Introducing Prairie Stitches!

Ada Blaney ~ Nebraska Historical Society.  Used with permission 

For me, the lovely Ada Blaney epitomizes life on the prairie.  Ada was, no doubt, very proud of her treadle sewing machine, and wanted to show it off when her photo was taken, as she stitches away on her homestead with the open prairie behind her.  She was my inspiration for naming my newest fabric collection.....

Prairie Stitches

The fabrics in the collection are a mix of deep reds, blues, browns, golds and neutrals.....just some of my favorite colors.  I think when these colors mix together in a quilt, it makes for a warm, traditional quilt with that vintage feel!

This is the main print in the collection.  (The colors are much, much brighter in the photo than they really are!!)  I love a simple floral print as these were very simple folks.  I imagine Ada might have chosen a print like this to make cheerful curtains or a dress.  

This print is a favorite that I took directly from my oldest quilt, c1750.  I had the quilt appraised, not only for value, but to date the fabrics, and it came in nearly 80 years younger than I had thought.  It's a sweet print that's big on country charm!  (Again....colors are way, way brighter in the photo.  I'm a terrible photographer.)

I'm madly in love with these two stripes!!  Very old and vintage prints....it just says Civil War all over the place.  Can you see lots of possibilities for some fun fussy cut Lucy Boston blocks?  The sweet vine print is classic.

(Whoa....what happened to that red??  It's very cranberry in person!)  Every collection needs great coordinate prints, and aren't they the staples in our fabric stashes??

This is such a sweet little print.  It turned out great in every color, so we just had to have them all!  

Madly, madly in love with all of these.  Again...colors are wayyyy brighter (especially the red!) than in person.  One good thing about my horrible photos are at least you can really see the print!

The colors really are warm and vintage.....I promise!

Believe it or not, this print came from another very old quilt.  Just a great coordinate on a tiny scale.  A good addition to the mix!

Finally....a photo of the fabric that's most like the real thing.  (Hhmmm...I wonder what camera settings were used to take this picture.  I should do that all the time.)  Depending on the project, I can be hot and cold about stripes.  I really loved this little stripe, and it works very well in the quilt I designed using Prairie Stitches.  Stripes give a different dimension to the motion within a quilt...sometimes a good thing....sometimes not. 

Speaking of the quilt I designed for the collection, here's my EQ concept design for my quilt named Ada's Prairie Stitches.  I'm just waiting for my sample fabric to arrive and we can begin sewing.  So, so jazzed about this!  Can't wait to see the awesome blue stripe as the setting bars, and start putting the blocks together, all set with that terrific red trumpet print.  The blue floral print will do a great job of tying it all together.  L*O*V*E!!!

Click here to check out the entire collection (with much better color photos!) directly from the Marcus Fabrics website.  Prairie Stitches will be shipped to you local quilt shop in April, 2014!!

I sure hope you like it as much as I do!