Ornament Collection Pattern Release / Beauties Pageant 273

Ornament Collection, the design I’ve been talking about the past few weeks, is done, and I’ve released the pattern out into the world!

Instructions include two projects that are appropriate for confident beginners and above: a large throw-size quilt and a table runner. If your weekend sewing plans are open, you can start your project today and have a quilt top finished before the turkey is on the table next Thursday. (If you don’t celebrate American Thanksgiving, the turkey is optional but recommended.)

This pattern is especially suited to those of you who want to ...

* Sew a big quilt fast—the throw finishes at 70" x 73.5"



* Use leftover squares from a layer cake—the runner requires just five squares 10" x 10"



* Maximize your precuts—you can sew two throws and two runners with a single layer cake (although fat quarters work, too!)



* Celebrate the holidays by making big, bold blocks—the ball blocks finish at 13.5" x 14.5", and the bauble blocks finish at 8.5" x 14.5"

For my first Ornament Collection project, pictured at the top of the post, I opened up a layer cake of Twas by Jill Howarth for Riley Blake. The red, green, and pink palette is the perfect complement to the vintage vibe of Twas.

My next version, which I am in the process of piecing now, incorporates prints from Rifle Paper Co.’s holiday lines for Cotton and Steel. I’m using another light background with this second quilt because it’s more in line with my personal aesthetic .... and a cream or a white doesn’t show the Golden Retriever hair the way a dark background would! I love nontraditional Christmas palettes, and the pale blue and orangey-red I am using will change things up nicely ...

A green background would be equally fabulous, though, and drive home the idea that these are ornaments hanging on the tree. Here is the throw mocked up with Cozy Wonderland by Fancy That Design House for Moda ...

I am very pleased with how my first Ornament Collection came out. I received some expert advice about quilting options for my second version and will share that in a future post!

All PDF Patterns 25% Off Through the Weekend

To celebrate the release of Ornament Collection, all PDF patterns (excluding the Almost Free for Charity patterns) are 25% off through 11/24/2024. No code required. This is my week-early Black Friday sale—snag your good buys now!

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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!

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Let's Talk Table Runners / Beauties Pageant 272

In the 10-plus years I’ve been quilting, I have made a total of three table runners. On one hand, I have limited places in my house I’d display a runner. My children (and/or dogs) may do bad things to a table runner (there was an applesauce incident on the kitchen table just this past week!). And putting covers on my pretty table tops doesn’t seem really “me.”

On the other, if I made more runners, I would have more-frequent finishes, and wouldn’t that be nice?

When designing my Ornament Collection pattern (releasing next Tuesday, November 19), I added a runner option. The sample I’ve made so far is the throw, and it’s a generously sized throw at that. But I figured that some people might want a smaller, faster finish. What I didn’t consider until Anne (@batiksbythebay) mentioned it to me on Instagram is that people who live in the southern hemisphere celebrate Christmas in the summer. They have little need for a Christmas-themed throw. Of course! Why didn’t I consider that? Needless to say, all future Christmas designs from me will include the option of a smaller finish for that very reason.

Me with a freshly longarmed Ornament Collection. Picture and quilting by Ophelia Chang.

Because I am a runner newbie, however, I had to ask Anne how she would orient the ornaments in a runner.

Should they all be right side up (as I would prefer on a runner displayed on a console placed against a wall)?

Or should the baubles be upside down (as I would prefer on a runner displayed on a kitchen island)?

Anne said both, and that’s what I’ll do. : )

So, what other runners have I made up to this point?

There was the runner I made for the sideboard in my dining room (and still resides there).

There was the runner I made from Modern Plus Sign Quilts and gifted to a friend.

And then there was the runner I made from a free pattern on Moda Bake Shop and gifted to another friend.

You knew this was coming ... I am soliciting any and all thoughts on quilted runners. Do you sew them? Do you display them? What are your thoughts on the issue of orientation? Thank you in advance!

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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

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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* * *

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