Quilting with Kaffe Fassett fabrics! (1)

What do we love about Kaffe Fassett's fabrics? Their vibrant colors! For more than two decades, Kaffe Fassett has inspired quilters to go wild with color and texture. Here are some gorgeous quilts showcasing fabrics from the Kaffe Fassett Collective.

Note: Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on beaded jewelry, quilt patterns, and collectible items! For continuous free quilt patterns, please follow us on Twitter. 

Color Garden, made and quilted by Jana Knutson  

Bring on the color in this garden of trees and flowers! Some of the "branch" fabrics blend with the "tree" fabrics, while others have a strong contrast. The overall effect comes in and out of focus as you look at the quilt. Horizontal bands were created by grouping blocks with similar colors. Jana Knutson says that Color Garden was based on a quilt design called Arboretum by Springleaf Studios.  

Queens Cross by Elizabeth Sonnenfeld, quilted by Quality Quilterz 

This stunning New York Beauty-style quilt was based on the Queens Cross pattern by Jen Kingwell. We love the color combinations, spiky points, and contrasts! Elizabeth Sonnenfeld says, "This pattern really appealed to me, especially using colorful Kaffe Fassett fabrics.The process of making the blocks was longer than usual but very enjoyable." Check out the teal blue and olive green combination below!

Hot Tucson Nights, made and quilted by Linda Cote  

Wow, this quilt is as hot as the summer nights in Tucson, Arizona! So many wonderful fabrics were used. The orange and red blocks are interspersed with pops of blue and purple, providing a respite and focal points for the design. Linda Cote says that Hot Tucson Nights was based on a "Scrappy Surprise" pattern by Virginia Robertson Designs.

Note: If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy dozens of *FREE* patterns for Kaffe Fassett Quilts:  CLICK HERE for Part 1 and CLICK HERE for Part 2!

 

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson (Arizona) Quilters Guild show.

Wedding Ring Quilts (part 3): Virginia Robertson Designs

As part of our series on outstanding Wedding Ring quilts, we are pleased to present Virginia Robertson Designs. Virginia is a quilt artist, fabric designer and international teacher who has been working in the fabric industry for 30 years. Virginia has been the art director for Princess Mirah's Batiks for the last six years, and many of her quilts feature these gorgeous Bali batiks. Here are some of her wonderful designs.

Glowing Wedding Ring Pattern by Virginia Robertson Designs

The Glowing Wedding Ring quilt shown above is created from Princess Mirah Batiks in a rainbow of hues.  We love the blend of warm and cool colors, and the contemporary, squared-off shape of the interlocking rings.  Make it as big as you wish by adding more rings; in addition to the quilt pattern and acrylic templates, complete kits with Bali Batiks are available.

Crazy Wedding Ring Pattern, 40 x 40", by Virginia Robertson Designs

You can use up all your scraps when sewing this Crazy Wedding Ring quilt ! The 40" wall hanging may be made larger by adding more rings. Create a festive look for Valentine's Day by combining all kinds of bright red prints, checks, polka dots, or even small pieces of plaids.  An Easter or springtime color scheme can be made sewing a background of white-on-white fabrics and rings with pale lavender, baby pink, soft yellow, and pastel turquoise tones.

Dresden Plate Wedding Ring Pattern by Virginia Robertson Designs

This clever design is a combination of a Dresden Plate with Wedding Rings. The rounded and notched shapes remind us of interlocking gears; we can imagine this quilt in a number of interesting textures including black-and-white prints, polka dots, batiks, or Japanese indigos. For a variation, you can try a monochromatic color scheme in pale pinks, rose tones, fuschias, and magentas.  You could also work with an analogous color scheme of cyan blues, lime green, and shades of grape.

Broken Pickle Dish Pattern, 72.5 x 72.5", by Virginia Robertson Designs

As mentioned in our first article on Wedding Ring Quilts, a "Pickle Dish" is a Wedding Ring variation in which the rings are made with triangular pieces. Here is Virginia Robertson's Broken Pickle Dish variation, which has a different setting than her Pickle Dish Quilt pattern.  The color scheme is reversed so that the points are gold, and the fractured background is a scrap bag collection of jewel tone fabrics. There are enough foundation paper arcs included in the pattern to create a 72 1/2" square quilt; you can order additional foundation papers if you wish to make a larger size quilt.

Fat Wedding Ring Pattern, 47 x 47", by Virginia Robertson Designs

This dynamic quilt features a 16-patch section where the fat rings intersect.  You can create a happy 47" wall hanging or make it larger by adding more rings. Prairie points add an interesting finish to the quilt! For a lighthearted classic look, use a cream or ecru background and 1930's tiny prints in bubble-gum pink, mint green, tangerine orange, and lemon yellow.

