The hum of a blender spinning takes us to poolside parties and cool, tropical drinks (with those cute little umbrellas!). We’re getting thirsty just thinking about it! Refresh your summer quilts with blender fabrics in a rainbow of color! These gorgeous fabrics go beyond basic for smooth color transitions and beautiful texture.
Blenders are incredibly versatile, from tone-on-tone prints to crackle texture and even trendy ombre. They aren’t quite solids, but they aren’t exactly patterned. They blend seamlessly into your quilt projects and add a variety of color and interest without being too intense. Blenders are great for appliqué, backgrounds, and add great dimension to any design. They’re like the twist of lime that freshens up your drink!
But they aren’t just made to fade into the background. Give blenders the chance to shine as a lovely border to pull color from the center of the quilt or as an expansive backing to tie it all together. Blenders work wonderfully wherever they’re used and they’re extremely adaptable. Give blenders a whirl this summer and have a blast!
This year has been so completely out of the ordinary, and challenging in so many ways, that I find myself simplifying again and experiencing great joy in the things that I have often taken for granted. Now, preparing for the holiday season is less about the hustle and bustle of finding just the right present, but taking the time to help create a warm, welcoming spirit in my home and in my community.
As I contemplate the spirit of generosity, I recognize that giving comes in many forms. Some give of their time and energy, some share love abundantly and easily, some can listen for hours, some give the biggest hugs, and some create handmade gifts to share. There are many ways to be generous and no matter how you like to give, your intentions absolutely matter. As we’ve experienced, the simplest gift from a child—a crumpled flower, a scribbled picture, or a sloppy kiss—can mean so much. Their intention comes through, as does ours. Never give in to the thought that your offering is insufficient. If you’ve given from the heart, that’s all that truly matters.
Considering the state of our nation, we could all use an extra boost of kindness. Let’s make this season a time to truly give from the heart and reach out to our loved ones. Let’s slow down, savor the simple moments with friends and family, and do the things that bring us joy. Please remember, you’re always welcome at Missouri Star and you are all family to me.
Love,
Jenny
WHAT IS BLOCK MAGAZINE?
BLOCK Magazine is a great way to become a part of the Missouri Star Family. The goal of this “idea book” is to empower others to learn, get inspired, and create! With more than 10 quilting projects in every issue, plus stories that warm your heart, BLOCK Magazine is sure to deliver something for everyone and become a trusted source of inspiration for your sewing room!
Produced and published right here at Missouri Star – each issue comes to you completely ad-free. We incorporate personal stories from our family and our dear readers, provide tips on favorite notions, and teach skill-building techniques.
“I don’t usually feel the need to contact the company of the magazine I purchased, however, this is a different circumstance. I just received my first issue of BLOCK Magazine. I wanted to let your company know how thoroughly impressed I am! The quality of the magazine is far more than I have come to expect from different companies. The quality of the images right down to the print stock… just fabulous! Thank you for putting so much thought and effort into your product. This is the type of publication that you hold on to. I am just so very pleased, I had to let you know.”
– Lora Andera, BLOCK Magazine subscriber
WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF BLOCK MAGAZINE?
Planning ahead for the holidays with Christmas decor patterns and a Halloween bonus!
Learn English paper piecing and how to make a pincushion with Sue Daley!
Get helpful tips and tricks for fun with fusible appliqué.
In Jenny’s Journal, join her in her home studio to see what she’s been working on for her friends, grandchildren, or just for herself and her home.
Plus part three of our Ruby Sensation Sew-Along >>>
It’s not too late to join in the fun!
HERE’S A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES OF OUR NEXT ISSUE!
When you flip through BLOCK’s fresh, glossy pages you’ll find gorgeous photography, fun patterns, brilliant ideas, and one-of-a-kind stories! Those are all brought to you by a team of almost 30 people who bring BLOCK Magazine to life! Take a peek into all the hard work, creativity and love that is poured into each issue:
“When we were reviewing the quilts for this upcoming issue of BLOCK, there was concern expressed that the advent calendar project was not reading as a tree in the center with the first fabric choice made (as seen below)! We decided to see if the sewing team could redo the project using different background fabric. With deadlines coming quickly, that seemed very concerning. Luckily, our team is filled with creatives that are always thinking up innovative solutions”
– Christine Ricks, Creative Director of BLOCK Magazine
“I pondered this for about six hours. Then, while driving home from dinner with my husband the ah-ha moment struck. I kept thinking about the Triple Play that Natalie, Jenny, and Misty did using hexies. Misty turned her hexies around and used the back for the front, so it dawned on me that we could turn around those red hexies to the front. We did it, and the tree is much more defined (as you can see above)!”
– Courtenay Hughes, Missouri Star Academy instructor
Subscribe by Monday, July 27 to receive this next issue to your doorstep (with no shipping cost!) by mid-August! Pst! You’ll also receive April and June’s digital issues completely FREE so you can jump right in to our Ruby Sensation sew along without missing a beat!
