Pattern Drop and My Sewing Machine Quilt

Today is the day my pattern drops on Pattern Drop. 

Like that? It's as if Katie planned it that way. I'm sure she did. She is a lot of fun like that. (Katie from Swim, Bike, Quilt is behind Pattern Drop.)

Pattern Drop is a monthly subscription service where you get one new pattern and loads of inspiration delivered to your inbox. There is no way you could buy all these patterns for the cost of a subscription. And it is so easy for you! 12 amazing designers with 12 unique, bold patterns. Each pattern is tested, too, so no errors to worry about. I am pretty excited to see what else comes as the previous months produced some delicious quilts.

The Sewing Machine Quilt pattern is a perfect escape for us quilters, or the quilters in your life. I, myself, made this and it pulled me out of a huge creative slump. With options for precision piecing and improv blocks there is something for every quilter in this pattern. Not to mention two block sizes (small above, large below) and a wide number of layout options.

I'm thrilled to be working with Katie this month and share my Sewing Machine Quilt with a wider audience. Just look at what she has done in advance of this month!

To sign up for Pattern Drop visit the site and choose either a monthly or annual subscription (which, of course, gives you a better rate). You can get colouring pages, access to tutorials and forums, and meet a community of quilters working on similar projects. Each new pattern drops on the first Wednesday of the month.

Annual Subscriptions are US$6.99/month. (US$83.88) A monthly subscription is US$8.99/month. If you use this special code I am providing you essentially get 2 months free! (US$69.90)

Pattern Drop Coupon Code: CHERYL2FREE

For those of you joining me via Pattern Drop, Welcome! I am so glad to have you here. Grab a cup of tea and look around. 

Full confession: As a Pattern Drop designer I do have an affiliate link if you sign up through me. 

Itty Bitty Curves to Carry Me Through the End of Winter

Oh these improv curves! 

In sharp contrast, at least when it comes to colour, I pulled out these little blocks last week. With my Names for Snow quilt top finished it is great to play with bold colours again. 

Here's where it stands. 

I'm running out of fabric. But I am nowhere near running out of motivation to sew these little blocks together. So now I am debating finding more fabric - it is a mix of random vintage solids, Kona solids, Connecting Threads solids, and I think some Essex Linen. It wouldn't be hard to figure out what I've used so far and buy just a little bit more.

As it stands, this is about 65'' tall. But only 38'' wide. I have baggies of blocks, but they are little and get used up quickly. Hmm...

Names For Snow Quilt Top

Yup, still winter.

At least that means that when I finished this winter inspired quilt the other day I had ample opportunity to take a shot of it in the snow.

It started with a stack of neutral solids fabrics and a beloved pair of Japanese tailor's scissors. I became so enamoured with the process of improv half square triangles and only using my scissors that I kept going and going. I actually have more blocks, but this was the size of quilt I wanted in the end. 

I think the bunnies might like it too...

It would be lovely to get it quilted before the snow totally disappears. Knowing Calgary and the winter we've had, that is about a month away! But I need the quilting pattern to percolate a bit. I've got a couple of ideas but nothing is settled yet. I'd like to move beyond cliche snowflakes.

This is technically the second in a series of quilts inspired by my Alberta landscapes. Actually, more like third, although I only consider this one to be a study and not the full quilt planned. Mountain Meadows would be the first. That one dictated the size of this quilt and the subsequent ones. They are improvised so I can't be exact, but close is good enough.

PS As of last week I am sold out of my Japanese scissors but Knifewear still had a few pairs.

Mighty Lucky Quilting Club Second Quilt Top - A Single Fabric

Woah! What an amazing response to my last post. It seems I am not alone in these thoughts. It has me percolating a few ideas to help us all out. Mainly, in ways to use our stashes more. And in maybe some not so predictable ways.

That thinking reminded me that I never shared a particular quilt top. One quilt top - one fabric. That's right, just one fabric. 

I started this about 2 years ago, as part of the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. In preparing for my month of the club I made up a whole bunch of samples to show different ways to use a single fabric in a quilt block. While I did finish one quilt for the club and then a pillow, the rest of the blocks sat there. But then I decided to play with one of them a bit more. And play and play and play.

You can still purchase the 2016 Mighty Lucky Quilting Club challenges. But now they come as a print on demand book. 

What a great way to pull out a cherished fabric from your stash and play. We all have some that we bought a lot of, maybe for a backing, but is just sitting there. Look for the possibilities. 

This became my own personal round robin. What other ways could I manipulate this fabric into another look? I just kept going. Fussy cutting stripes, improv curves, triangles, slashing things apart. I just kept going. That last round is a variation on the blocks used to make the center. It ends up at about 78'' square in size. 

The fabric is Tick Tock Stripe in Mint from Chipper by Tula Pink.

I bought more fabric 3 times after the first fat quarter. The last time I was smart enough to buy extra so I could make a bias binding when all is done. All in all, I would say I used about 8 meters, but that is just me going off my memory and does include the leftover scraps and the binding set aside. 

Any ideas on how to quilt it? I am very open to suggestions on this.