June 2008

Love Antique Sewing Machines?
Ever want to know what a certain model of an old sewing machine looked like? Or maybe you have a very old machine and would like to figure out what it is? Visit Sewing Machine Collector and find all kinds of wonderful information on antique sewing machines (and toy sewing machines)! Also includes old sewing art and articles. While most of their information is based on British machines you will really enjoy browsing this site.

May 2008

Need Fabric?
Looking for a special fabric and can’t find it? Visit quiltshops.com and use their search link to check over 200 stores for it. This is an easy and fast way to find that piece of fabric you need.

April 2008

BOM Quilts and More!
Do you love Block of the Month patterns? Well here you go - a whole website with BOM patterns! Some new, some old. You can also sign up for emails with a list of the newly added patterns!

BOM Quilts

March 2008

Sharon Schamber's Quilts and Tips
You may not know the name of Sharon Schamber, but I’m sure you’ve seen her quilts in magazines. She has won many, many national quilt show awards and her quilts are often in the major magazines.

Most recently she has won
· $100,000 Quilting Challenge for Scarlet Serenade
· Hancock’s of Paducah Best of Show 2007 for Flower of Life
· 2nd Place Mixed Techniques 2007 AQS show Paducah for Spin Dancer
· Hancock’s of Paducah Best of Show 2006 for Sedona Rose
· Gammill Longarm Machine Quilting Award 2006 in Paducah for Scarlet Serenade

Did you know that Sharon has some youtube tutorials? I’ve never seen so much Elmer’s Glue used on a quilt! These are must watch video’s for any quilting enthusiast. Even if you don’t bind your next quilt exactly like she does, your sure to pick up some great and useful tips for your own quilts.

How to make an award winning binding:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

And my favorite tip - how to make a basting glue bottle from Elmer’s Glue and a mechanical pencil!
Basting Glue

And play around with youtube with quilting words for searches. There are all kinds of fun quilt related videos out there!

February 2008

Patterns! Patterns! Patterns!
We all love quilt patterns I’m sure! Whether it is for making a whole quilt, layout ideas, or just a block for a swap. This month - free block and quilt patterns on the web.

Quiltville
You’ve all heard Nan and I talk about Bonnie’s scrap quilts. Check out her quilt patterns and stash busting/scrap organization tips on the left sidebar.

Quilter's Cache
Need a block idea? Marcia Hohn has over 500 block patterns, adding more every day.

Sylvia's Bridal Quilt
Whether you have read Jennifer Chiaverini’s "The Master Quilter" or not, you still can enjoy these block patterns from Sylvia’s Bridal Quilt.

American Patchwork & Quilting - All People Quilt
Fun appliqué, pieced and accessory projects available.

Judy Martin's BOM and Judy Martin's QOM
About every month Judy Martin puts up a new free Block of the Month and Quilt of the Month pattern. Her stuff is always worth checking in for!

Block Central
More quilt and block patterns.

McCall's Golden Quilts
Some of McCall Quiltings wonderful quilt patterns free online.

January 2008

Quilt Collections Online
I love antique quilts, I can’t get enough of them. I’m always looking for inspiration and ideas from old quilts. And I love daydreaming about them, or the people who made them so long ago.

Did you know that many wonderful antique collections have pictures of them online? Check these sites out next time you just want some good old fashioned quilt viewing!

International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln Nebraska
You can search different collections they have, or use "Search The Collections" to do some searching for specific kinds of quilts. This site also has current day quilts in their collection. Sign up for their "Quilt Of The Month" and get an email at the beginning of the month about one of the quilts.

Quilt Study Groups
This site has information about different quilt study groups. I found that if you visit some of them online you often can find pictures from their meetings of old antique quilt that you don’t see at shows or books. Sometimes these are the best ones! This site is a good one to click around on when you are in a surfing mood.

Quilt Center, Michigan State University Museum
Click on Collections to see a wonderful online quilt show. Click on Quilt Index to get a search page for specific kinds of quilt in their collections.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Type in quilts in the top search bar and see some wonderful examples of quilts as artwork. Check out Cherry Tree or Tree of Life - how would you like to applique all those cherries!

December 2007

Fabric Manufacturer Free Quilt Patterns!
Did you know that most fabric manufacturer’s have free quilt patterns available on their sites? Of course they are to push their new lines of fabric – but I often find these galleries of patterns a source of inspiration – and really fun quilts to make! Check out these sites:

PandB Textiles
Baum/Windham Fabrics
Red Rooster Fabrics
Red Rooster Fabrics - Archived Patterns
Moda
Marcus Fabrics
Free Spirit
Clothworks
Andover Fabrics
South Sea Imports
Wilmington Prints
E.E. Schenck Co.
Maywood Studio
RJR Fabrics
A.E. Nathan Co.
Hoffman
Timeless Treasures (Archived Patterns to Left)