You know the saying, “One who sleeps under a quilt is comforted by love?” When you give a quilt, you aren’t just giving a quilt. You’re giving love, inspiration, wonder, joy, peace, comfort, and so much more. Fueled by love, we are inspired to create for those we hold dear and a handmade quilt is a perfect representation of that love. This year, give a Handmade Holiday.
Create Joy || 2 for 1 Project Panel
Spread joy with a big display of someone’s favorite things. Choose from hundreds of favorite themes such as nature, sports, animals, holidays, flowers, and more. Create a playful wall hanging or mini quilt for a favorite person in your life!
Make Inspiration || Finish Line
Show someone the way with appliqué. The Finish Line Quilt has gorgeous, cascading “leaves” representing imagination and free thinking. Gift this quilt to someone you know who may need an ounce of inspiration. (Find this pattern in BLOCK Magazine 2019 Volume 6 Issue 1.)
Create Wonder || Castle Wall
Built brick by brick, a finished “castle” is there in the end to protect from chills. Choose a mystical panel filled with woodland creatures or cozy critters to live inside the castle walls! Watch your loved ones wonder in awe at this super cute and oh sew fun gift!
Make Friendship || Friendship Pinwheel Pattern
Pinwheels are just fun and who are the people we grow up in life having fun with? Our friends. That’s why the Friendship Pinwheel Pattern is the perfect gift for a close friend this year. Give friendship and share smiles!
Create Creativity || Star in a Hexagon 1 ¾” Quilt
Feeling creative? Use that energy to give for the holidays. The Star in a Hexagon Quilt is a fun quilt-as-you-go project sure to fuel that creative spark. You’ll be making jewels, diamonds, and hexagons in a variety of colors that would make the recipient of this gift very happy!
Make Handmade || Stars & Stitches
Remember going through grandma’s old wooden trunk to find old, fraying quilts that were filled with dark colors and bright, wonky stitches?! The true homemade quilt, we all aspired to create one day. The Stars and Stitches quilt doesn’t compare to grandma’s, but it makes a beautiful handmade gift!
Make Comfort || Lattice Quilt
There are specific patterns and colors that are traditional in quilting and sometimes traditional is just more comforting. The Lattice Quilt is a plain and simple pattern with traditional diamonds and quick and easy rows. Create comfort for someone you love.
Create Peace || Morning Star
Imagine someone you love wrapped in a big, cozy quilt in a big, cozy chair, the sun peeking at them through the window, hot cocoa warming their hands, and they breathe in and out with the feeling of peace. The Morning Star quilt is a great gift to help your loved one create that peaceful morning! (You can also find this pattern in ModBLOCK Magazine 2019 Volume 5!)
When we make with our hands, we give of our hearts. Explore what it means to create a Handmade Holiday with Missouri Star and discover all you need to feel inspired this holiday season!
How are you giving handmade joy this season? Share ideas with us in the comments!
BLOCK Magazine is always looking to publish original stories from quilters like you. We believe that everyone has an important story to tell and that sharing our stories brings us closer together.
Today’s, What’s Your Story?, will touch your heart (you may want to grab a tissue!). It’s one of love, fate, and hope that all stem from a single quilt.
Thank you Marie D. for sharing your beautiful story…
About seven years ago, I was involved in a quilt guild that was making quilts to send to Wounded Warrior. The quilts were given to men and women who had served in the armed forces and returned wounded. Like all of the other ladies in the group, I made a quilt to send which was a scrappy stars and stripes pattern. The quilts could not be labeled and all donations were anonymous. As I finished the last stitch in the binding, I hugged it tight and said a little prayer for the recipient and packaged it for shipment and didn’t think another thing of it.
Five years later, I’m scrolling through Facebook and I get a message from a boy I had dated in high school. We were high school sweethearts, but our lives took different paths. Mine took me to college and a career and I never knew where he ended up until I received that message. We began chatting frequently, talking about everything from spouses to children to everyday life. I found out that he had enlisted in the Army shortly after I left for college and was with the 101st Airborne. During his career, he had been to Afghanistan and came home wounded.
One day while we were chatting he asked me if I fixed quilts since he had seen my posted photos. He said he had a quilt that he needed to be repaired due to wear and tear. He said he had received it while in the hospital and it was very important to him to get it fixed. I responded that normally I don’t do repairs, but for him, I would make an exception. We then made arrangements to meet so I could see what I had gotten myself into.
On the day we were to meet, it seemed that nothing could go right. Traffic, car problems, and the weather had me praying to just make it to my destination safely. When I did finally make it, I was exhausted and cranky and honestly wanting to pick up the quilt and go. Of course, I couldn’t simply do that, so I met with my friend and his lovely wife and we chatted for a long while waiting on the weather to clear.
