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It's been a moment since sharing since life has been so busy! 2024 has been a whirlwind and one of my highlights has been a trip to Paris with my lovely daughter (AMAZING!). Lots of house project too. But I've been having so many happy times lately that I've been soaking them up and not worrying too much about posting to social media and blogging because I sometimes need to be more present in the moments of my life. I bet you understand! However, I am super happy to share more info about SUPERBLOOM! And the fun of Quilt Market. The next post will focus on the new cross stitch with this group. Oh, all the stitchy fun!  A couple years ago I did the Wild Blossoms collection with an ombre print of wildflowers that took up the entire width of the fabric, 42", selvage to selvage. There are so many beautiful wildflowers out there and it seemed time to do a sister collection with some other wild beauties. Meet my sister collection, SUPERBLOOM.  "A superbloom is a rare desert botanical phenomenon in California and Arizona in which an unusually high proportion of wildflowers whose seeds have lain dormant in desert soil germinate and blossom at roughly the same time. The phenomenon is associated with an unusually wet rainy season."- according to the contributors to Wikipedia. All I know is driving through the areas of California at certain times can be an explosion of color, if you time it right. That is quite SUPER! And colorful.  I have a mix of poppies, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, asters and scruffy little blooms that I have no name for, going across the fabric on the entire 42" width, selvage to selvage. This time we have TWO colorways of the width-of-fabric print. The backgrounds are either the "pastel" version with lighter pinks and peaches and lavender color, or the "jewel" tones of deeper purple, red, and indigo.   My main single flower is the red Poppy. My first collection for Moda Fabrics was Poppy Mae and this brings back those big bright blooms with a scale change and some updates. Coordinating fabrics include a print of makeshift vases like watering cans and pitchers to use as flower display, a posy party watercolor print, coneflowers tossed, scribble stripes, a leafy print, butterflies flitting among the tiny leaves and 8 colors of Dotty Thatched as pretty blenders or backgrounds.  Color families are the creams, pinks, red, purples, blues. It is fun to mix periwinkle and dalia and freesia and indigo or group cream, soft pink of carnation with lively fuchsia.  Also coordinating with the group are the blender prints of 8 colors of Dotty Thatched!   I was excited to create some quilt projects that can utilize the WOF print. I designed 4 new quilt patterns: Gathering Wildflowers, Centerpieced, Fiona's Daisy Chain and Turn Signal. Gathering Wildflowers uses fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts with the ombre print and a background fabric to make a wall/lap size quilt. A perky row of flowers sits upon the ombre print, in honor of the colorful mix of florals. All the quilts use traditional piecing (not foundation paper pieced). Moda is kitting the dark background version.   Fiona's Daisy Chain looks at what it is like to cut that big ombre print up into squares to be used within a background of an Irish chain quilt. You can still arrange them to get the ombre effect or stagger them for a scrappier look. You can also use squares from a Layer Cake in the spaces that are shown with the ombre print. By selecting corner fabrics in the 9-patch that are closer to the background, a daisy flower emerges for the chain. I had a lot of fun playing with the colors on this one and could not decide which one to make. So why not make them all??   Centerpieced is a table runner of 40", 60", or 80" in length, depending on the size you need for your table. Little 3" blocks run down the center of this runner, letting big borders of wildflowers be a good size and color contrast. I've used a 5" square Charm Pack for the center blocks. I recommend using 1" finished triangle paper for these blocks. That makes the little blocks easier. The backside of these runners is the perfect place for the "Makeshift Vases" print.   And the final quilt is the most modern of the designs: Turn Signal. This is a Jelly Roll quilt using 2 1/2" strips that turn and have strong direction. They are set off with panels of the ombre print on the top left and bottom right. I used the darker prints for the left and lighter prints on the right. I also think this would be striking as only one vertical half as a wall quilt, hanging in a high ceiling area or vaulted ceiling or above a fireplace.   