Sometimes it’s the little things that excite us and give us a happy smile on our faces. That is the case for me today. I clicked on the JWD homepage this morning and I found a SURPRISE awaiting me—–something I have been wanting for sooooooooooooooooooooo long.  (Thanks David & Christina.)

To celebrate my happy-day feeling at JWD, I want to give 5 happy quilters a free pattern. If your’re interested, here’s what you do:

Go to our homepage to see what I am so excited about and why I picked 5 happy quilters rather than 4 or 1 or any other number. Then go to the JWD Comments and tell us what you think of our new feature (please do rave!) ……….and tell us which one of these you would like to have.

Then tell us what has made you really happy this past week—-big or small. The winners will be selected on Friday.

Happy smiles to you!

Joen

When Alex Anderson designed her Holiday Lights quilt many years ago, she designed a winner. It’s been extraordinarily popular with people of all ages.  This year has been no exception. The pattern keeps selling and Holiday Lights quilts continue to brighten the homes of people during the month of December.

This year The Piece Corps and Friends chose to make Holiday Lights their selection to raise funds for the Sutter Hospital Quilt Auction to benefit breast cancer research and patients.  The Sutter Cancer Center holds their auction every three years at the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento, California.

The Piece Corps and Friends named their auction quilt Trees of Hope. You can see their finished quilt (above) with several of the fourteen-member group:  Sally Scholz, Barbara Wexted, Martha Flanagan, Della Goss, Connie Seale, and Donna Bays. They enjoyed making this quilt and were extremely happy with the results.

Below are several in-progress photos that you will enjoy seeing. Also, if you are part of a quilting group that might want to make a group quilt for an auction or any other purpose, you’ll be interested in reading how this group organized themselves and how they worked on this quilt.  At the end of this post, you can see Alex’s latest version of Holiday Lights.

O.K. , is this border long enough now?

Donna Bays, one of the group’s members shares with us:  ”With a pattern such as this, it made the quilt much more interesting. By having so many people contribute tree blocks, we had a tremendous variety of fabrics for the trees, the trunks and the background fabrics, which were also used in the pieced border.

“Some of us are very good at appliqué and some are very good at piecing, so our combined talents made this quilt come out so well.

“We are lucky to have one longarm quilter in our group who was quite creative in quilting. She quilted across each tree a few times as if it were a rope of tinsel, using rainbow variegated thread.

“We all had fun and were very proud of how well our quilt did in the auction.  Not one of us could have made such a nice quilt by ourselves.”

How do you think this should  go?  (Do I see ribbon instead of bias tape? What a novel idea!)

The Piece Corps and Friends members each made tree blocks.  After they collected and counted all of the blocks, they calculated what size quilt they could make.  Also, everyone donated a few strips of background fabric for the outer border.  One of their members has a fabulous sewing room with a great design wall, so they met there to arrange the tree blocks, position the light bulbs to be appliqued, and audition fabrics for the red and green inner border.

Hmmmm, how should I begin?

Donna’s additional thoughts:  ”The group project worked well because we had lots of time to work on it.  We started discussing it in December and the auction donation deadline was September 1.  We set target dates for each phase, such as a date for turning in the tree blocks.  We spent several hours arranging the blocks on a large design wall, which was a lot of fun.  Then some people volunteered to sew the blocks into rows and we set a deadline for that.  Then I sewed the rows together.

“Also, once we calculated the size of our  quilt, based on the number of donated tree blocks, we were able to piece together the outer borders and give each section to 4 people who love to applique. We had a date for finishing that.  So it all came together timely and we had plenty of time to get it quilted and bound.  We are a small group but everyone is generous with their time and talents.”

We’re almost there…..the last string of lights are going up.

The Piece Corps and Friends meet regularly and mostly work on their own projects and enjoy each other’s company.  But for each of the last 4 years, they have made a smaller group quilt to give to a family when they receive the keys to their new Habitat for Humanity home.  For those types of quilts, they keep the patterns simple. They agree on a color scheme, everyone makes a few blocks, and then they put them together.  What a great group of women!

