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This week I made my first PURPLE block for my purple row in my Moda Blockheads3 quilt! I love that the name of this block by Sherri McConnell is "Dream" since I think purple can be a dreamy kind of color.  In the purple colors I used here, the darker Thatched purple and more plum-ish red purple color are both basics. The lighter purple was done specifically with my Sweet Pea & Lily line and I like this lighter background with the darker lines a lot. I'm hoping we can add a lighter purple to the basics like this!  For some reason I was having a hard time getting my points to match up today when I was sewing. Some days are just like that. When that happens, I rip it out, and I re-sew starting right at the middle point where the points are meeting, going out to the side, then flip the block and sew the other half from that middle point (instead of from one side to the other). That usually will allow me to match those points meeting in the center better.  For my Thatched with prints version, I used all purple fabrics from Sweet Pea & Lily and I was reminded how fun it is to do some playing in purples. This block is also fun because I could create some other shapes within the blocks by changing the light and dark placements in the half square triangles. Want to see some color play??  The first one is my initial color mockup and it is the one I decided to go with since it works well with the overall ratio of light to dark within my bigger quilt plan. The next one over is trying the colors all getting lighter as the triangles move from left to right. Then flipping to see how that looks on a dark background. In the second row, the large half square triangles make new shapes if they are the same color as the smaller HSTs. I keep seeing arrows in the one on the left if I squint my eyes. And the two next to it make me think of bowties. The angled movement is strong in these. The bottom row is more dimensional with the additional shades. Are they large angled diamonds...no, they are Amethysts! I am so intrigued by the darkest one and am wondering if perhaps another Dream block is in my future?  But I had one other idea I HAD to try! Wouldn't it be fun to do a little pillow with fun golden fishes, kissing in the sea? I'd need to embroider on some little eyes. I also just liked trying this with bright, bold, summery colors with lots of energy.  Thanks to Sherri McConnell for this versatile and fun block. You can get the pattern at her blog at A Quilting Life. And just a note about those purple scissors. They are made by Kai Scissors and are serrated edged and are great to use! Love them. And one more piece of news...CONGRATULATIONS JANE KIMBERLING! You are my winner for an ebook of Moda Blockheads 1 from Martingale Publishing! I've emailed you and I hope you love the book!
Check out my fellow designers for their Moda Blockhead posts:
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There is something so focused and calming about the symmetry of a design that radiates from the center. The Faceted quilt is formed off a central diamond, radiating out in rows of light and dark. But one of the things I love about it is the unexpected play of smaller triangles within the larger rows.  I imagine the way light glints through cut crystal or diamonds. That was my inspiration for this quilt, the way light dances within geometric facets and angles. It scatters out triangular light patterns in pretty lacy patterns.  Sweet Pea & Lily fabrics fell nicely into two groups to create the light and dark rows. Every so often and accent color adds an additional pop of color or pattern. I liked the play of purples and grays in the overall quilt and decided to use green as my accent within the quilt.  The pattern uses Fat Quarters for the prints. Moda kitted Faceted so be sure to check with your local quilt shop if you are interested in making it in this fabric combination. The kit gives you some extra fat quarters so you have room to play plus leftovers for other projects.  Enjoy a diamond today and the light facets within! The larger size of half square triangle blocks makes this quilt go together relatively quickly. The Faceted pattern is available in local quilt shops and in both printed or digital pdf at my shopify shop.  Want to see more patterns using Sweet Pea & Lily? Check out more of my quilt patterns that released with this line on my blog or at shopify! Happy sewing!  Layers cakes and Half Square Triangles. Fun and lacy borders. Meet "Emilia"!  This quilt uses Layer Cake 10" squares to make large triangles and reflected small triangles on the opposite side with the same print. I've grouped them into color blocks. If you don't have a layer cake to use, you may want to make your cutting easier to start by using Creative Grids Perfect10 Ruler (CGRPERF10) to make those nice sized starting blocks!  One of the distiguishing characteristics of Emilia is the borders. The half square triangles continue out into the side borders, using the sashing color, to make a lovely triangular lacy edge. It makes the whole quilt almost sparkle! Wouldn't this pink version be pretty in a girl's room? I focused on pink, green and lighter purple shades for this one. I used a chartreuse green for the sashings but a minty green would be pretty too.  