QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
 Do you believe that escaping slaves, during the Civil War [in the United States], often used quilts and their symbols as guides to freedom? 
Are you on side of the story that maintains there isn’t enough evidence, only folklore, to justify this theory? 
Or are you trying to figure out just where you stand?
Much discussion has evolved and a number of books written about this topic, from various viewpoints.  Justifiably, the slaves made quilts during the early to mid-1800s for their owners and themselves.  Did they incorporate secret codes or symbols into the quilts and their patterns to guide fellow escaping slaves a path to freedom?
Although the …read more

If you don’t want to miss any of Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilter’s novels, check out the latest…The New Year’s Quilt.  I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my “must read” list.   It’s also on my Christmas list!
Another novel, The Winding Ways Quilt, has not yet been released.  Although in some stores you can pre-order it.
What is your favorite Elm Creek Quilts novel?  I find it’s so difficult to choose just one. 

          
 You won’t want to miss the September, October and November issues of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine.  Jennifer Chiaverini’s three-part serial, The Fabric Diary, is published here exclusively.
Jennifer introduces a new character, Adele Crosier, who also will appear her new novel, The New Year’s Quilt, due out in November.  According to Jennifer, Adele “buys a Manhattan bed-and-breakfast  and inherits the mysteries of an antique quilt and an extraordinary journal discovered within.” 

       Quilters thoughts often turn to Christmas projects by July, if they haven’t before that.  I’ve been receiving messages, in the various newsletters and e-mail notices I’ve subscribed to, about the Christmas fabrics and patterns available in quilting shops and online ones, too.Christmas in July, around July 26, has become a tradition with many people, most frequently in the shopping and marketing realm.  So this is the day the Arts and Design channel has chosen  to feature a Christmas theme.
Some of the places where I’ve found Christmas fabrics and ideas for quilters and fabric artists:
The Christmas Cloth Store handles solely Christmas …read more

Jennifer Chiaverini’s new book in the Elm Creek Quilt series, The Quilter’s Homecoming, (#19 on the NYTimes bestseller list!) takes you from Pennsylvania to California.  We learn what happened to Sylvia’s favorite older cousin Elizabeth during those years when they didn’t hear much from her.
If you recall, in a previous novel, Sylvia wonders why they never heard from Elizabeth after she married Henry and moved to California.  Then in another novel there was a slight reference to Elizabeth and a letter she wrote.
Now we learn Elizabeth’s fascinating story, woven into the history of that area during the 1920s and 30s.  Quilts play a role in …read more

When I began quilting during our country’s Bicentennial years (1975-76), there were only a few companies offering fabrics focused especially for quiltmakers and fabric artists.  I’m amazed now, when I visit quilt shops, web sites, online stores, and read magazine, to see such a variety of quilting fabrics.
Some of them center around a theme, era, event, region or country.  Others simply are fabrics that strike the manufacturer or designer’s fancy.  Also, quilt artists, once they become well-known, often design fabrics for a manufacturer. You’ll also find fabrics designed by quilter/authors, such as Jennifer Chiaverini (www.elmcreek.net ), who writes the Elm Creek Quilters novels. She designs …read more

As I read Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest Elm Creek Quilters novel, Circle of Quilters (http://elmcreek.net), I’m reminded of the great variety of quilters throughout quilting history and today.  In this novel, five very different quilters apply for the two positions open at Elm Creek Quilts when Judy and Summer decide to venture into other careers.
Jennifer Chiaverinni skillfully weaves the story of these different quilters into the novel, giving us insight into the various ways quilting can be approached.  This also gives a view of the many types of quilting and designs that have evolved in the fabric art world.
Just looking at …read more