Are you ready to quilt along?

Say hi to the February 2014 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting!  Turn to page 55 for a scrappy quilt called “Tone it Down” designed by Lissa Alexander of Moda fabrics.  If you’re a subscriber you should have the February issue in your mailbox by now.  If you don’t subscribe, you can pick one up at your local retailer on December 3^rd.  Just look at this scrappy beauty!  Don’t you love it?

Join me and 8 other bloggers, as we make this beautiful quilt over the next few months.  Think of the fun as you watch all the different variations unfold.  Better yet, you can make it right along with us!  You’ll find tips galore throughout the weeks, and isn’t it more fun to sew with a large group?  Here’s a link to all the participating bloggers:

Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side

Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms

Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie

Jane Davidson of Quilt Jane

Jennifer Keltner of American Patchwork & Quilting

Kimberly Jolly of Fat Quarter Shop

Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings

Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life

So let’s get started!

Choosing fabric

Choosing fabric for a quilt can be challenging, but it’s also a really fun part of making a quilt.   If you don’t know where to start try this:  Start on the Moda website!  I did!   The first thing I did when I got to the home page was to click on the catalog  link at the bottom of the page.   You can  browse through the most recent catalogs to see all the new fabrics coming your way!  Page after page of new fabrics!     Flip through these for inspiration and color ideas.  If you find a fabric you love, click on the “downloads” link at the bottom of page, right next to “catalogs”.  You’ll be able to download the fabric skus and save them to your computer for use in a design program such as Electric Quilt.  Moda makes all of this available to you for free!

Click on the “download” link at the bottom of the page and find the fabric line you’d like to download.

Now it’s time for you to think about the fabric you want to use.  Will you pull from your stash, or are you dreaming of one of the new Moda fabric lines?  After looking through the catalogs, I fell in love with Plum Sweet by Blackbird Designs.  I’m starting with a fat quarter bundle and adding to it as needed.  (If you think you’ll like to make your quilt like mine, you can ask to be notified by the Fat Quarter Shop when they have Plum Sweet in stock.)

It’s the fabric that inspires me.  I’m drawn to it like a moth to a light, and when I see some I like, I usually love the entire line.  I love to work with fat quarter bundles.   When you start with a single fabric line you know the fabrics have been designed to work together, and most bundles include light, medium, and dark fabrics.   Plum Sweet is such a beautiful fabric line and it’s a treat for me to be able to play around with Lissa’s design.  I’ll show you where I started next week and give you some tips on auditioning fabrics.

For this week, your job is to find the February, 2014 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting and choose some fabric that you think you’d like to use.

Hugs,

Anne