There are cross stitch projects too but that will wait for the next post. It is hard to express how touching it is to go to Quilt Market, year after year, and see familiar faces and friends from afar. I enjoy my time with Moda Fabrics and we have some meetings and do some goofy things. The other designers are delightful and I consider myself extremely lucky to be a part of this "family."  Time with designer friends is a treat!  I was also very excited to meet Emily Van Hoff since my daughter introduced me to her fabulous sculptural quilted pieces on instagram. I am so glad Moda has partnered with her to make her Groove collection.   Some of my favorite people to see at Market? The women from the mill in Korea who do such an amazing job at bringing our artwork into reality!  My booth! Can you say FLOWERS? That is Superbloom in full bloom!   I had a lot of fun meeting Linsee of The Quilt Spot. She does sewing themed jewelry that is wonderful! I am working on a design for a really cool round cross-stitch friendly medallion she carries that I hope to have at Quiltcon!  The bubbly groups from JK Quilts, Oh Sew Sweet, What the Fabric?    And my own moment of Fan-Girling over the Primrose Cottage ladies! I saw Nettie and ran after her and met everyone else after. They are all so lovely! I am in love with their beautiful cross stitch designs!  The Moda overall booth was a Christmas wonderland theme. Lots of spirit and cheer everywhere. Don't you love those Moda peeps?    An elf even snuck into my booth!!  I was very excited to share some new cross stitch designs and the next post will cover those! I think I am still settling in from the trip and the excitement and all the adrenaline rush of each day. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my Superbloom group, the quilts, and a little peek into Quilt Market days!  Superbloom will ship in April 2025 to quilt shops. Let your local shop know if you want them to order it (orders go in now for the mill). I'll be getting new patterns up in the shop as soon as possible. Gathering Wildflowers and Centerpieced will be up soon at RobinPickensInc.com or check your local quilt shop. Let the blooming begin!!
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 Well yippeeeee yahhooooo it is my week for Sewcialites 2 with Fat Quarter Shop! Meet my "spellbound" block. A quarter triangle block is surrounded by little patchwork squares and then framed by another outer row with squares on the ends. The free pattern is available at the Fat Quarter Shop. All patterns are listed here when released: https://www.fatquartershop.com/sewcialites First I'm sharing my color studies but please also keep reading to see my plans for using my blocks in a colorful table runner.  The first one focuses on each row as its own mix of light and dark blues in squares. The next one reminded me of arrows pointing in with shaded 3d arrow bases. The third one makes me think of an hour glass with white sand running from top to bottom ("the sands of time..."). On the bottom row, the outer blues make another chunky plus sign to surround the inner arrows. Then a couple of rainbow spectrum experiments moving around the color wheel, either in the center or in the rows of small squares.  For this sewalong, they asked for blocks that make us crazy. I find that matching up little patchwork square seams can be one of my crazy-making things. Pressing seams in opposite directions, then nesting the seams when joining rows helps. Another thing that helps is when the little squares line up against a sashing or other rectangle, like the little blocks here. As for nesting seams, this is a picture of the back of the blocks. The arrows show some of the places where I have pressed seams to nest.  Another thing I will do with little patchwork and small block piecing is starching. I generally don't starch much but with small sized blocks, the starch will help for handling the fabric better and it keeping its shape as you sew and press. If I am doing patchwork squares I will see if I can make some longer pieces and subcut them and I tend to press to one side on my seams instead of pressing open so they don't pull apart easily when I handle them. These things seem to help with small patchwork squares. For my block, I've a little blue 3" block for my project using all my blocks in Wild Blossoms. And then I wanted to make a rainbow square Thatched version. I have some leftover Thatched blocks from Moda Blockheads that I have quilted as little minis for the wall so I might add this to the mix.   