When it came time to depart, I remembered the reason for the trip and asked to see the quilt. I was thinking in the back of my mind that this could be next to impossible. When he brought the quilt in and showed me the damage, you could have knocked me over with a feather. He brought in the very quilt I had donated to Wounded Warrior. The tears immediately began to flow. What are the odds that someone I knew would end up with that quilt, especially when he needed it most? Once I composed myself enough to speak, I explained why I was so emotional. Then it was his turn to be speechless. He then explained how he had always felt comforted whenever he covered up with the quilt and how he was still using it to cope with severe PTSD.
After that, I was so happy to repair that quilt. To this day, he still uses it whenever he has a bad day and it still does the trick. So now whenever I make a quilt to send to our servicemen and women, I always hug it tight and say a little prayer for whoever receives it so that they may also know the comfort of a quilt made with love.
– Marie D.
As we listen, learn, and grow, greater inspiration enters our lives and our capacity to care expands. No matter how simple you believe your story to be, it’s worth sharing. Share your story >
When engaged in a casual conversation about feedsacks with a non-quilter or someone new to the craft who might not be familiar with antique quilts, the picture that often comes to mind is a bag made of burlap, paper, or heavy canvas that has been filled with animal feed. For the lover of antique quilts and vintage fabric, the vision is quite different. Instead of paper or rough gunny sacks, we think of pretty, soft bags made of dress prints. Over the years, the word feedsack has become an all-inclusive term used for these charming fabric bags and a rich history follows them wherever they are found.
Reproduction fabrics patterned after prints from the 1930s-1950s, recreate the cotton feed sacks in which flour and grain were sold during the Great Depression. Companies realized some people had started recycling the simple gunny sacks to use as clothing, undergarments, and towels since many were struggling to afford these things elsewhere. This led to feed sacks becoming decorated with prints in pretty pastels and playful images so clothes could still be made with some style.
Initially, feedsacks were made of white material and based on barrel sizes. The factory printed the company logo, or barrel stamp, directly on the bag along with directions on how to unlock the stitches that closed the bag. Richard Peek, vice president of the Percy Kent Bag Company, is often credited with the idea of using beautiful dress prints for making bags. The story goes that he had walked into a restaurant and saw chair covers and curtains made from ordinary cotton bags. It occurred to him that if the bags were made using decorative prints, not only could he promote sales of his bags but bring attention to the goods sold in the bags as well.
By 1935, Percy Kent was successfully marketing their new print bags. It was a brilliant tactic. It’s unknown how enthusiastic farmers were about the print bags, but it was easy to see that they were a big hit with the ladies! Women were happy to take charge of choosing the sacks they wanted to use when making clothing for their families. It took about three large bags to make a dress. Many were the disgruntled employees who worked in the feed store when they had to sort through heavy bags to come up with three that matched!
While the Percy Kent Bag Company is often given full credit for coming up with the idea of using dress prints for feedsacks, they weren’t exactly the first to entertain the notion. In 1925, Gingham Girl Flour ran an advertisement touting the high grade of gingham they had used when making their bags. Bemis and Fulton Bag companies both kept samples of prints they had produced during the 20s and 30s as well.
As print bags became the norm and were readily available, women fussed and fumed about the ink that was used to print the labels on the bags. Tips on how to remove the ink appeared in newspapers and magazines. Some advised rubbing lard into the ink and letting it sit overnight. Then they were to scrub the bag on a washboard using lye soap. Others recommended soaking bags in kerosene, then washing them with Fels Naptha soap.
Soon, bag manufacturers began printing their own directions on how to remove the ink directly onto the bag itself. The only problem with that was that often the only ink that didn’t come out, after all the soaking and washing and scrubbing, were the directions on how to remove the ink! After dealing with many complaints, manufacturers began to use paper labels which they pasted onto the bag.
For the bag companies, sacks made from pretty prints may have been a marketing ploy, but for the families trying to survive hard times, the bags were so much more. The fabric meant new clothes for the whole family, curtains for the home, towels for the kitchen, and pillowcases for the bedroom. And, of course, quilts from the scraps that were left after sewing.
For some families, the bags also meant being able to provide gifts for their children. Victor Flour had puppets and dolls printed on the backs of their bags. Sea Island Sugar printed dolls that could be cut out, sewn together, and stuffed. They were careful to let people know that the ink used in the printing process was not poisonous. The drawback for many of the dolls and toys printed on sacks was that the ink wasn’t particularly colorfast, but they made beloved toys.
Written by Edie McGinnis, former Missouri Star pattern writer, and member of the American Quilter’s Society and the Quilters Guild of Greater Kansas City.
What the world was like (1930-1950s):
The price of women’s stockings were 89 cents.
Scotch tape was invented by Richard Drew at 3M company.
American aviator, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean attempting to navigate the globe.
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Marvel introduces Captain America.
The construction and completion of Mount Rushmore.
