Sometimes you need to look outside the “patriotic fabric” section to find your reds, whites, and blues.

This red is from the Raggedy Ann and Andy fabric collection.  The red and white stripes are perfect for flag quilt projects or other patriotic themed quilts.

Little Island Cream Micro Dot Stripe has stripes that are more narrow, and the “white” is really cream.  One side of the cream stripe has little tiny dots on it.

Monkey Around Stripe is a bit wonky.  The irregular lines of the stripes will add the illusion of movement to your quilt.

Dancing Under the Stars has a deep blue background with lots of snowflakes and white stars.

Polar Opposites Royal with Stars has a soft tone on tone blue background with lots of little white stars spread all over!

Now for the whites.  White is white, right?  Not!  So many whites are tone on tones with lots of little, subtle designs just waiting to be discovered.

Quilting Illusions is a white tone on tone scattered with different sized stars and dots.

Add a little softness to your patriotic project with White Out Floral, a tone on tone white with vines of flowers and leaves.

Add a touch of country with Quilting Illusions Gingham.

So remember, next time you look for fabric for your patriotic pattern, broaden you search and you’ll find your reds, whites and blues in unexpected places!

Have you ever fallen in love with a border fabric so much that you planned your quilt around it?

Subtle Song border fabric will actually give you several border options.  Use just the birds, or just the butterflies/dragonflies, or even just the blue/green/blue stripe.  There are also several combinations you can use.  Parts of this border fabric would also work as sashing.

Called Buttons & Blooms, this is a personal favorite – it just speaks to me!  The buttons, the flowers, the swirls, they are all so pretty and uplifting.  How could you not be happy with this fabric?! If you want to “put a bird on it” there is a perfect companion fabric of light beige with whimsical, happy birds.

Simple Pleasures is a vibrant border of elegant, deep purple with white daisies and little wisps of smaller lilac colored flowers.  It’s such a strong look that you’ll have to be careful not to let it overpower the rest of your quilt, but with the right blocks and companion fabrics you’ll have a striking quilt.

Laurel Burch Flying Colors offers plenty of color!  Great for quilters who embrace color, but a good choice for those who are a little afraid of it.  All you need to do is match a few colors from this border and you will have a stunning quilt.  Several columns of butterflies, birds, and flowers provide lots of choices for borders and sashings.

Go ahead and switch things up a bit when you plan your next quilt and start with the border fabric.  Happy quilting!

Gray is the newest popular background / neutral fabric color. It’s probably normally thought of as a ‘blah’ color but some of the new gray fabrics are so very pretty.

Beyond the Gate Gray Scroll has a solid gray background with white swirly, curly vines of leaves and buds.

Pale Grey Folio Vine is a tone on tone with a background of varying shades of grey.  The leaves of the vine are tipped in shades of grey.  All the shading creates a very soft look.

As the name suggests, this white background fabric with grey swirls is reminiscent of weddings.   Something Old Something New would make a great border fabric, or even a background, for a wedding quilt.

Granite Beauty Dark Gray is a large print.  The 3″ flowers look handpainted.  It’s just a gorgeous fabric!  Pair this with a light blue – beautiful!

Great for background, Stonehenge Cement is also a good fabric to have on hand if you do landscape quilt.  Lots of variations in the fabric adds the look of lots of texture to your project.

Subtle rose drawings on a shaded grey background is Quilters Rose Smoke.  It’s a very delicate looking, romantic hinting, grey fabric.

Have you tried any grey in your quilts?  Here’s your chance!  Check out the rest of the grey fabrics – they are found in our White, Black and Gray Fabrics section.

There are so many new fabrics in the shop!  It’s hard to choose what to try first!

Do you know a horse lover?  Hmm, that probably encompasses 50% of the teenage girl population.  Mustang Meadows Packed Horses Brown is one of the fabrics in the Mustang Meadows collection.  There is a panel that includes three different scenes, a repeating stripe that also includes three different scenes, two more horse filled scenes, two meadow landscape fabrics, and a sky scene with deep blues and fluffy white clouds.  These would make a great quilt for Christmas gift giving.  With the beautiful horsey scenes, large blocks and/or wide borders might be best, so a quick finish would be assured.