Want to know WHAT I am going to do with those little 3" blocks? The Wild Blossoms fabrics (which are shipping to shops at the end of this month) has a big Width-of-Fabric print that runs selvage to selvage in a big rainbow print of multiple wild flowers. I've been making my blocks in the different colors with the intention of lining them up with the colors in the WOF print.  I want to add in a 1" wide sashing strip between the blocks (for a finished sashing size of 1/2") and make a table runner. These are some mock ups of the versions I've been considering, with sold squares left for the blocks that are released in the weeks ahead. The 42" wide runner has two rows of blocks, either in the center, with a center print running through, or placed on the long sides. The top one has cream sashings surrounding the blocks and the second one only has sashings between the blocks and the rainbow print running up to the blocks on top and bottom. For the third one above I tried the Greenery light chartreuse fabric for sashing since it looks really springy.  It is a good idea to get a little extra of the rainbow print so you can position the fabric appropriately to show off the little bees. The above ideas would need either 1/3 or 1/2 yard of the WOF print, 1/8 or 1/4 yard for sashing and 1/3 yard for binding (indicated under each image). The CUT sizes of the rainbow print are listed to the right of the images. Another idea is to make a longer runner with a single line of blocks and two pieces of the WOF rainbow print. When wanting to blend the color ramp continuously, I flip the print upside down to continue the flow of color. My table is sized to handle this long version well so I think this is what I will make. I've mocked it up with either the lighter colors/yellows to the center or the darker blues to the center of the runner.  The longer runners need 3/4 yard of WOF print, 1/4 yard sashing, 1/2 yard binding. For binding I'm not sure what I'm using yet but it might be the new Thatched bias binding that Moda makes which is sold by the yard. That makes it SO easy!!  This sewalong has been lots of fun! I've really enjoyed seeing the various blocks people share in the Sewcialites Lounge on facebook. Because I want to keep the sewing joy going, I'm participating in the Bountiful sew along with Fat Quarter Shop with the quilt pattern Corey Yoder designed. I'm using the Wild Blossoms fabric for that one too and you can see the mockup and fabric requirements for the Bountiful quilt on the previous post at https://www.robinpickens.com/blog/2023-bountiful-quilt-along-with-the-fat-quarter-shop-to-benefit-make-a-wish. I hope you will join us. Happy sewing everyone!   I am thrilled to be sewing along on this absolutely stunning and happy quilt design from Corey Yoder for the Bountiful Quilt Along hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop. This is such a springy, charming quilt! The Fat Quarter Shop also has a matching cross stitch project to go along with it too. This is the mockup of the quilt done in Wild Blossoms fabrics:  I have completely enjoyed getting to know Corey Yoder more through exhibiting with Moda Fabrics at Quilt Market. She is just delightful. And this past summer I taught at a retreat in her home town of Berlin Ohio and got to enjoy some more time with her there. She drove us to dinner in her Jeep with no doors and the wind whipping through our hair. What a fun way to spend a summer night! To learn more about this sew along that benefits Make-A-Wish, please visit the Fat Quarter Shop's page to get started at https://blog.fatquartershop.com/lets-get-ready-for-bountiful/ Moda Fabrics is partnering with Fat Quarter Shop to match the first $30,000 in donations. Also, I will be giving my finished quilt to Fat Quarter Shop to auction off for the charity towards the end of the sew along. Stay tuned for more info on that! You can go right to the first block info: blog.fatquartershop.com/2023-bountiful-quilt-along-release-1-baskets/ My plan is to make this quilt in my Wild Blossoms fabric collection. This line is shipping to shops later this month from Moda Fabrics (and YES Fat Quarter Shop will be carrying it as well as a bundle of coordinating Thatched colors). If you would like to make one with Wild Blossoms as well, I'm including the fabric specifications based on what the Fat Quarter Shop has done and what I substituted in. I uses a little more of some fabrics and added in a couple more choices to the mix.  Although I am making mine with the cream Thatched background (48626-36), I thought it would be fun to take a look at it in Thatched Navy (48626-94) or even Deep Sea (48626-145). Both of these versions would be so striking.  