Emilia is written for two sizes, a larger, 76" square or smaller, 55" square lap size. You can easily adapt the pattern to add more rows of blocks if wider sizes are needed.  Emilia was designed to show with the Sweet Pea & Lily collection, which is shipping in March 2019 to quilt shops. But since I have Dandi Annie here...and its in stores now, I thought it would be fun to take a look at how Emilia might look in some summer Dandelions! These computer renders are some color play to look at the pieced blocks and how the quilt changes looks with the sashing and border colors.  I think I am partial to this darker gray border. I would use Moda Bella Solids Graphite 202 for this. I think the Moda Bella Solids Gray 83 would be nice for the sashings and border triangles.  This makes me think of a sunny summer farmhouse day! Moda Bella Solids Baby Yellow 31 and Maize 273 work nicely together with this line.  And back to grays with a lighter version of border. I like having a slight difference to white so the inner triangles pop and sparkle more. Moda's Bella Feather is a lovely very very pale gray, close to white.  Emilia can be found in local quilt shops or at my shopify shop. I hope you have some fun with half square triangle love and border play with this one! Happy sewing! For more ideas for Sweet Pea & Lily or Dandi Annie, take a look at more patterns...   Jelly Roll-friendly and quick to piece, this Showering Stars quilt is full of drama!  I knew with the Sweet Pea & Lily collection for Moda Fabrics (ships in Feb/March 2019) I wanted a quilt that used deep purple to enhance the theatrical nature of the purples in the prints. One thing I enjoy with this group is the purples are in both cool and warm purples. I needed to find the right deep purple to show off their splendor.  I have now fallen in love with Moda Bella Solid PRUNE 238. Its rich and vibrant and LUSCIOUS! Its the glorious deep purple/plum color as the background. Did I mention I bought a bolt of it? Not sure what I'm doing with the rest but I can't wait to use it as an accent to other prints.  But what would Showering Stars look like reversed, with a light background? I haven't made it this way (yet) but thought I'd give some computer inspiration for other colorways. I used a soft gray in the star points and dashes to let the colors in the star trails feel more colorful and sparkly.  And going all-out color with this turquoise background and light green star points. Completely different look but all of these are using the same Sweet Pea & Lily prints in the star trails.  This quilt was my main booth image at the Houston Quilt Market this past fall. It was fun to have such a different color play with this collection! One part I like is the greens and grays still transition through from previous collections.  Check your local quilt shop for the Showering Stars pattern, along with Sweet Pea & Lily fabrics! Patterns are also available at my online shop if your local shop is not carrying it.  Find a falling star and make a wish! And check back for more Sweet Pea & Lily quilts!   Sweet Peas are a lovely combination of elegance and simple delicacy combined with theatrical colors and rich tones. Purples make me think of royalty, drama and celebrations. Deep purple, lavender, warm pink and plum colors look luscious in these Sweet Peas, and feel special in their blend of sweetness and strength. Lily of the Valley with graceful hanging bells of little pops of creamy color add a charming mix to this collection, “Sweet Pea & Lily.”  Additional pink, plum and purple Astor flowers, fluttering butterflies, swirling leaves, tiny branches, ornate medallions, and sketchy lines all joined in the sketchbook and watercolor studies for this collection. The group celebrates the range of warm to cool colors of purples and how they play well with pinks and greens. There is still a touch of gray to balance the brighter colors, as well as to tie in with past collections. It makes me happy to remember that we often would call our daughter "Sweet Pea" (and sometimes still do) and I wish I had these fabrics when she was younger to make a quilt to go in her room with the cream and pink walls. But now, even as she has gotten older, she can enjoy the deep purples and greens and still likes all the lovely flowers!  Sweet Pea & Lily will be showing at the fall Quilt Market in Houston. I've been busy measuring, cutting, and sewing my new quilts to go with the collection. There are four new patterns I'll be showing soon! If you are in Houston for Market, come on by the Moda booth designer sections. I'll be in booth space 235 and look forward to meeting with you!  Precuts for this collection from Moda Fabrics include Fat Quarter Bundles, Fat Eighth Bundles, Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls, Charm Packs and Mini Charms. The collection will be shipping to shops in March 2019.
Oh! One more thing for quilt shops! Excited that my quilt patterns are now being carried by both United Notions AND Checker Distributors! |
About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. 
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