Repro fabric glamor shot

I've been waiting for the fabrics in Judie Rothermel's Civil War Tribute line for a l-o-n-g time. A lot of these beauties were first printed as part of her Civil War I group and I started a quilt with them many years ago. They were the subject of one of those frantic fabric hunting expeditions because the group was not a current line and I had decided that no other fabrics would do for that quilt. Are those fabric companies diabolical? They limit the printing and turn fabrics into "collectors items." I admit it; I fall for it every time. Anyway, I now have to dig out that partially completed top and introduce it to its new siblings. Reproducing these is like fabric clones. At last, I have them.

I just had to share the fat quarter stack in all its beauty. I got these from Z&S Fabrics (which has a 10% off everything site-wide sale this weekend) and they were as reasonably priced as 50 quality fat quarters can be. Plus, they have a really clever way of folding them together and they are tied with a very usable strip of fabric from the same collection. I think I'll use them as sewing room decor for awhile. If you are ever looking for bundles of fat quarters, I urge you to shop around. I looked at a lot of sites for this group and the price varied between $100 and $142 for the same number!

P.S. I do not have any connection with this business other than being a very satisfied customer.

A little of this and even littler of that

I love to make little quilts. Note, when I refer to little quilts I do not mean miniature quilts. I admire the skill and precision involved in making miniature quilts, but I prefer something that looks more like a piece of the full-size quilt as opposed to the exact replica of the big one wrought miniscule. I can finish small quilts pretty quickly and mistakes become "design choices" not disasters. Little Quilts, Lori Smith and Jo Morton are sources for small quilt patterns.

Here are my "top ten" reasons for making little quilts: (1) You can at least finish the top before quilters' A-D-D kicks in, (2) You can work outside your color comfort zone without wasting a lot of time, fabric or money if your choices don't work out, (3) You can artfully arrange them around your house and it looks like you have a lot of quilts, (4) You can make enough to decorate with quilts seasonally, (5) They are a good repository of orphan blocks, (6) You can even make one out of a single block--if it's quilted, it's a quilt, (7) You can indulge your urge to buy that gorgeous fabric with only a fat quarter and still make it work, (8) You can make a whole quilt back out of a fat quarter, (9) It's a great way to use up those fabric scraps you just cannot throw out, and, finally, (10) They are so gosh darn cute!

I treated myself to Temecula Quilt Company's (check out their blog for lots of great small quilt pictures) little quilt of the month program using one of the Lori Smith patterns and the photo above is the fruit of my labors from this past weekend. What a great treat to get a squishy envelope in the mail that included a glossy photo of their completed version of the little quilt and four quarter yards of fabric. I opened the envelope and headed straight to the washer to pre-wash the fabric and then got busy sewing. See how quickly you can finish a little quilt top! The "worse than forcast" winter storm even knocked out our power for five hours on Saturday and I still finished the top. Kathie at Inspired by Antique Quilts blog is doing her own little quilt of the month and her recent post inspired me to do something with the tiny scraps I've been saving from a scrappy star quilt I am working on. The quilt top below was made one day during the Thanksgiving holiday and I basted it for hand quilting last weekend.