The Sutter Breast Cancer Quilt Auction received almost 700 donated quilts this year.  Most are hung in the hospital for a month with bid sheets for the silent auction.  Fifty “exceptional” quilts are selected for the live auction which is held on the last day of the bidding. Their group was thrilled when Trees of Hope was selected for that honor. The winning bid was $500. The money goes to breast cancer research and to support people fighting cancer.  Information about the auction and pictures of all the donated quilts can be seen at the quilt auction page of the Sutter Medical Quilt website.

The members of Piece Corps and Friends are Ann Barrow, Ellen Crozier, Bonnie Toy, Francess McCleerey, Diane Yates, Sylvia Earl, Gail Sims, Sally Scholz, Barbara Wexted, Martha Flanagan, Della Goss, Connie Seale, Donna Bays,  and Star Rudge. Thanks Piece Corps and Friends for your generosity of time and talent. Also, thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Share Your Ideas

If you are a member of a  group that has made a quilt for an auction or donated a group quilt  to a worthwhile community project, do share with us.

Alex’s newest Holiday Lights quilt can be seen here.

Both versions are shown in the  current Holiday Lights pattern.

To Purchase this Pattern:

Shop owners:  You may purchase Holiday Lights from us or from your distributor.  You can see further details about this quilt on the Holiday Lights page. To purchase, contact us  in your preferred method.

Quilters:  This pattern should be available at your local store. If you do not have a local store, you may purchase this pattern online. For further details about this quilt, check the Holiday Lights pattern page.

Happy December to you!

One of our favorite blogs is the four-person blog See How We Sew written by four sewing enthusiasts who are also well positioned in the quilting world: Christie Batterman, Laura Nownes, Jennifer Rounds, and Darra Williamson. Each member posts twice a month, giving us wonderful posts twice a week—Tuesdays and Fridays. Each has her own style, personality, and interests. Thus each member’s posts have a different flavor from the others. If you have not had the opportunity to read their blog, scoot over there soon to read a wide variety of offerings. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Darra’s most recent feature has to do with one of our newest pattern lines, Button Madness.  Darra’s post Immerse Yourself in Button Madness not only features one of our designers Teresa Fields and her three new button patterns, but it gives some very interesting history about buttons and button collecting that you might find interesting.

Note:  You will find the button bracelet, button fashion pin, and button napkin ring patterns listed on the JWD website under pattern designer Teresa Fields (currently listed as Quickie Chicks by Teresa Fields). Each button item has its own pattern page.  Here’s a sample of one of our packaged Button Madness patterns:

BTW, we created this packaging, so shop owners can stick these patterns in a container right  next to the button jar…..or at a convenient spot next to a button wall. These patterns are folded to 8 1/2″ high by 1 1/2″ wide.  They are closed on their backside by stickers. Each pattern is filled with two pages of sequential instructions, several illustration photos, hints, and sample photos of the pattern items.  If your store has buttons, we hope you’ll find this patterns very beneficial to your customers and you. You can purchase the patterns from your distributor or from us. Have fun playing with buttons.  Don’t forget to check out See How We Sew.

Do you love decorating for the holiday season? Well, we definitely do at JWD Publishing. We also know that Cindy Walter does too.  In fact, she has created  a beautiful Christmas ensemble that we think you’ll love.  Cindy created her designs featuring poinsettias.  The pattern includes projects for placemats, a table runner, napkins, and coasters. We love these elegant poinsettias. They are so refreshing. You can see a table set with her placemats, table runner, and napkins above. It also comes with a bonus pattern that we think you’ll love (see below). This pattern is unique because the projects can be either appliqued or painted—your choice. There are directions for both techniques in Cindy’s pattern Poinsettia Christmas.

