Go Ahead, Use it!

Home decorator fabric, that is.  Pat Sloan and I talked about using unusual fabrics in quilts on her radio show recently.  Here are some quilts I've made using home dec fabrics.  I started using them because I just love the large prints and textures.  Mine come from thrift stores, but you could use new as well. 

This is the first time I used home dec fabric in a quilt.  The black is an old, faded piece and the border is a thick weave.

The border and sashing are some old curtains from the 1960's or 1970's.  I found them at Goodwill all dusty, but they washed up just fine.

Most of these houses are made of chintz upholstery samples.  The border is a thick brocade.

When I looked for a border for this quilt, this table cloth said, "pick me!"  I had to cut off the 4" long white fringe first. 

This border is another 1970's piece.  Ah, the good old days of "flower power!"

The red print was a large chintz sample, 52 x 52"

The white floral strips are from a remnant I found in Sweden.

Remember, Corduroy Appreciation Day is coming, 11-11-11!  If you plan to post anything corduroy on the big day, let me know.  I'll post links to all of you Corduroy Quilt Enthusiasts!

Friendship Basket

After seeing Victoria this weekend, I was so inspired I just had to make a quilt! Sujata had sent me this lovely little basket block, along with some scraps. So I combined these with other scraps I'd received from several of you wonderful blogger friends, including Tonya, Buffy, Mary and Helen, along with some of my own.

Those churn dash blocks are 4". I've never made a block that small in my life!





I don't know what got into me, but I really enjoyed working with small pieces. So I made hot pads with the scraps of the scraps. Those little triangles are about 1/2"!

As I count my blessings, I am so grateful to all of you for this whole new world of friends in blog land! Thank you!!

Harvest Baskets

Snowflakes are falling outside my window, so it's time to put another lap quilt on the couch. I made this one at Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Retreat in 2008. It's inspired by a small crib or doll quilt from the late 1800's. Buffy was with me at the retreat. Thanks to her, there are a few pieces of corduroy included.

Don't miss her corduroy quilt at the Rebels! blog. Speaking of corduroy, check out Deb Rowden's post on 11/11/11 as National Corduroy Day.




This was my first experiment in hand-quilting. I used wool batting, which is a dream to stitch through.



Happy Thanksgiving! I'm about to jump out of my skin, I'm so excited. A certain blogger friend from NYC is visiting this weekend, and I'll get to spend a day with her!!!