I could not resist the fresh light feel of the cream background so I'm working with that. The first blocks of baskets are so sweet! These are each 24" blocks and are large so I just decided to take my photos on the floor. I made mine with the same outer Queen Anne's Lace yellow fabric with one basket in reds/pinks and the other in blue.   The next blocks for Bountiful will be released on April 7th. Happy sewing!   Brighten up your day with a little sewing! Here is "Brighten" from Minki Kim for this week's Sewcialites free block from the Fat Quarter Shop. What an interesting interlocking shape of rectangles. I love it! For color studies, the suggested layout then playing with those squares and rectangles a little to make a geometric layering of transparent squares in the center. Emphasize across the diagonal, have a pixelated "H" or a cut out rectangle that our eye is drawn into with it's dark center.  I stayed with the recommended layout since I liked the simplicity and movement of the shapes. I love this little red print in Wild Blossoms. It has all kinds of little blooming things with tiny bees buzzing about. It still shows some of the images in these small 3" blocks. I also had one more block to do to catch up..."Interwoven" from Shereece Nicole of Sew Hooked on Treasures.  This block took some concentration and careful following of directions. I love the outcome and how the ribbons have a continuous woven interlocking look.  If you are also catching up, here are a couple ideas in the color studies for the Interwoven block. The outer flying geese background can fill in more of a large "plus" shape. Center triangles can pop out as a pinwheel. The star points can be emphasized as their own element and we can also create a large X shape with fun motion.   Now I am all caught up and can go back to one block a week! My block will be coming up next month and I'm so excited to share! I hope you all have a fun Valentines (or Galentines) Day next week! Happy sewing!   Hello Enchant! I breathed a sigh of relief for a slightly easier block this week since I'm also continuing my catching up on past blocks. I enjoyed this charming block from April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns on the Sewcialites Sewalong from the Fat Quarter Shop. How about a color study? Yep!  Outside half square triangles in background white or a color? I liked how the third one looks to me like corners folded in, like a galette with a lemon center. The second one plays on the idea of a churn dash block. Fourth uses background white to create a diagonal twisted candy and the last one is a color wheel of sides that draws your eye into the dark center.  I used number 3 as my inspiration. I think it was the idea of a lemony pastry that got me, and no, I don't have any lemon danishes or pastries here. Sigh. It is not till I look at the photos that I see I have a seam not quite matching but since it is a 3" block, I'm leaving it as is. I did use my seam ripper quite a bit on some of the other blocks I made so this seems minor in comparison to some of the other matching issues I encountered. Speaking of the other blocks, I made Flourish by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet.  I used my seam ripper on this one a lot. Keep in mind this is a 3" block so each of those sections is only 1/2" finished. I am liking the blue/green combination and look for my smaller prints to use on these tiny-pieces blocks. For color studies, I played with these ideas:  Lots of pieces means lots of options to pull out the X shape (jumping jacks!), think of corner ribbon ends, play up the sides, or treat the rows like different colored bands. I used number two as my inspiration but it was a toss-up with number three.  Next was Nuture from Lissa Alexander. Wheels, pointers, plaids and, again, lots of options! This one was really structured for lots of color play. And again, my seam ripper was used a lot on this 3" block.  The last of the catch up blocks for the week was Butterfly Garden by Pat Sloan of The Voice of Quilting. I did not do a color study for this one since I had no desire to see it as anything but a butterfly. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this butterfly come into full formation.  Here is the group of this week's blocks, all done in different colors and fabrics from the Wild Blossoms collection, which should be shipping in March from Moda Fabrics!  Just a reminder, if you want to see past color studies, go to the COLOR STUDIES page listed in the menu and click on an image to go to that blog post. Next week I'll add in the block Interwoven from Shereece Nicole and I think I will be all caught up with past blocks!  