Cindy has painted all of these items with fabric paint.  We are hoping you will love the idea of painting the poinsettias onto the placemats, table runner and coasters. To entice you, we have several color photos on the inside pattern cover which show painting a poinsettia in step-by-step progress. We have included 14 black/white illustrative photos in the instructions.  Also on the inside cover are colored photos of the coaster, a placemat, and a table runner. Cindy provided us with wonderful painting information, so there is very good information about painting on fabric included in the pattern. Inside the instructions is a complete list of  items needed, whether you are painting or appliqueing. By the way, Cindy used Jacquard’s Textile Painted Quilts Exciter Pack of paints for this project, but any high quality of fabric acrylic opaque paints will work well.

Now for Cindy’s extra special bonus project!!!

The Poinsettia Christmas pattern includes this darling little wall quilt (18″ x  22″).  Again, it can be painted on the fabric or it can be appliqued (your choice).  We love this wall quilt.    There is a large colored photo of this design on the inside cover of the pattern to guide you in your color choices. We think you’ll be smitten by this quilt too.

On another note: Cindy’s new book with C & T Publishing has just been released.  It’s Fabric Painting with Cindy Walter (see below).  For those of you who want to know more about fabric painting, this is the book to purchase. It is an excellent fabric-painting reference. We will have Cindy gives you an introduction to this book in another post, so you can learn more about what she is offering in this book.

Purchasing Poinsettia Christmas:

Shop Owners: If you sell fabric paints in your store, Poinsettia Christmas will be a wonderful addition to your store’s Christmas offerings.  Since these pattern projects can be appliqued too, Poinsettia Christmas makes an excellent project for appliquers. For more information about Poinsettia Christmas, go to its pattern page. You can purchase Cindy’s pattern from your favorite distributor or from us.

Quilters: For more details about this pattern, check the Poinsettia Christmas page. If you are unable to find this pattern at your local fabric/quilt store, you can purchase it online.

The Grape Escape by Alex Anderson

When Alex showed us this quilt and asked if we would be interested in patterning it, we immediately said, YES! It’s not only beautiful, but after taking a close look at it,  we realized even those of us who are not skillful appliquers could actually make this quilt because the pieces are fused (or glued for those of you who prefer that route) and then everything is machine appliqued. Alex used a small buttonhole stitch to finish off her edges. Now those who prefer hand applique can prepare by adding seam allowances to their pieces.

Here’s a close-up view of the grape wreath:

We are happy to tell you that both the grape wreath and the border grape vine are placed in our pattern at full size, so all you have to do is trace the pieces. There’s no enlarging or trying to tape multiple pieces of paper together.  Below you can see one section of the border vine design. The pattern is very straight forward and filled with lots of information and hints.  The quilt is 50″ x 50″.

Shop Owners: We think The Grape Escape will make an excellent class.  Look forward to an online lesson plan for this quilt very soon. If you want the lesson plan before it is placed online, contact Joen at jwolfrom@jwdpublishing.com.  This quilt is not yet listed in our main pattern page.

Please note: We are heading for Quilt Market in midweek. Our office will be closed until we return. You may order via email, telephone message, or fax. Our expected beginning shipping day is Monday, November 7.

Quilters: For those of you who do not live near a quilt/fabric  store, The Grape Escape is not yet available online. It’s estimated online date is November 12.

Here’s another quick and easy fall quilt that’s perfect for October—–it’s October by sisters Mary Hoover and Barbara Persing from 4th & 6th Designs. They live in the northeast where the leaves turn colors dramatically during the month of October. We like the organic placement of the leaves, as well as the beautiful leaf shapes. You could follow Mary’s and Barb’s pattern or you could make your own subtle changes in leaf amounts and/or placement. That’s what is so fun about patterns such as this—they give you the freedom to play.

As you can see, the background is pieced with a variety of soft neutral fabrics. Once the  quickly-made background is in place, you will cut out the leaves in your most favorite autumn-leaf  fabrics.  Mary and Barb placed these leaves on the background in a very natural manner. Then they machine appliqued the leaves.  As you can see, this quilt is quick, easy, and just like its name, it features those wonderful October leaves that are ever so ravishing.

If you are a shop owner, you can purchase this pattern from your favorite distributor or you can have us send patterns to you.  If you are a quilter, inquire about this pattern at your local quilt shop. If you do not have a local quilt shop, you may purchase this pattern online. For more information about this pattern, see the October pattern page.