If you like soft blues with just a hint of green the Galeria fabric collection will delight you.  The fabrics include four watercolor type prints and two soft linen looks.  Shown here is the Galeria Encantada Border Stripe.

Earthy brown, night sky blue, and cream are the colors of the Shaded Oaks fabric collection by Holly Taylor for Moda.  Simple drawings of trees and branches accent some of the fabrics, and two of the fabrics have a marbled look to them – one in blue and one in brown.  Make comfy winter quilts from this soft flannel collection.

You might want to browse all the quilt fabric collections to see other new items or old favorites.

This giveaway is now closed.  Winner has been chosen, notified, and is listed at the end of this post.  Thanks for visiting!

Time for a giveaway!  This time we’re giving away a pattern, and some background fabric to get you started.

Fall Wreath Pattern

Mary Herschleb of MH Designs has dozens of paper pieced patterns.  You’ll find wall hangings, placemats, table runners and toppers, ornaments and more.   The changing seasons, nature, vacations, family, and humor all have found a place in her projects.  Fall Wreath is a 15″ x 15″ wallhanging or mini table topper that can be as colorful and as vibrant as you want.  Pull our your scraps or buy a handful of fat eighths.

To get you started we’re going to include 3/4 yard of a background fabric.  This will give you enough for the block background, for the borders, the backing, and even the binding.  All you need to add is the color!

Marble Mate Ivory by Moda will make a perfect background.  It doesn’t have a distracting pattern but it does have enough value variation to make it interesting. You should have just a little left over to add to your scrap pile.

You have a few chances to enter the giveaway . . .

1. Check out all the MH Designs patterns and leave a comment on this post naming one of the patterns that you like.
2. Browse the quilting fabrics and leave a comment naming at least one fabric you would use for this pattern.
3. Share our Facebook post about this giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
4. Share (on Facebook) again on day 2 (Saturday) of the giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
5. Share (on Facebook) again on day 3 (Sunday) of the giveaway, and then leave another comment letting us know you shared.
6. Follow us on Pinterest, and then leave a comment telling us you followed (or that you already do).

That’s SIX chances at winning.  Just be sure to leave a comment here on the blog for each of the chances, as we will choose a winner from the comments using a random number generator.

Giveaway ends midnight (CST) Sunday, September 30th 2012.  Open to US residents only.

Congratulations to Deb G.!  Happy sewing!

Susan Knapp and Mary Jane Mattingly of The Quilt Branch have written a series of books titled “Six Halves Make A Whole”.  Each book has several projects each of which can be made with six half yard cuts of fabric.   Fabric Bundles are bundles of fabric from a fabric collection - you can choose 1/4 yard cuts, whole yard cuts, or half yard cuts – perfect for pairing with “Six Halves” books!

Six Halves Make A Whole Christmas has patterns for Christmas Stockings, a tree skirt, pillow shams, and lap quilts.  The Holiday Medley fabric bundle would pair with this book nicely.

The first book, simply Six Halves Make A Whole.  Try the Farmland fabric bundle with this book.  The Farmland Bundle has 7 fabrics.  Make your quilt with 6 of them and use the 7th for the binding. Or, for your resident sports fan, use the Sports Xtreme Patch fabric bundle.

Six Halves Make A Whole Lot More has patterns for five quilts and a set of placemats.   Pair this book with the Petite Odile fabric bundle.  The 7 fabrics of Petite Odile feature greys and muted reds reminiscient of 19th century France.  Enough fabric for your quilt and for your binding.  Or use that extra piece as part of your backing.

Two more books in the series are Six Halves Make A Whole Sampler

and Six Halves Make A Whole Starburst.

What fabric bundle would you use for these two books?