Pattern Archive

Issue 93 — Here’s a fun, unexpected thing to do with pre-cut strips! Weave them! There’s lots of potential in this FREE-to-use pattern. Sell your pre-cuts or cut your own, and kit them. Vary the size of the strips if you like. Make the piece in the size given, or teach or demo the technique on a small placemat, then give your customers this pattern for the larger piece. Eliminate the “base fabric” and the weaving will be open-aired. Use a fusible “base fabric” (face fusible side up) and weave it more tightly eliminating the 1/4-inch space between strips. Then fuse the woven layer to the base. You will still add borders and backing, but this eliminates the need to sew or quilt the strips. Use a piece of Roc-Lon® Multi-use Fabric as the base. Again, eliminate the 1/4-inch space. After weaving this version, use Mod Podge® to seal and stiffen the piece, and you’ll have a floor cloth.

Issue 92 — Buttons are big right now - so vintage, so nostalgic and so fun to collect. These fabulous button flowers are easy to make and pretty to look at! They make a great no-sew project. Want something else vintage or retro? Yes, you guessed it - mushrooms are back! We have offered two sizes with lots of fabric suggestions - both are cute and friendly and will work well with cooking and homemaking themes.

Issue 91 — You can make our peaceful hen out of wool and stuff her, or create a quilt block for a patched and fat fowl. Let your creativity take wing! Susan’s blog will give you great display and class ideas.

Issue 90 — Put holes in those stashes with “Holy Snowballs!” Look how pretty our sample looks in today’s newest fabrics from Quilt Market. There are 31 different fabric lines represented — aren’t mixed up scrap quilts the best! You could even put together a starter kit using older fabrics to put some holes in your dated inventory before year’s end. Then help your customers find colors and patterns to complement your selections. This might be a good chance for some basic color theory instruction and gaining fabric selection confidence.

Issue 89 — One pattern - two ways! This issue’s FREE-to-use pattern gives you several options. “Fruit Cocktail” and “Apple Tree” are the same pattern, but with two different names and descriptions. Download one or download them both. You decide how you want to market it! Use bright fabrics for “Fruit Cocktail” and use traditional fabrics for “Apple Tree.” Try the “bonus” holly-shaped leaf and holiday fabrics for a more festive look.

Issue 88 — Zig-zags and rick rack are fun and energetic! Up one minute, down the next — just like the stock market! They’re a big throw-back to the ’60s. The “Speedbumps” quilt, shown on the cover of Issue 88 is a 50-by-58-inch zig-zag project made up in coordinated prints. It takes 13 cuts, 1/3-yard each, plus borders (easy to kit!). Judy Martin’s “Point Trimmer” tool, available from Brewer Quilting and Sewing Supplies and other distributors, will make sewing the large triangles together easier, although the top can be constructed without the tool.

Issue 87 — “Ship Shape,” is intended to be foundation-pieced, which is an easy way to precisely construct quilt blocks and seems to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity. This easy pattern will give you the opportunity to teach your customers a new technique. Foundation piecing also lends itself to add-on sales. There are special foundation papers, marking tools, and the Add-a-Quarter™ ruler by CM Designs, Inc. is a must. Our sample is made scrappy, but of course “Ship Shape” will look great in any color combination. How about blue and yellow, or red and blue ships on white or pale blue seas? Make the nine blocks identical, or a mix of your color combination. It’s an easy, breezy pattern for calm summer days.

Issue 86 — “Free as a breeze,” this issue’s FREE-to-use pattern, is a lap quilt designed to be made with “layer cakes” and “charm packs.” You can purchase these pre-cut, or cut 10-inch and 5-inch squares from your own fabric inventory. It’s a perfect opportunity to finish up older bolts! “Free as a breeze” will look good in just three fabrics, like our sample above made of Kona Bay’s “Kanji Tonals,” Robert Kaufman’s “Mama’s Feedsacks Dots” and Robert Kaufman’s “Citronella.” However, you can get the same effect using light and dark scraps with one extra color for “pop.”

Issue 85 — Like our popular “What’s up, cupcake?,” the FREE-to-use pattern in Issue 82, there are many ways you can use this issue’s “Flutter by Me.” Use the block to teach embellishment skills. Host a challenge for the most beautiful butterfly. The butterfly shape could also work well as an applique on a purse, tote or jacket. Our sample is made of fabrics from Robert Kaufman, Quilting Treasures, Henry Glass and Wilmington Prints.