Happy October!

Soon we who live south of the Canadian  border will begin to think of our own Thanksgiving celebration, which takes place on the fourth Thursday in November. This is  a beautiful time of the year to celebrate the historic 1621 autumnal harvest feast with the Wampanoag Indians and the colonists of Plymouth sharing food and giving thanks for those who had survived  the harsh living conditions in their new colony. It was definitely  a time for abundant thanks.

Although we celebrate Thanksgiving in remembrance of the Pilgrims and their small colony, our country’s annual celebration did not begin until our country was in another crucial period of time—–the Civil War. In 1863 with our country in crisis, President Lincoln proclaimed a day of national thanksgiving take place each year in November. It was our 16th president, then, who brought us our traditional Thanksgiving holiday. We earnestly hope your Thanksgiving will be a time of thanks for all that is most precious and important to you.

We Give Thanks pattern

Because we love Thanksgiving, we hunted for a Thanksgiving pattern to bring you.  We found a perfect pattern created by one of our favorite applique artists, Charlotte Warr Andersen. (If you have an   opportunity to take a workshop from her, do so. You will learn a lot!)

Charlotte Warr Anderson designed this classic Thanksgiving quilt many years ago. We so loved it here at JWD Publishing that we asked Charlotte if we could put it into a pattern. She happily agreed.  Charlotte’s Thanksgiving quilt is called  We Give Thanks

We Give Thanks is a full size pattern. We think the pattern is superb and we love this quilt.  We hope you do too. This pattern is designed for machine applique.  If you are a hand appliquer, you can make this quilt by adding seam allowances and reverse the applique pieces.

For further information about this pattern, go to the We Give Thanks page. If you are a shop owner and you would like to order this quilt for your customers, contact us.  If you are a quilter who is unable to purchase this quilt from your local quilt store, you can purchase this pattern online by going to the We Give Thanks page.

Enjoy creating this quilt!

Autumn’s Arrival is a great fall quilt.  If you are a lover of fall AND you love sunflowers, this quilt was designed with you in mind. As you can see, the background piecing will be a breeze—-nothing to slow you down. Just pick up a fall color collage of fabrics to create your quilt’s background. This quilt is perfect for jelly-roll fabrics and fat-quarters.  Naturally, yardage works well too. The great news, too,  is you will have lots of fun choosing the fabrics for the lovely sunflowers featured on this quilt. Make them uniquely your own, if possible. There are so many beautiful fabrics to choose from.

Mary Hoover and Barbara Persing designed this quilt for all of us fall-lovers out there.  Many of you know their designs under the pattern line 4th & 6th Designs. This name was chosen because Barb is the 4th child and Mary is the 6th child in their family.

Shop Owners: This pattern is very popular. It’s a great design, the piecing and machine applique are easy to do. It’s a stress-free project that should be quick to make.  If you do not have this pattern in your store, you’re missing out on an opportunity. This pattern was originally published in a multi-paged booklet. We have redesigned it into a large-page format, so it’s easy for quilters—the pattern pieces are full size. You may order patterns from your distributor or from us.  For futher details, see the Autumn’s Arrival pattern page.

Quilters: If you love this pattern as much as we do, run along to your favorite quilt shop to pick it up. If you do not have a fabric or quilt shop near you, you can purchase this pattern online. For further details, go to Autumn’s Arrival pattern page.

Welcome Home by Alex Anderson

This charming quilt can decorate your entry hall, your family room, or some wall that needs a quilt to bring it warmth and cheerfulness this fall season. If you have a twin bed that is need of a fall quilt, perhaps this is the quilt for you. It is entirely pieced. Here you can see  the wall quilt. It is made from three different blocks: a leaf block, a house block, and a star block. Two detail views of this quilt can be seen below.

The bottom right corner of this quilt is shown in this detail. There are so many wonderful fall fabrics that can be used in this quilt.

The house block has been cleverly designed to make life easy for you when piecing. As you can see in this detailed view, it is made from very simple geometric shapes.

