For an American history project at school, my granddaughter Kara decided upon a Civil War era quilt.  She researched the quilts made at that time and the quilters.  Browsing through her mom’s and my quilt books, she discovered fabrics those quilters used.
When a quilting friend heard about Kara’s project, she went through her stash and came up with reproduction fabrics and patterns used at that time.  The resulting quilt was large, but worth the effort Kara put into it.
She uses it for her bed and plans to take it to college with her.  Yes, she got an A+ on the …read more

My daughter, fiber artist Beth A. Mastin,  is forever using up her scraps for her quilting and fabric art projects.  For this quilt, she started with a blue background piece she had put together previously from strips of various shades of blue.
As she dug through one of her bags of scraps, she found other snips and pieces of fabric to create the rest.  The blue portion is postcard size, with a border around to enlarge it.

Beth Mastin Image

What have you created from scraps? Large quilts or wall hanging size fabric art?  Or even postcards and inchies?
(See more of Beth’s work at Meandering Threads.)

Meandering Threads
Since my daughter, Beth Mastin, became very ill with pancreatitis in April,  little has appeared on her Meandering Threads blog.  Now she’s home, after being in and out of the hospital (mainly in) since then.  Her interest in quilting has come back full force, and Beth has been working on various projects.  She and I also have been attending some quilting events.
Here are some posts with photos of Beth’s work in progress and finished you may find interesting.  Of course, Mom is so pleased that quilting has helped revive Beth’s energy and promote her healing, emotionally and physically.
The No Title …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
 Quilters find many sources of inspiration, and pictures of unusual buildings often play a role.  In this year’s round robin for my daughter’s quilt group, each quilter submits a photo and the others design small quilt hangings inspired by it.
A photo of an outhouse has yielded interesting results.
Check out Beth’s Meandering Threads blog, particularly the post, Quilt Group Pictures, and see two fiber artists’ variations on the outhouse theme.  The group meets again this week, so perhaps they’ll have more outhouse designs to display…along with those inspired by other photos. 
What unusual pictures or objects have you used as quilting or fabric …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
 The  b5media Lifestyles Channel, of which Quilting and Patchwork is a part, recalls the 1980s for their Theme Day this month.  I’ll reminisce about the 80’s as it relates to my quilting.
At that time I was operating my in-home quiltmaking business, writing a quilt business column for a Quilt World Omnibook magazine (which no longer is published), interviewing quilters for the local newspaper, and learning all I could about this fascinating topic.
Beginnings of my Quiltmaking
Although I first made a quilt with my grandmother, in the 1940s, my quiltmaking business began during the United States’ Bicentennial Years of 1975-76, when my mom …read more

My daughter Beth enjoys dyeing fabrics, along with painting them.  Recently she took over the kitchen and spread out her dyeing materials.

Actually these are some plastic bags of dyed fabrics that are drying.  For more dyeing details from Beth, visit Dyeing Day, at her Meandering Threads blog.
Here are some of the results of Beth’s dyeing activities.

Check out more photos of her colorful fabrics at Dyeing Results.
Additional Posts on Dyeing:
Dyeing Fabrics for Quiltmaking
Results of a Fabric Dyeing Venture
Painting & Dyeing Fabric for Quilting Projects
(Photos (c)2008 Beth A. Mastin)
(Article (c)2008 Mary Emma Allen)