Off the Bolt
Stories, stitches, and the little wins between seams ~ pull up a chair.
Off the Bolt
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A Fox, a Falcon and One Marmot Who Will Not Be Rushed
Every quilter has a little attitude tucked in her sewing basket, right next to the good scissors nobody else is allowed to touch. Embroidery with Attitude is the Chic Quilter collection that finds that same spirit out in the world: in wild animals drawn with a fine, sketchy hand, in hometowns stitched in bright color, and in two short sayings that get the last word. -
Learn the Flock by Ear: A Birdsong Guide to the Sewing Room
Serious birders will tell you the real skill is not spotting a bird. It is knowing one by its call before you ever see a feather. Birds of a Feather Stitch Together is our flock of quilt hair birds, and after enough sew days in their company we can name every one of them from the next room. Close your eyes, put the kettle on and listen. -
Rarely Filmed in the Wild: Big Cats, Bears and Whales at the Sewing Machine
Picture the hushed voice of a nature film narrator, the camera hidden behind a bush, the crew holding its breath. And there, in the clearing, a bear is laying out quilt blocks on a table. Arcs of Silk Thread is our collection of painterly wild animals caught mid project, each one wrapped in fine, glinting arcs of thread that loop through the air around them like the path of a needle. Settle in. Tonight's footage is extraordinary. -
Please Return Your Seam Ripper to Its Upright Position
The seatbelt light just chimed off, the cart is rattling down the aisle with pretzels, and the quilter in the window seat has already pulled a hand project out of her carry-on. Below the wing, the country rolls past one skyline at a time. Stitchin' In Skylines is the view from that window, a city for every stop on the flight path, each one built from the things its locals love most. -
Tug Any Loose Thread in Her Life and It Leads Back to Quilting
Loose threads get a bad name. Tailors snip them, mothers pluck them off your sleeve before church, and the dryer collects them by the handful. A quilter knows better. Follow one far enough and it always leads somewhere worth going. Sew Many Threads is the collection of those somewheres: the dog at her feet, the cat in the bobbin basket, the friends at retreat and the towns she has stitched her way through. -
The Merit Badges Real Quilters Earn Without Leaving the Sewing Room
Somewhere in a closet there is probably still a sash, green or tan, covered in little round badges for knot tying, first aid and selling a truly impressive number of cookies. Quilters never stopped earning them. We just switched to fabric and started stitching the badges on ourselves. The Sew It Yourself Club is where those badges live, one design for each skill a maker picks up between the first cut and the final binding. -
Today's Forecast for the Quilting Heart: Breezy, Bright and Scattered Scraps
Here is the weather for the week, read straight off the radar in the sewing room. A warm front of good ideas is rolling in, the winds are picking up color, and conditions are ideal for pressing seams flat. Gifts for the Quilting Heart is the collection built from that forecast: sewing machines caught in gusts, tides and sunrises, plus a handful of sayings the quilter you love would gladly repeat to anyone within earshot. -
A Yard of Sunrise and Half a Yard of Sea, Cut Straight Off the Bolt
There is a small, happy ceremony at the fabric store counter. You set the bolt down, it thumps over and over as it unrolls, the shears glide along the line, and someone asks the only question that matters: how much? Fine Fabric Favorites is the collection we would carry up to that counter if our designs came on bolts. Sunrises, seas, mountains and a few sayings worth repeating, each one deserving a generous cut. -
Estate Sale Finds That Still Have Plenty of Sass Left in Them
Every quilter has felt the thrill of an estate sale. You walk past the china and the lamps, head straight up the stairs, and there it is: a sewing room left just as its owner liked it, with a vintage machine under the window and a basket of blocks nobody ever finished. Vintage Stitch & Sass is our walk through that house, where every old machine still hums and every room has a personality. Mind the creaky step. There is a lot to see. -
A Brief History of Quilting, Told One Retro Icon at a Time
Historians will tell you that every age had its great leaders, inventors and artists. Here is the truth: every age also had a woman in the corner with a needle, quietly making something beautiful and wearing a very particular expression. Retro Stitch Icons is our collection of those women, and of the vintage looks they inspired, from royal portraits to arcade screens. Take your seat, class is in session. -
Crack Open a Fortune: Sewing Room Wisdom by the Sipperful