Issue 84 — It’s always the right time to plan ahead. Even though your shop is full of pumpkins and there’s a holiday display up front, we want you to be ready for the next big holiday — Valentine’s Day. The FREE-to-use “Soft-Hearted” pillow pattern is an easy one for you to sew and display. Our sample, which “Magic” is so comfortably snoozing on, uses three fabrics (two fat quarters and one regular quarter) from Joanna Figueroa’s Fig Tree Quilts “Gypsy Rose” line for Moda. The pillow is so inviting (it took Magic all of five minutes to discover it), and will look beautiful in almost any fabric from big romantic florals to quaint small prints. Add one to your Valentine display. Better yet — add a whole bunch of these pretty pillows to your Valentine display. Grouping many of one object is more impressive than, in this case, one “lonely heart.” The pattern includes ideas for more looks and techniques. It doesn’t need to be simple-hearted. So take the basic framework and run with it.

Issue 83 — Your customers can use up their stash with this issue’s FREE-to-use pattern “Waste Knot.” It can be very scrappy (mixing all colors in every block), planned scrappy (one color randomly placed in each block) or simply in two coordinating traditional fabrics like our sample above. Here, the light fabric is from Marsha McCloskey for Clothworks and the dark fabric is from Jo Morton for Andover Fabrics. There are even instructions for making the block really look knotted. The knot pieces are all 2-1/2 inches wide, so the pattern can be cut from Moda’s Jelly Rolls.

Issue 82 — Join the cupcake celebration with “What’s up, cupcake?” our cute cupcake block. Thanks to both Roseann Kermes (rosebudscottage.typepad.com) and Pat Sloan (patsloan.typepad.com) for our block idea. They make quite a creative team! “Crazy for Cupcakes” by Roseann, on page 20 of Issue 82, has more ideas on how to use this block. Our sample is constructed of fabrics from Clothworks™, Benartex, Inc., Moda and Michael Miller Fabrics.

Issue 81 — Ah, The Mighty Tote — reduce plastic and save the world! Have fun with this one. The Mighty Tote is easy to make. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to construct. Suggest making matching sets of three or four totes for all kinds of shopping needs. You could make kits, but the cutting is pretty elementary. Let everyone individualize with their own fabric choices. How about a simple, short class? You could teach machine quilting on these smallish pieces using simple or even more complex designs. For display, fill your Mighty Totes with bundles of fat quarters or piles of quilts as shown in the photo above. The bag is best when stuffed full. Highlight embellishment books, products and techniques. Can you picture it scattered (or covered!) with yo-yo flowers and buttons? The American Quilt Retailer sample is made of two fabrics by Clothworks. The stripe is “Samba” by Sue Zipkin, and the lining is a bright orange from “Belle Fleur” by Christine Graf.

Issue 80 — Create a model of “Make Momma Happy!” and set up a display specifically for Mother’s Day. Designed for just two contrasting fabrics, the look is clean and “happy!” Cover your display table with a gingham or checked fabric. Find a rectangular planter and paint a coordinating checkerboard design on the outside. Plant with white flowers (artificial is okay, if you like). Kit your fabrics and tie with strips of gingham fabric or ribbon. Maybe you could even find and paint those cute wooden berry baskets for kit packaging. Don’t want to applique? Construct the background and borders, and then embroider the flowers with white perle cotton. Or, embroider the leaves, make yo-yo flowers and use buttons for the “bubble” flourishes.

Issue 79 — This pretty wallhanging showcases, with a gentle Asian sense of design, a lovely “hana” or “spring blossom.” You can create your sample, or kits in exquisite Asian-influenced fabrics, make it in more traditional patterns. The American Quilt Retailer sample is made in a combination of both looks. Look to World Market for display props. A blue and white rice bowl filled with buttons or spools of coordinating thread (or fortune cookies!), along with chopsticks and colorful tea bags will set the tone. A rattan or reed window shade would make a nice backdrop. Lantern Moon (www.lanternmoon.com), along with some really interesting baskets, has some elegant quilt hangers that may just fit this quilt. If you display the quilt hanging on one, the hangers will sell.

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