew Somerset is a special yearly publication not listed under Stampington & Company’s “subscription” information. Look for it at your local bookstore.
One fantastic tool of the trade is a flannel design wall. Your fabric clings to flannel so you can arrange quilt blocks or other projects to determine optimal fabric arrangements. Most quilt shops will have at least one in their classroom, but isn’t it nice to have one at home? Or in your studio space? If you’re thinking about installing a design wall, here are a few of our favorite types:
1. The DIY Design Wall
Wrap this with cotton flannel and nail or drill it to your wall space.
The DIY wall consists of cotton flannel purchased from your favorite fabric store, plus an insulation panel or two (depending on the size of your wall) from your local Home Depot and voila! Here’s a handy link to a few of the most frequently asked questions about building a design wall.
2. Purchase a Design Wall
Cheryl Ann's Design Wall
Skip the DIY and purchase a portable design wall. A few different options exist, but we like the old fashioned flannel wall. Portability is handy and you can take this to guild meetings and classes. And, if you need your studio wall space for shelving, a portable design wall is probably perfect for you.
3. Create a Virtual Design Wall
Place fabric side by side in an MS Word document.
Try out this virtual design wall from Delta Patchwork at www.deltapatchwork.com. We found this tool to be very helpful in choosing coordinating fabrics and made this online store stand out from the crowd. You can replicate this tool in Microsoft Word, as well. Just right click on store fabric pics, save the pic, then Insert the photos into a Word document. This is handy when shopping among various online retailers.