The best part of takeout night is the fortune cookie. You crack it open, read the little slip out loud and decide whether it applies to you. Quilters have their own fortunes, and they are far more accurate: your bobbin will run out mid-seam, a new fabric line will call your name, and someone will ask you to hem their pants. Quilter's Wine Sippers collects our favorite fortunes in bright rainbow lettering on stemless wine sippers with lids. Pick one, read it aloud and see if it comes true. -
Good Morning, Quilters: Here Are Today's Announcements
Remember the crackle of the morning announcements at school, the lunch menu, the lost mittens, the reminder about picture day? Every quilter runs her own version before the first cup of coffee is finished, and the message is always the same: the machine is waiting. Wake Up and Quilt is the collection for that first bright moment of the day, bold words in rainbow lettering and sunny scenes that make it very hard to go back to bed. Please rise for today's announcements. -
Mother Nature Has Been Strip Piecing for Millions of Years
Stand at the edge of the Painted Desert and look at those hills, banded in rose, cream and rust, one careful stripe after another, and any quilter will say the same thing: somebody has been strip piecing. Traveling Stitches is our collection for quilters who see fabric in every landscape. The designs travel through beloved states and, best of all, through our national parks, each one rendered in stitched texture as if the whole scene had been appliquéd by hand. -
The Patchwork Flock Seating Chart, and Why Chaos Finch Sits Nearest the Door
Anyone who has organized a sew day knows the hardest job is not the potluck sign-up. It is the seating chart. Put the wrong two quilters side by side and nobody finishes a block all afternoon. The Patchwork Flock is our gathering of quilt hair birds, each with a wild crest, a big personality and a quilt hair don't care attitude, and after careful thought we have worked out exactly where everyone sits. -
From the First Cut to the Final Stitch, a Few Good Words for Every Step
A quilt is a long conversation. It starts with a stack of fabric and a big idea, wanders through a few rough patches in the middle and ends, eventually, wrapped around someone you love. The Good Stuff ~ Pieced Together is our collection of quiet, clean line drawings, star blocks, spools, folded quilts and winding roads, each paired with a few words that fit one moment in that conversation. Here they are, in the order a quilt usually happens. -
Gather Round the Campfire for Tonight's Ranger Talk
At dusk in the national parks, visitors carry their camp chairs down to the little amphitheater, the fire gets going, and a ranger in a flat hat tells everyone who lives nearby. Quilters always sit in the front row, usually with a hand project in their laps. Stitchin' Through the Parks is that evening program in design form, a tour of the parks and the animals who call them home, each one drawn with a quilter's eye for detail. Settle in. The ranger is about to begin. -
If the Park Animals Took Up Quilting, Here Is the Block Each One Would Pick
Quilters have always borrowed from the wild. We have Bear's Paw, Flying Geese, Fox and Geese and Ocean Waves, all named by women who looked out the window and saw a pattern. Stitchin' In The Parks turns the idea around. Each design is one of our Stitchin In Beauty national park badges, a finely drawn animal set among wildflowers under the park's name, and we could not help wondering which block every one of these animals would reach for first. -
The Great City Shop Hop, With Jazz, Pizza and One Rocket Launch
Every quilter remembers her first shop hop: the map on the dashboard, the tote bag filling up, the friend in the passenger seat reading out directions to the next quilt shop. Stitchin' In the City imagines the grandest shop hop of all, through towns and cities drawn in bright, storybook detail, each scene lettered with the place where you will be stitchin'. Buckle up. We are making a few stops for snacks along the way. -
Pack the Sewing Kit, Your Stitch Away Itinerary Is Ready
Good news from the travel desk. Your bags are packed, your hand project is in the tote and somebody else has agreed to water the plants. Stitch Away Vacation is our collection of getaway scenes drawn like fabric collage, each one lettered with the place where you will be stitchin', plus a few retreat designs for the friends coming along. Here is the itinerary. Please keep your seam ripper in your carry-on at all times. -
Raise Your Sipper: A Round of Toasts for the Sassiest Quilter at the Table
At the end of every good sew day there comes a moment when someone taps a glass and says, "I'd like to propose a toast." Sip Sassy Quilter Wine Sippers is the collection made for that moment, stemless wine sippers lettered in bright rainbow gradients, each one carrying a toast with a little attitude. Fill yours up, find your spot at the table and join in. -
You Drew Her Name in the Guild Gift Exchange. Here Is Your Plan.