If you are interested in making a Mini wedding ring quilt - 20" square - please visit Virginia Robertson Designs and check out these mini quilt patterns: Mini Wedding Ring,  Batik Mini Wedding Ring,  Scrappy Wedding Ring, Mini Pickle Dish and Broken Mini Pickle Dish.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Virginia Robertson.

Free pattern day: Tote bags !

Just in time for back-to-school or holiday projects, we've assembled a collection of free sewing patterns for tote bags (and a backpack).  These are perfect for books, groceries, knitting, or anything else you need to haul around !

NOTE: This post has been updated and expanded.  Please see the new Free pattern day: Tote bags!

Harvest Quilts - Part 2

Today, we are continuing to admire some lovely quilts with the theme of a bountiful harvest. Join us for inspiration from these creative and attractive quilts which incorporate images of apples, pears, grapes, pumpkins and other fruits of the season. 

Horn of Plenty,  20 x 25, by Virginia Robertson 
 

Virginia Robertson is an artist who has been working in the fabric industry for 30 years. She and her husband, Lynn, have a publishing company of fine books and patterns at Virginia Robertson Designs. She also has designed thousands of fabrics for different fabric companies, and she has been the art director for Bali Fabrics for the last six years. In "Horn of Plenty" the batik fabrics really sparkle in warm hues which showcase the pumpkin, grapes and leaves in the center of the quilt.  "Horn of Plenty" is available as a kit or a pattern at Virginia Robertson Designs.

Cornucopia Block, by Elly Sienkiewicz, stitched by Karen Pessia

Elly Sienkiewicz learned to quilt from her relatives in West Virginia, and she embraced it with a passion. One of the best known and most popular designers of appliqued Baltimore Album style quilts, she founded her  now famous Elly Sienkiewicz Applique Academy to share her love of both teaching and quilting.  In the Cornucopia Block shown above, stitched by Karen Pessia,  Elly's energetic and lively design really captivates the viewer, as grapes, peaches, apples, cherries, and anything else you can imagine leap out of the horn of plenty in a joyous arrangement. Her latest book, Elly Sienkiewicz's Beloved Baltimore Album Quilts: 25 Blocks, 12 Quilts, Embellishment Techniques has just been released this week. We can't wait to read it, as Elly's prolific designs and excellent instruction are such an inspiration to quilters everywhere.

Apple Still Life,  51 x 37, by Ellen Lindner

Displayed on the home page of Ellen Lindner's  Adventure Quilter website, these tempting apples are made with exquisite colors and precision. They  seem to jump rights off this beautiful quilt, as they are so lifelike and three dimensional. This quilt is an example of Ellen's double reverse applique process, and Ellen has published her own Double Reverse Applique E-Book, which can be downloaded immediately from the website. These e-Books are time-saving, convenient, and economical.

In order to make the beautiful "Apple A Day " block shown above,using the Double Reverse Applique E-book,  you'll need a  sewing machine capable of doing free motion quilting with dropped feed dogs and an appropriate presser foot. If you'd like to see another one of Ellen's beautiful still life designs, check out the July-August 2010 issue of Spaces Magazine, where Ellen discusses her background and inspiration for her fascinating art quilts.

Fall Memories, 34 x 26, by Edyta Sitar

Here's a raw-edge applique pattern from Edyta Sitar at Laundry Basket Quilts which uses the elongated, delicate, lacy shapes of leaves and stems to really dress up a rustic harvest theme. Edyta's elegant and pleasing still life arrangement is rendered here in  light-dappled Bali fabrics, but it would also look great in traditional prints. Edyta is a talented and prolific designer who always has something new and fun on her drawing board , including her recently published book, Friendship Strips and Scraps.  We've featured Edyta's inspiring creations several times before, including our posts titled Dresden Plate quilts and  In Full Bloom.

Apple of My Eye,  18 x 16, by Debi Hubbs

We've all heard the nursery rhyme about the blackbirds baked in the pie, but here they are, in a comical twist, standing on top of the fruit instead of inside it.   The cinnamon red batik border, the apricot print background,and the dark inner border go together beautifully. This quilt is constructed using the raw edge fusible applique technique, and the pattern contains Debi Hubbs' easy to follow instructions, a full size layout guide, and pieces already reversed for applique. It's available at  Debi Hubbs Art Blooms Online Store, where you'll see many other fun patterns for sale.

Cider Mill Road,  50 x 62,  by Nancy Halvorsen

Cider Mill Road is comprised of 16 apple blocks, each one happily sporting a whimsical spiral which adds light and contrast to the pattern. This pattern book which also includes pillows, table runners, aprons, and hot pads, is available at Nancy Halvorsen's Cider Mill Road products page. You'll also find other fun Art to Heart patterns and Nancy's fascinating books. We love this charming fabric from Benartex, and we were glad to see that a Cider Mill Quilt Fabric Pack is available at Erica's Quilting website, which includes the fabrics to make one quilt top.