If you are a shop owner, you may purchase this pattern from your distributor or from us. This quilt makes a good class project. For more details, see Welcome Home. If not for this fall, then put this quilt on next year’s fall class schedule, as this is a classic traditional fall quilt that quilters love. Also, you can borrow  the Welcome Home quilt for up to a month to advertise a class, to be part of an event, or just to decorate your walls. Contact Dane for trunk-show details and reserving a date for this quilt in your shop.

If you are a quilter who would like to purchase this pattern, please purchase from your local quilt shop. If you do not have a store near you, you can purchase this pattern online. For further details about this pattern, go to Welcome Home.

You want to make a quilt that is fast to construct, colorful, and can take the punishment of college life. These three quilts take minimum time. Their designs make it easy to use the colors and/or themes that your college student loves. In fact, these quilts can be made as sophisticated, as wild or as quiet as you wish. Just let your imagination and fabric stash dictate your options. Three quilts that fit the bill of easy, quick, fabric-stash friendly, for college quilts are Jammin’ Jelly by Cindy Wiens, Short Circuit by Mary Hoover and Barbara Persing, and Fat-Quarter Frolic by Larisa Key. Below are pictures of all three quilts. Fat-Quarter Frolic is shown in three versions.

Fat-Quarter Frolic by Larisa Key (shown in three versions)

Larisa Key has a great pattern  that is quick and easy called Fat Quarter Frolic. It’s made from squares and rectangles that are combined into  units to make this quilt. This quilt comes in three sizes, but for a college student, the twin-bed coverlet would be best (64″ x 72″).  Larisa has made many versions of this quilt. Here are three examples showing a variation using Amy Butler fabrics, one using batik fabrics, and the last using Japanese-motif fabrics. This quilt has been extremely popular and we have seen it in many Amy Butler fabrics, as well as other large-motif fabrics by other notable fabric designers. We’ve seen wonderful versions of it using Michael Miller, Hoffman of California, and Kaufman fabrics too.  You simply find fabrics in the colors, motifs, and textures you want…..and start cutting and sewing……

Here’s one of Larisa’s Fat-Quarter Frolic quilts that uses all batiks (above).

Larisa owns a quilt store called Quilter’s Dream. She has a great collection of Japanese-designed fabrics. In this version she has taken several different Japanese fabrics and brought them altogether.  She had a great time playing with her fabrics.

Short Circuit by Mary Hoover and Barbara Persing  (4th & 6th Designs)

Nothing can be easier than using strips and squares for a quick and easy quilt. You simply choose your college student’s favorite colors and gather a collection of fabrics from each color—and start putting this quilt together. This quilt comes in 4 sizes—the throw or the twin-bed sizes will be good  for your college student. Short Circuit is fat-quarter and jelly-roll friendly. You’ll be finished in no time at all!

Jammin’ Jelly by Cindy Wiens

Although Cindy has made her version of Jammin’ Jelly in soft, happy colors with butterflies adorning the border, you can make this quick 1-block quilt with a totally different feel by choosing vibrant colors and a totally different theme.  Perhaps reds, grays, and blacks—or blues and browns for the young man heading off to college life would work too. It’s a jelly-roll, fat-quarter friendly quilt. The one-block that is used throughout the quilt is made from units of squares and rectangles. It’s so easy to construct and so easy to put together.   There’s a twin-bed size, as well as double-bed and lap quilt sizes. This quilt is very sweet in colors and theme, but you can let you imagination go wild and end up with a quilt that feels like it isn’t even related to sweetness and light! Just play!

If you are a quilt shop owner, you can purchase these patterns from your distributor or from us. If you are a quilter, you can purchase from your local quilt shop. If you do not have a local quilt shop or if you are in a rush to make a quilt in the next week or so, you can order online. For more information about the pattern or about ordering, see the pattern pages for Short Circuit, Jammin’ Jelly, and Fat-Quarter Frolic.

Have fun making these quilts. You’ll make some lucky college student soooooooooooooooooo  happy—and warm!