It happens every year. The basket goes around the guild meeting, you unfold your slip of paper, and there is a name you know only a little: the friend from the far end of the table who always brings lemon bars. Now you have a few weeks to find something that feels made for her. This collection exists for exactly that moment, a collection of Chic Quilter designs sorted by the kind of quilter they suit. Find her type below and your planning is done. -
Every Friend at Sew Night Says It in Her Own Handwriting
Pass a signature block around the table at sew night and something lovely happens. Everyone writes the same thing, usually her name and the date, and no two look alike. One friend loops every letter, another prints in tidy capitals, and somebody always adds a little heart. Sew Night Wine Sippers works the same way. The sayings are the ones we all agree on, and each one comes in its own hand, lettered in rainbow color on stemless wine sippers with lids. Pick the handwriting that looks like the fr -
Quilt Retreat Bingo, and How to Win It Before Lunch on Day One
Every quilt retreat plays a game of bingo, whether anyone prints the cards or not. Somebody forgot her foot pedal. Somebody brought a project she started in a different decade. Somebody's extension cord reaches exactly nowhere. Retreat Yourself Tees gives you a head start on the card, with tees for the whole crew and the faces everyone makes somewhere between the first cup of coffee and the last block at midnight. Dab your squares as you go. -
Judging Day in the County Fair Craft Barn
Every summer the craft barn at the county fair fills up with the best work in town: quilts hung from the rafters, jars of pickles in neat rows, and a judge with a clipboard trying very hard not to play favorites. Resting Stitch Face Crafts is our own entry table, a mix of designs that celebrate the making itself, from the tools on the table to the faces we pull while using them. The judges have finished their rounds. Here are the ribbons. -
Hello, My Name Is: Guild Name Tags That Say a Little More
Every guild meeting starts at the same little table by the door, with a roll of sticky name tags and a marker that is almost out of ink. Hello, my name is Linda. Fine, but it does not tell anyone that Linda has a chocolate drawer in her sewing table and firm opinions on pressing seams open. Quilting Tees with Sass are name tags that finally say what matters, in bright rainbow lettering on tees made for sewing days, guild nights and every trip to the fabric store. Peel one off and pick your table -
Walk-Ins Welcome at the Quilt Hair Salon
There is a salon every quilter visits, whether she books it or not. The chair is the one in front of your machine, the dryer is the steam off the iron, and the styling product is a full afternoon of batting static. Nobody leaves looking the way they came in. Quilt Hair Don't Care is the appointment book for our wild-haired regulars, the birds and friends of Chic Quilter who wear the results proudly. Let's see who is on the schedule today. -
Sunrise on Haleakalā Is Chilly, and Other Good Reasons to Pack a Hoodie
Here is a secret every park lover learns the first time she gets up early for the view: the prettiest moments are almost always the coldest. National Park Wildlife Hoodies is our collection for those moments. Each hoodie carries one of our Stitchin In Beauty park badges, a delicate drawing of a park's wild resident nestled in wildflowers, with the park's name arched above and a little stitching motto below. Zip up the tote, grab your hand project, and let's go where the hood comes up. -
From the Sewing Room Seed Catalog: Varieties Guaranteed to Bloom Indoors
Every January the seed catalogs arrive, and gardeners spend happy evenings circling varieties with names like Summer Glow and Cherry Belle. Quilters understand the feeling completely. We just do our circling in fabric catalogs. Blooms in Every Stitch is our collection of designs that blossom, from sunflower-covered sewing machines to hometown scenes framed in flowers, so we have written it up the way a good seed catalog would. No green thumb required. -
Some Things Get Handed Down, Starting With the Sewing Machine
Ask a room full of quilters how they started, and so many of the stories begin the same way: a grandmother, a kitchen table and an old black sewing machine with gold scrollwork that hummed like it had a heartbeat. Vintage Icons, Reimagined in Thread honors those machines and the women who taught us on them, bringing the old classics back in new color while keeping every bit of their charm. -
Roses Are Red, Bindings Are Mitered, and Other Quilter Valentines
Every February the world talks about true love, and every quilter quietly nods, because she found hers years ago in a fabric store. Valentine Specials is our collection of love notes to the craft: sweet sayings with hearts tucked into the letters, rainbow declarations of devotion, and one very romantic rabbit. Think of it as a box of valentines from quilters, for quilters. -
Follow the Quilt Trail From the Chesapeake to the Badlands
Drive the back roads in a lot of this country and you will start to notice them: bright quilt blocks painted on the sides of barns, one after another, marking a quilt trail across the county. Quilters pull over for every single one. The US States and Destinations collection is our own quilt trail, and each design is a stop along the way, the outline of a state or the frame of a favorite place filled with a stitched scene in appliqué texture and soft embroidered detail, finished with Stitchin' In -
Leave No Trace, Except Maybe a Little Thread
Park rangers ask visitors to leave nothing behind but footprints. Quilters try, we really do, but a snip of thread has a way of following us everywhere, from the garden bench to the campsite picnic table. Stitchin' In Nature is the collection for the quilter who does her best thinking outdoors, full of blooming spools, park trail badges and a few woodland friends who know more about fabric than they let on. -
Piecing a Sampler Quilt of America, One Hometown Block at a Time
A sampler quilt is a quilter's way of saying she wants a little of everything. Each block is its own small world, different from its neighbor, and somehow the whole thing hangs together once the sashing goes in. Stitchin' Across America works the same way. Every design is a single block of one American place, drawn in appliqué and embroidery style, with the town's name stitched in script below it.
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Latest Articles
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Boss's Day in a Room Where Nobody Takes Orders
Hi there. Boss's Day is coming up, and we have a small confession from the sewing room: nobody in here has a boss. Not one of us. We looked. There is a chair, a machine, a stack of fabric that keeps growing on its own, and a dog, and not a single person who gets to say what happens next. Sound familiar? -
Straight from The Scrap Basket: The Collection That Says What We're All Thinking
Hi, quilting friends. Penny here. Jenny usually does the writing around Chic Quilter, but she handed me the keyboard for this one, and honestly, it was about time. Because this collection is my kind of honest.
