More free quilt block patterns at Quilt Blocks Galore

There are lots of free quilt block patterns for private home use on the pages of Marcia Hohn of The Quilter's Cache.

Please be sure to read the Terms of Use page before downloading any of the patterns. You won't have the license to make any of your quilts for sale, or any other commercial use, when using these patterns. Read them carefully, and make sure you understand.

Save 25% off everything at the Colony

Use the code cybermonday when you check out, and save 25% off your entire order from Jay McCarroll's web store. This includes women's and men's apparel, body & soul, items on sale, accessories, decorate and fabric!

This code is only valid today, Cyber Monday, November 30, 2009. So don't wait!

Jay McCarroll Update...

Jay McCarrol will be carrying fabric (did I hear also some knits?) on his website, for those of you who are having a hard time getting your hands on it.

Check him out on Facebook and become a fan!

Urban Couture quilt

I finally finished (well, not finally, it didn't really take me that long) a quilt using the Urban Couture jelly rolls I picked up at Beverly's. These are designed by BasicGrey and is produced by Moda. I also used a brown and red Fairy Frost prints (Michael Miller) as accent fabrics and backing. In addition, I used a solid lavender dupioni silk, which I pleated in two strips as a dimensional accent, and a gold cotton/silk blend (I believe by Robert Kaufmann) for the outer border. I used brown Moda bias binding (which I actually buy by the roll now) to complete the quilt.

The pattern is my own. Basically, I assembled the Jelly Roll into strips of five strata, and then cut them into large right triangles. I then sewed those into squares, using Fairy Frost and an extra BasicGrey brown print, and arranged them as I desired.

For quilting, I did straight-line quilting on top of the BasicGrey patterns. Then, I did free-motion quilting throughout all the brown areas, to make the dark areas recede. After adding the binding, I also added some iridescent beads to the centers of each large flower in the brown floral print for added dimension. (I think I'd skip this part, also--too labor intensive, and it doesn't add much to the overall look of the quilt.)

The quilt is about 70" square, finished. If I were to make this pattern again, I think I'd only sew strips of three to four strips together when making the strata, so the squares didn't end up quite so large. I really love the shine silk gives to quilts, though the dupioni frays like crazy. It helped that I used my serger on the edges.

BasicGrey fabrics by Moda

I'm in love, love, love with a new fabric line by Moda. Designed by BasicGrey, an industry leader in the world of scrapbooking, these often muted tones carry over perfectly to quilts. Two lines are available, and I recommend them for any beginning to advanced quilter! The prints range from Asian-inspired collage to simple brush-stroke solids.

1. Urban Couture: An ultra-modern collection of orange, gold, browns, deep red, periwinkle and mint that will remind you of autumn. Moda has a fun, paper-pieced PDF quilt pattern to try for free listed on its website.
2. Sultry: A springy collection of roses, greens and browns make up this soft, feminine collection. You can even try out this fun pattern for free. (I've made braided quilts before, and they are fun, fast and easy to do!) It is a PDF file, and may take some time to download.
3. Figgy Pudding: A Christmas collection of traditional colors but contemporary prints: aqua, juniper, brown and burgundy. I get a warm and toasty feeling when I see these prints--I just adore them!

These delicious fabrics are available by the yard, in yard assortments, in fat quarter assortments, in Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and charm packs. So far, I've only managed to pick up Urban Couture, and I've started my first quilt using Jelly Rolls. I'm adding silk to my design as well. I can't wait to post my results!