Well, this is not exactly the message we wanted to be writing to you in this post, but here’s the big news: Effective with the August/September issue, Quilter’s Home will cease publication. Why? It seems more of you are turning to the web for quilting lifestyle information rather than the newsstand.

Now, Quilter’s Home may never have reached a huge audience, but we politely suggest that success can bedefined in different ways. Tons of you have told us that our editorial efforts have been vastly more successful, that we’ve given you much more than mere pages of projects to flip throughand that we’ve validated your commitment to living creatively with features, columns and projects that celebrate all aspects of a quilter/crafter/stitcher’s life.

And we’ve enjoyed pushing hard to bring you fun, edgy, interesting content that kept you inthe q-zone, even when you were not in front of the machine. We’ve showcased the homes of “fun-and-famous” celeb quilters…dug into the innermost thoughts of high-profile quilterati…scoped out the best quilty blogs and websites…told you the truth about the best tools and equipment…given you design ideas and patterns for quiltifying your life, home and wardrobe…helped you connect with your inner muses…and given you both tears and laughter. It’s been a great ride, Q-bies, and we’re grateful. Thank you.

And Quilter’s Home subscribers won’t be empty-handed for long. Your subscriptions will be fulfilled with Quilters Newsletter instead. QN has a new editor (Dana Jones), and we hear great things are afoot, so give it a chance, okay? And no worries if you are already a Quilters Newsletter subscriber – your remaining Quilter’s Home issues will be tacked on to your current QN order. For us, well, the next chapter is still being written (and great things could be afoot here, too…just saying). Keep track of us on Facebook and feel free to contact us via e-mail (melissajtmaher@msn.com and alljake@hotmail.com). And if you see us prowling the aisles atthe next Festival or Market, stop us to say hi.

We’d love to hear from you.

Quilt forth,

Jake & Melissa

When Mrs. Schmenkman speaks up, one tends to listen.

Amy Lobsiger of the tutorial gold mine blog, Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts, caught an error in the June-July 2011 issue of Quilter’s Home, specifically in the pattern for Scott Hansen’s Crossroads quilt that starts on page 61.

Says Mrs. S, “There seems to be two missing cuts from the directions for each multicolored print.”

Well, she would be right. Here are the corrections that will iron out this little pattern bump:

from each 3/8 yard of multicolored print, cut:

*        1 (1 1/2″-wide) strip. From strip, cut 8 (1 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) D rectangles, 1 (1 1/2″ x 10 1/2″) G rectangle.

*       1 (3 1/2″-wide) strip. From strip, cut 3 (3 1/2″ x 10 1/2″) F rectangles. From remainder of strip, cut 1 (2 ½” x 6 ½”) C rectangle.

*   1 (5 1/4″ x 11″) strip. From strip, cut 2 (5 1/4″) squares. Cut squares in half diagonally in both directions to make 8 A quarter-square triangles.
*   1 (2 1/2″ x 14″) strip. From strip, cut 1 (2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″) B rectangle and 1 (2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″) H rectangle.

Thanks, Amy! We appreciate the assist!–Jake and Melissa

The weekdays are blowing by on hot, dry breezes, which means if you don’t have a pool to plunge into during the oven-like afternoons, you’d better have a compelling project to keep you in the sewing room, hugging those AC vents.

And as usual, we’ve got your back. Our gift to you today is Jubilee, a pattern by Pam Goecke Dinndorf of Aardvark Quilts. Quilter’s Home originally published this pattern in September/October 2007, but its diamond-pieced border makes it interesting and timeless.

Just imagine this done in Jessica Gonacha’s Papillon (Red Rooster) for an elegant-but-modern boudoir. Or imagine the bright, clear tones of Carolyn Gavin’s Spring Street (P & B Textiles) for a splash of energy in a breakfast room or family room. Click here to get the pattern for Jubilee.

So, what has Pam been up to since she designed Jubilee for Quilter’s Home? Well…she’s contributed pattern’s to Kaffe Fassett’s book, Quilt Romance, and to an Eleanor Levie book due out this fall under the Leisure Arts banner.

For the second year in a row, she’ll be teaching again at the Quilters Affair in Sisters, Oregon, at the famed Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

Her own pattern line under Aardvark Quilts continues to grow at the rate of about 4 to 5 designs each year, and she’s working on a book with C & T Publishing. Look for that project, Colorifique, to hit print sometime in 2012.

