Quilter's Thread

As far as I’m concerned, everyday is National Quilting Day. In reality, Saturday, March 21st is the National Day of celebration this year.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen many holidays created, Grandparents Day, Secretaries Day, Bring your daoughter to work day, etc. But I’ve never seen a newly made holiday that I appreciate more than National Quilting Day.

It is a special holiday set aside to celebrate quilts and quiltmakers- past, present and future. First celebrated in 1989, when the Kentucky Heritage Guild organized a “Quilters’ Day Out’ on the third Saturday of March, a day, they said, to celebrate the rich tradition of quiltmaking in Kentucky. In 1991, the National Quilting Association liked the concept enough that they voted to take it a national level. (I’ll bet that vote was unanimous.)

The first National Quilting Day was observed in 1992. Since then, the celebration has grown into an international celebration, with the entire month unofficially deemed “Quilting Month.” Helen Storbeck, one of the founders of National Quilting Day, wrote in The Quilting Quarterly, “Groups of quilters were encouraged to hold special events, publishers and shop owners were invited to sponsor promotions especially for quilters and it quickly became a grassroots endeavor with quilters in every part of the country participating.  In the first year of National Quilting Day, quilters in other countries asked to participate. They were welcomed with open arms. As our feelings of a community network has evolved to include a world community, it is only appropriate that quilters and quilt lovers everywhere united to give recognition to the special art form.”

NQA continues the celebration by using a contest to determine a National Quilting Day project each year. This year’s project, Crooked Path by Danielle Bohannon is shown here. Instructions can be found on the NQA website. Whether you make this pattern for personal use or for charitable giving or simply enjoy looking at it, have fun celebrating National Quilting Day!

The doctors say my husband is color blind.  Clearly, his color tastes are different than mine because his experience of color is different than mine. (I think it is true of all of us, even those the doctors don’t label.) My husband, Tom, sees warm colors vividly, but has trouble distinguishing blues, blacks and grays. When he chose fabrics for a quilt, I decided I need to “fix” his color choice, and an interesting process ensued. I simply replaced his oranges with greens and experimented with the placement of colors and voila, he couldn’t even tell the quilts were the same pattern.

To me, these quilts really illustrate the importance of color choice and placement. The complete design process has been documented and is posted in the Gallery Library in the app. The quilt is easily constructed from strips. We’re writing the pattern and will post that, as well.

Live well. Quilt well.

Lisa Berentsen is the founder of Quilter’s Thread.

 

 

 

 

With the sun staying out longer and the air slowly getting warmer, it’s time to start thinking about this spring’s seasonal decorating. That means no more snowflakes or red and green Christmas themed quilts. Instead, it’s time to start heading to your local quilt shops to stock up on the trending fabric shades for this spring in order to make the perfect seasonal quilt. Here are some more bright and natural shades to try out in your quilt pattern for this spring from the Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2015.

 

 Toasted Almond

This is a light sandy nude shade that adds a touch of warmth to your quilt design.This shade is perfect for adding a natural soothing mood and relaxing feeling to your design.

 

Strawberry Ice

This is a bright fresh pop of pink shade that is a flattering both for spring and summer quilt designs.

 

 

Marsala

This shade is a deep red wine shade that is sophisticated and a rich color. Marsala is great shade to match to the rest of the shades listed giving it a bold but elegant contrast to your design while bringing all the lighter shades together into a perfect color blend.

 

Tangerine

This is a fun and energetic shade that will add a playful character and mood to your design if incorporated in your spring quilt.

 

Custard

This custard shade adds a touch of light that is calming but yet bright . This happy shade can help lighten up you quilt pattern in a subtle way without taking away from other shades.

 

Combine any or all of these spring season shades together to design a quilt perfect for the spring season. Here are just a couple of examples of how you can use these shades to create colorful patterned quilt. Start getting your ideas going and get creative. Begin this spring right with a great quilt.

  

When finished with your spring quilt make sure to upload and share with us your finished project on our mobile app.

Live Well. Quilt Well.

 

With a new year brings new ideas, designs, and trends. Like every other year there is a new list of colors and shades that are popular for each season of the year that are great for adding to any design. With spring weather arriving soon, it’s time to start getting out different shades of green and blue colors to help brighten up your home decor and style. Here are some colors to get you started on what you may want to incorporate into your spring quilts this year.

Aquamarine

According to Pantone Fashion color report, aquamarine is one of the top trending colors this spring. Aquamarine is a calming and cool light blue color that is perfect for this spring style.

Scuba Blue

Scuba Blue is a nice tropical ocean shade that adds a splash of vibrant bright blue to any project. This sea breeze shade is a great way to kick off the start of a bright spring quilt design perfect for sunny days.

Lucite Green

Lucite Green is a light mint shade that is a soothingly refreshing color great for any quilt pattern or design fit for this spring season.

Classic Blue

Although classic blue may seem too generic for a trending color for this spring it is a great shade that acts as an anchor for the rest of the shades above when incorporating them in a quilt.

Glacier Gray

This color is great for enhancing other shades while sticking out but without taking any of the lime light from other brighter shades. This neutral shade of grey is just the right touch of simplicity that is soothing and timeless.

Even among these similar colors, the options for your quilts are limitless. Look at how they play out differently in the same pattern:

                       

Combine any or all of these top trending shades from Pantone for spring 2015 into the perfect quilt for this season. Get creative and make sure to share with us your finished design on our mobile app.

Live Well. Quilt Well.