Last week I mentioned I will be doing the Bountiful quilt along (Bountiful quilt from Corey Yoder) with the Fat Quarter Shop, raising money for Make a Wish! Here is a mock up of the quilt in WILD BLOSSOMS. Since Wild Blossoms is shipping in March, it might be a tiny bit behind on the first block but should be available to catch up and sew on the second in time. For more information about the Bountiful sewalong, and to see the fantastic bundles of Corey's fabric line, coordinating threads and a very charming matching CROSS STITCH, visit the Fat Quarter Shop's Bountiful blog post. See you next week and until then, happy sewing!!  2022 is about ready to exit and I've got so much to share from the end of 2022! At the end of October, we finally had a Quilt Market in person again! I loved the time with folks at the Moda booth and being able to see shop owners in person again filled my soul with happiness! I do really look forward to Quilt Market every year. Nothing else really compares to in-person time with other designers, shops, and Moda. This year I also took some business seminars so there was good learning too!  I was excited to show my new line of Wild Blossoms, which features wild flowers of poppies, daisies, clover, Queen Anne's Lace, Bluebonnets and more. The line has a main print which spans the width of fabric, selvage to selvage, in a rainbow display of the flowers.   I revamped Jubilant Song with enough changes to retire it and rename the new version Joyful Trio. The one behind me has the width-of-fabric print going through the middle to make 3 columns of color. You can also use fat quarters of big prints in those sections. To the right is Bar Hop with long panels from the rainbow print and a Layer Cake or Charm Packs to make the smaller bars. On the chair are the NEW bias binding tapes made with Thatched fabrics! They come on a roll and are sold by the yard. A great way to have fast binding that matches with the Thatched widebacks (plus a few more colors).  What a surprise to see Josh Dunn in a shirt made up in Wild Blossoms (with the bees on the ends of the collars) and Jenny Brodeski in a fantastic swing skirt! Those Moda people do it up in style!  I also love to see the fantastic women from the mill in Korea. They make magic happen with the fabric.  Many thanks to all who stopped by. I was delighted to see so many shop owners from other countries and reconnect with many friendly faces. Speaking of friendly faces, I enjoyed time with my roommate Pam Selkirk AND her sweet Sophie bunny!   Wild Blossoms will be shipping to shops in March 2023. Look for the selection of yardage, precuts and new patterns!  Hello Patchy Days with little squares and flying geese from Jackie McDonald! I just got to see Jackie in person at Quilt Market in Houston and it was SO nice. We have connected through phone calls and zoom so this was the next step...an actual meeting! I have enjoyed making Jackie's block this month AND I caught up with last week's Tussy Mussy sewing. But first, color studies!  You can emphasize the diamond made from flying geese or the square in the center or make the flying geese and their joining rectangles into arrows pointing out. Those 4-patch corners can be one color plus background or play with gradations and place the lightest parts to the inside or outside. I like the arrow idea and decided to apply that to my sewn block.  I'm using blues from my new Wild Blossoms collection (the one showing at Quilt Market last weekend). The arrows are out of the blue bonnet floral print with corners in the diagonal sketchy plaid. Mist Thatched flipped to the back side for a lighter shade makes the center square.  I am thinking about combining these blocks in a variety of colors with the big width-of-fabric rainbow print of all the wildflowers. Perhaps in a tote...I'm working on my plan and will share when it is solid.  For my Tussy Mussy block, I used the pink Queen Anne's Lace print with a butterfly in the center part of the block, fluttering towards those outer dark petals. These small blocks are so much fun to make. Last year I did all the small 3" ones and fell in love with doing this sweet small size.  Now I've got a red, pink and blue block and have got to plan out next week's color. Orange, yellow, green? Sewing with the range of colors in Wild Blossoms has so many possibilities.  Check out the Fat Quarter Shop blog and shop for the free weekly patterns for this Sewcialites 2 Quilt Along!
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About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals and Thatched basics for Moda Fabrics . Modern to transitional quilt designer, cross stitch designer, sewist, crafter. I am proud to be a designer for Moda Fabrics!
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