Judie's Album Block of the Month

Hello everyone! We have a special guest today on the Jolly Jabber. Judie Rothermel is here with her adorable British short-hair cat, Abbey Road, to talk about her Judie's Album Block of the Month for Marcus Brothers Fabrics. 

Q: Tell us a little about the Judie’s Album Block of the Month. What were you inspired by?

A: When Marcus Fabrics asked  me to design a quilt for a Block of the Month, I immediately thought about a quilt I made in the late 1990's called Civil War Bar Quilt. It is on the cover of one of my books, Reproduction Quilts From the Civil War Period, published originally in 2002 and still in production. 

I was inspired to make this quilt from a picture I saw in one of my antique quilting books that was dated 1840. I adapted the quilt to work with a fabric collection I designed for Marcus Brothers at that time known as Magnolia. I also used other prints in it from other collections I designed during that time period.

Q: What is your design process when beginning the project?

A: When I started the Judie's Album quilt, I chose antique prints from my Judie's Album Quilt collection and then printed them out on paper. I then pasted them into my existing patterns for this quilt. I then pasted the whole quilt top in a miniature scale and then laid out the whole quilt on my table. My cat, Abbey Road, was always there watching everything I did! She is quite a helper or maybe just nosy!

Q: When you designed this fabric, did you have this quilt in mind as you chose your fabrics?

A: Yes, I definitely had fabrics in mind when I chose them for this quilt. This is the fun part about being a fabric designer; choosing antique textiles that you would love to see on cloth once again and being able to change the color and scale to your liking to make them even better then the original. Needless to say I really love my job and it has been so much fun over the years! 

Thank you so much joining Judie (and Abbey) on the Jolly Jabber! If you love her quilt, don't forget to sign up for Judie's Album Block of the Month! This program starts in January, so hurry and reserve your spot today!