Thanks, Pam, for being a part of our Freebie fun. Stay cool!–Jake and Melissa

Relax! Those margaritas you guzzled poolside over the weekend did not send you into a Rip VanWinklesque sleep until the chilly days of January. That’s just the name of the latest (and belated) Friday Freebie: Happy New Year by Ann Frischkorn and Amy Sandrin.

We just thought you might enjoy a little effervescence, q-style, for a new project. (But about those margaritas….what’s that our moms used to say about moderation? Okay, we’re teasing!)

Back to this energetic pattern. Happy New Year originally ran in the December 2006 issue of Quilter’s Home.

Its frothy, swirling bubbles were originally intended to have hemmed edges and be appliqued by either hand or machine. If you’re not interested in doing the hemmed edges, you could reduce the circumference of each bubble slightly, and do raw-edged, fused applique instead. We still recommend, though, that you machine-stitch around the edges of the fused bubbles. Just gives it a fast-but-good finish.

Now, you know we like to tell you a little about what our Freebie designers have been up to since their patterns ran in the long-ago pages of Quilter’s Home, but we’re coming up empty on Amy and Ann. If you know where to find these gals, give us a shout, and we’ll share what we find out.

Meanwhile, enjoy playing with their strippy Happy New Year creation. Maybe thinking about January’s crispness will help you beat the heat!–Jake and Melissa

Nope, that’s not the weather report, no matter how desperately our q-friends in fire-plagued Arizona and Florida are hankering after the wet stuff. (Wish! The same goes for New Mexico, parts of Texas and other places parched by drought.) It IS, however, the name of this Friday’s free pattern…It’s Raining! by Deborah Hobbs of Ta Dah Quilt Designs.

Deborah’s pattern originally ran in the July/August 2007 issue of Quilter’s Home. She used a bevy of prints for her “fabric storm,” with ribbons and beads trickling down and adding movement.

For a fresh take, we suggest you think “baby quilt,” and snap up some of the fun new baby prints hitting the LQS shelves and cyber shops. This quilt’s size–58″ x 64″– makes it a largish wall quilt, but just imagine the pop of color this be-ribboned beauty would bring to a nursery wall. And if you’re worried about little hands and little beads, just dig into your bag of creative tricks. Instead of beads, use hand-made yo-yos or stuffed felties. Or vintage wooden spools wound with more coordinating ribbon. (Construction note: If you add a bit more dangly weight via the spools, you would definitely need to add some structure at the top, such as a wooden dowel slipped into a hanging sleeve, to keep this baby hanging pretty.)

Now, usually we give you an update on what our Friday Freebie designers have been doing since their designs originally ran in the pages of Quilter’s Home. And we’d like to give you the scoop on Deborah Hobbs, but unfortunately, we can’t locate her. If you know where we can reach Deborah, tell us and we’ll give you a shout about her doings.

Happy Friday!–Jake and Melissa

Time for another blast of free quiltiness….this week’s Friday Freebie is Crazy Daisy by Tracy Ward of 3-B Girls Quilts in San Antonio, Texas.

This sorta-scrappy number with whimsical appliqued flowers would work up quickly to give you something fresh to snuggle under when you’re listening to a concert some night at the local zoo, or watching an outdoor movie at the city park. (June nights can still be a bit chilly in some locales, dontcha know…)

Tracy’s design originally ran in the April/May 2009 issue of Quilter’s Home. Her original creation featured ginghams, plaids and dots in reds, yellows and whites–with a splash of blue and green–for what we think is an appealing downhome country vibe. (Think Alan Jackson, not geese or moose). And that definitely works for a summery throw, but we can also see it in edgier prints and maybe the so-trendy aqua/red c0lorway.

Now, 3-B Girls bills itself as creating patterns  that the “lack-of-time quilter” can whip out for maximum satisfaction in a minimum time frame. (Uh, count us in here!) Tracy has been quilting for nearly eight years and creating patterns for about two years.  She’s been on hiatus, dealing with the loss of her mother. (Our sincere condolences, Tracy.) But her doodle pad is full of new designs she plans to release soon. Keep track of her via her 3-B Girls Facebook page. Thanks, Tracy, for being a part of the Friday Freebies madness!–Jake and Melissa

We know…Friday is waning, but isn’t it always a good time for a fun, free quilt pattern?

