Friday, November 8, 2024

New Christmas Pattern on the Horizon! / Beauties Pageant 271


I am always on the lookout for quilt patterns that give especially beautiful prints the spotlight they deserve. It was the reason I designed Pretty in Pluses back in 2021: I loved the large-scale flowers in Anna Maria Horner’s Hindsight line and couldn’t bear to chop them into little pieces, so I created a venue for them to shine. Other versions of the quilt followed, including the pattern’s cover quilt in Heather Ross’s Far, Far Away 2 collection for Windham ...

When it came time to sew with a stashed layer cake of Jill Howarth’s Twas collection for Riley Blake, I knew I wanted to design something special for all those sweet novelty prints. What you see pictured in this post is the beginning of that new pattern. I’m calling it Ornament Collection, a nod to the tradition my mom started with me and my sister (and I’ve continued with my two boys) of marking each holiday season with a new ball or bauble for the Christmas tree.

This quilty collection contains two different ornament designs. You see the ball blocks in this post. There are also bauble blocks. Both block designs were specifically created to work with layer cake squares, but you could just as easily cut the centers of your ornaments from fat quarters (or scraps—but more on that later!).

These blocks are big, friends! And all you need for a generously sized throw quilt is 15 layer cake squares or 8 fat quarters.

This first version isn’t finished, yet I already have a second one—in Rifle Paper Co. prints—in the works. I can’t wait to share more! 

Are you a fan of seasonal sewing? I don’t expect to gift many handmade items this year. If I wrap up a quilt or two in the next six weeks, I’ll be a happy quilter!

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Friday, October 25, 2024

A Little Panic Sewing / Beauties Pageant 270

Most autumns, I do a certain amount of panic sewing. No, I am not creating Halloween- or fall-themed quilts. I am not getting a leg up on my handmade Christmas gifts. I am joining other QuiltCon hopefuls and finishing up projects to submit to the show before the October 31 deadline.

Here’s the thing: I am not a show quilter. That’s not a judgment on my artisanship—it’s being honest about my approach to quilting. Most of what I sew as a pattern designer is created to be replicated by others and doesn’t reflect the QuiltCon aesthetic. I am solidly JV when it comes to QuiltCon, and that’s fine with me.

Then why submit at all? Because is an absolute thrill to attend QuiltCon and see my work hanging with the others! And I find the challenges especially inspiring—they get me creating things I wouldn’t have made otherwise. (The problem with the challenges is that they tend to be announced over the summer, when my productivity is minimal at best, and I can’t really get going with them until my kids are back in school. Hence the frantic sewing in September and October.)

Some of my project have shown at past QuiltCons (read a recap here). Will this year’s submission? Maybe! In a moment of clarity I abandoned the notion of submitting a quilt to the transparency challenge—I don’t have adequate time—so I will submit just one quilt, to the Windham Ruby and Bee Fabric challenge. I used all six colors in the palette selected by Tara Faughnan. After straight-line quilting the piece on my domestic, I added some chunky hand quilting. There are some sneak peeks of the quilting detail in this post.

Are you also susceptible to QuiltCon panic sewing? If so, I wish you the best of luck! I’d love to see your work—and mine—in Phoenix next February.

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Friday, October 18, 2024

'Tis the Season for Stashing / Beauties Pageant 269

My recent book-writing experience effectively curbed my desire to buy fabric. Back in the fall of 2023, I selected all the fabric for that collection of patterns, and Moda sent me two huge boxes of jelly rolls and yardage for tops, backs, and bindings. Opening and unpacking those boxes was the most fun I had had since being a kid on Christmas morning!

For many months that followed, I couldn’t justify buying new fabric. I simply didn’t need it, and I was busy sewing my book samples. Now that the book is done (to be released in April 2025), some too-good-to-pass-up sales and an upcoming pattern release have had me online and adding selection after selection to my cart. 

First up: the Moda prints at the top of the post. Last weekend, Lamb and Loom Fabrics offered a mystery backing for $10. I love a good mystery purchase, and 4 yards for $10 was an unbelievable price. I bought half-yard cuts of various prints from Fancy That Design House and Ruby Star Society and, when I received the package, was super pleased to find a design from Aneela Hoey as my mystery backing. After admiring these new fabrics, I stashed them for a time when inspiration strikes in the future.

Then I placed an order for Rifle Paper designs at Hawthorne Supply. Rifle Paper has produced three different holiday collections over the years. I bought my favorites and will pair them with four different solids—I’m thinking dark green, light green, red, and pink—for a pattern slated to release next month. To be honest, I already had a layer cake on hand to make this particular pattern, but it’s going to be such a quick sew that I think I can bang out two of them for pattern promoting and holiday giving.

What’s the stashing scene in your sewing room? Are you chipping away at the fabric you already own or have your sights on some new additions?

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter