Inspiration from Nichole

I can honestly say that I've never been quite so touched by the creation of a stamp set before until now. Nichole's new stamp set called Quilter's Sampler has really tugged at my heart strings. Nichole did not just say *here's my newest stamp set*, but instead she introduced us to a love of quilting and some inspiration to go along with it. I do not quilt (yet) but I have always admired my grandmother's wonderful quilts...I always look at them at the county fair....and have thought about how much I would some day like to create wedding quilts for my girls and a quilt for my own bed.....and one for the family room to snuggle in front of the fire place, etc. Quilts to me are a labor of love. There is so much hard work put into a quilt and it has to be one of the most precious gifts you could give or receive. My grandmother made me a pastel colored quilt and used crochet to sew all the pieces together. I'll have to find it at my mom's house and take a photo someday.

Along with Nichole's new stamp set, this Quilter's Apprentice post introduces us to some wonderful books that played a part in inspiring her new quilt stamp set and matching sentiment set(which is a must have!). You can click on the Elm Creek Quilts website HERE to see the entire listing of Elm Creek books, what they're about and possibly what order you might like to read them in. I've read the first three of the series and I'm hooked! The stories are about every day women, their personal stories and their love of quilting. Even if you're not a quilter, you will like these books....just good wholesome stories, kinda like a warm glass of milk before bed. They will totally inspire you to create your own quilts....or perhaps if you're not ready to take up quilting, you can follow my lead and make some wonderful paper quilted creations using Nichole's new stamp set. Thank you Nichole for creating these wonderful stamp sets and for rekindling my love of handmade quilts.

When I was searching for inspiration on quilt designs, I headed straight for my local quilt shop. The nice lady behind the counter kind of looked at me funny when I said I was looking for card inspirations but soon she understood. I showed her a few of my samples and the stamp set and immediately she had her own ideas. She had the great idea of using the *stamped by* and other images to actually stamp a fabric label for real quilts. I must go back and chat with those ladies more.....and I might even sign up for a beginner's quilting class this fall if time allows.

I didn't buy any fabric while at the quilt shop but I did find this pattern book with this beautiful quilt on the front cover. I want to make this quilt for my bed!! And I have those chairs around my dining room table. It's so ME!

After browsing through the pattern book, I discovered that there are 2" strips of fabric rolls all bundled together called *jelly rolls*. You purchase the bundle of pre-selected fabrics to create such pattern blocks in the photo below. That was my first source of inpspiration for some quilt cards!
I went to work over the weekend and cut my own tiny strips of patterned paper to resemble *jelly roll* strips. I used paper from Cosmo Cricket and also created a polka dot sample with PTI's Polka Dot Basics stamp set.
From there I went to work creating my own little quilted creations. The one thing I discovered while working with the Quilter's Sampler set is that I get this desire to make everything *homey*.....check out all the details on this close up shot of my cards.
I'm in love with these vintage-like, soft colored cards. I might have to keep them ALL!

If you look back up to the page with all the patterned blocks, you can pick out my inspiration for each card. Here, I was inspired by the long folk heart from the quilt. (Polka Dot Basics for the background, Kraft PTI cardstock, Cosmo patterned paper, Spellbinder's scallop rectangles, hand made felt heart with buttons)
I LOOOOVE the sentiments with this set too. They're almost as good as the little quilt blocks! This is the inside of my card....two more *jelly roll* strips to tie into the front of the card.
And this card was inspired by the pine tree pattern block from the pattern book. You can scroll back up to see it. Fun, fun, fun!
And my last card was inspired by the flower box from the pattern book. Again, scroll back up to see the photo. I created the flowers with felt and a big button. The quilt block stamps are intermingled in with blocks of patterned paper squares. Tip: The quilt squares punch out perfectly with a 3/4" square punch. You definitely need to add that to your next order!
Well, I've gushed on and on now about this little quilting craze of mine. I hope you are inspired as much as I have been by Nichole and her wonderful stamp set and her suggested Elm Creek Quilts books. I would love to hear about the quilter's in your life and/or wonderful quilts you have........and if you're going to purchase these new sets. Be sure to head to the Papertrey gallery for more Quilter's Sampler and Sentiments samples.

My latest quilt was acquired at a garage sale for $5 bucks. It's tattered and worn but I can never understand how someone could get rid of a hand made quilt. So I adopted this quilt and used it for my July 4th table settings. I love it as much as if my own grandma had made it!