And here’s this week’s gift: Go Bananas by Susan Guzman of SuzGuz Designs.

Go Bananas

Susan Guzman

This perky, blocky design originally ran in the June-July 2009 issue of Quilter’s Home. We can just see it done in some solids from Robert Kaufman and maybe a few charming prints from Lizzy House’s 1001 Peeps.

This too-simple-for-words pattern is available on the Quilter’s Home website. Just click here and the cyber winds will blow you there immediately.

Now, what has Susan been up to since she designed this treat for us back in the day? Well… it’s a pretty long list (and includes moving from Colorado to South Carolina to Colorado to Indiana…no lie!). But here are the highlights:

* worked as associate editor for McCall’s Quilting and McCall’s Quick Quilts

* wrote/edited/produced Amy Butler’s Sunshine Quilt for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Volumes 2 and 3

* learning digital design to enhance her business

* refreshing her website and reviving her Nuzletter this fall (see previous issues of this mini-magazine online at www.SuzGuzDesigns.com)

* expanding her line of SuzGuz Designs patterns

Okay, so we’re tired just typing all that! Thanks, Susan, for being a part of the Friday Freebie!–Jake and Melissa

Just when you thought you couldn’t stagger one more step through the work week…here’s Friiiiiiiidayyyyy!  (Loud and sustained applause.)

And that means another Friday Freebie. Today, we’re gifting you with a fun little number from a chick who oozes fun. Our freebie is Just Dreamy by Jina Barney of Riley Blake Designs.

Just Dreamy by Jina Barney of Riley Blake Designs

This bubbly design originally ran in the October-November 2009 issue of Quilter’s Home and it just jumps with energy! Just Dreamy combines Dr. Seuss-like flower applique with easy pieced blocks. But honey, don’t let the A-word scare you. With lightweight fusibles, applique is so do-able!

Now, Just Dreamy was made in Riley Blake fabrics that are no longer available, but if you want that signature RB look of informal florals and bright colors, Jina suggests you try any of these RB fabric collections that are currently on the shelves: Happier, Sew Cherry or Lola’s Posies.

And what has Jina been up to since releasing Just Dreamy to our pages? Well, she’s been helping fuel a trend within the q-universe toward fun trims and embellishments for quilters/crafters/sewists. Riley Blake’s expanding Sew Together collection of buttons, zipper-edge trim, crocheted medallions, funky pom pom fringe (in four sizes) and such are worth a look. Go to www.rileyblakedesigns.com to check ‘em out. (Be ready to drool. Just sayin’.)

And go to the Quilter’s Home website to download the full pattern and templates for Just Dreamy.

Jina Barney

Thanks, Jina, for being a part of that sanity-saving, q-therapy session known as the QH Friday Freebie…and have a great weekend, everybody!–Jake and Melissa

No way, baby! Even as Jake and Melissa cruise the aisles at Spring Quilt Market this very second, Q-bies, never let it be said that we forget our promises. We may be hundreds of miles from the little, fabric-swamped closets known as the QH Editorial Offices West and Southwest, but we have you first in our minds. It’s Friday Freebie time!

And today’s Friday Freebie (well, it’s nearly 11 p.m. in the Mountain Time Zone, so it’s damn near Friday) is for all you Log Cabin freaks out there ... First Light Log Cabin by designer/teacher Karen Combs of Tennessee. Karen’s mesmerizing LC take originally ran in our July-August 2008 issue.

Karen Combs

First Light Log Cabin

The Log Cabin is such a rich–and forgiving–pattern that it adapts to nearly any variation strategy or quilter experience level. (Internationally known art quilter Katie Pasquini Masopust says the only traditional pattern she’ll piece are Log Cabins because the variations are endless!)

Click here to download the free pattern for Karen’s almost-prismatic First Light Log Cabin.

Now, Karen’s been a busy stitcher since she created this pattern for QH. She travels frequently on teaching gigs, and has become known for offering her q-wisdom while riding the waves. She’s a veteran teacher of many quilting cruises, and has two coming up that you just might want to ink in on your calendar:

July 28 -Aug. 8, 2011; Mediterranean Empires Quilt Seminar at Sea

June 10-17,  2012; Alaska Quilt Seminar At Sea

Find out more about these stitchin’ vacations on the sea at …and click here to download your FREE pattern for First Light Log Cabin!