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Ah, "Simplicity" for a nice happy week on the Sewcialites sampler. This block is from Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique. Vanessa can make simplicity so very charming and elegant! Lets take a look at some color play!  As I was experimenting with the angles and center vertical band, a nose started to appear to me. I could not resist adding a couple more triangles for ears and bringing a little lioness friend for a visit! For my sewn block I stayed with the more geometric play and I liked how the lower left one resembled a plus symbol or cross with interesting faceted bands from the quarter square triangles. Here is my sewn version:  Next week is my block and I'm excited to share! Stop back to see what I'm planning for my little 3" blocks. Till then, happy sewing! 
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 Block 16 from Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts has lots of pieces to play with. I enjoyed trying the center as a white bloom (like a white Poinsettia) with green leaves or red package ribbons cut with pretty ends. Play up the diamonds by using more background white or emphasize the X angles. This block is similar to Flourish from a couple weeks ago with an added twist on the inner flying geese to make that extra little square. I did my color studies in red and green to go with Corey's Christmas name and it is lively in those combinations.  I've used some spicy warmer reds and orange for my block instead of red, based on where I want this to coordinate with my rainbow WOF print of Wild Blossoms. I find that making the 3" blocks can be a challenge for getting my seams to lay flat when pressing. I like to use a tailors clapper of wood to help after pressing. I'll let this sit overnight to reinforce the flat pressed-open seams.  These tiny little scissors are just the most precious! They are made by Cohana and are a pretty little treat for snipping threads. And they are a sweet size to go with these little blocks! Hope you are all having a wonderful time with your Sewcialites blocks through the Fat Quarter Shop!   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!!   It is week 13 and Doug Leko of Antler Quilt Designs brings us "Innovate." What a lively block with that great pinwheel motion from the outer angled strip. I liked trying the center half square triangles as one color to form more of a band for a star or having the background or alternate color accent to make fan blades or shaded sides. Bringing in dark ends to the "center X" makes them seem a little 3 dimensional. Thanks Doug for such a motion-filled fun block!  For my little 3" block, I'm using blues from the Wild Blossoms collection. I picked the upper right idea from the color studies and made those tiny little flying geese and half square triangles and angled bar blocks. I must admit that this one is a little bowed in the middle (but I'm sure it will look flat after quilting, right??). I give myself a little more grace with not having everything meet perfectly in this small size. They are fun to make and that's what feels good to me.  BI worked on a little catch-up this past week. After a busy December and busy start to January, I finally had time to do a little sewing when the internet went out. No tv to stream? No problem with a sewing machine waiting patiently for me to show her some attention. I'm hoping this helps get me back into my sampler groove! These blocks had some color studies too although I had not sewn the blocks yet. Here is last week's "Captivate" from Barbara Groves of Me and My Sister Designs. These can look so different and emphasize a diagonal band within the block or look like transparencies of overlapping shades. The last one is about light to dark gradations within multiple colors. I made my block based off the upper left, first image.  Here is "Always Star" from Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms. Radiating light from a hot sun, the play of just 1 color and white to emphasize squares or an even simpler shape, or a woven plaid of intersecting bands for a plaid-meets-diagonal block. I used the top middle image as my inspiration with a little bumble bee in the very center of my block.   "Empower" by Carrie Nelson uses little Bear Paw blocks with half square triangle angles. This makes a crown on some (middle top) or marching video game fighter jets (middle bottom). The negative/positive can be emphasized or creating strong bands/frames by having the background a dark color in the small half square triangles. Or, that last one with sunshine color paw prints. My actual Empower block is made with greens and played with lighter colors on some of the bigger triangles by flipping my Thatched to the back side.  I'm hoping to have another group of four blocks for next week's post. Then I would be all caught up except for one block. But for now, I'm liking how the little blocks are coming along!  Here are all the little 3" blocks I have so far! I haven't shared my setting yet since I'm still working it out but I'm hoping to incorporate the big width-of-fabric print from this collection along with the color spectrum of individual blocks.  One last thing to mention....I'm going to be sewing along with the Bountiful charity quilt stitch along!! I will be using Wild Blossoms and will share how the blocks look in that as a computer mock up next! I hope you are joining the Fat Quarter Shop on this journey to support Make-A-Wish!
Happy sewing! Sewcialites block #9 is from Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic. Her block, New Plus Old, can use the snowball corners as ends of a ribbon, different color triangles, interlocking ribbon ends, or a twisty candy wrapper.  I loved the simplicity of the first block and wanted to try it in my NEW fabric line that will be shipping in July, Forest Frolic. There are 5 new Thatched colors in the collection so I wanted to use the light background of Buttermilk Thatched with the Little Forest Fling print in the square corners. The little triangles in the center block show off the new Caramel, Copper, Cinnamon and Mocha Thatched.  I also made the small 3" version in Wild Blossoms in cream and greens with the interlocking ribbon ends. I think this block would look cute set on point as well as straight.  I'm hopeful I can catch up in the New Year with the rest of the blocks so far! 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!  Chelsi Stratton is our designer this week for Sewcialites and her block is "Flirty." Simple one color with white or pull out more of a Bear's Paw type of block by shading in one corner square. Or treat the block as a study in diagonal movement and shades of sunset colors. Let the white stand out as a bow tie or accent triangles.  Block sewing will happen next week but I'll enjoy seeing the different blocks popping up in the facebook Sewcialites lounge while I finish up a couple things and then take a sewing break with a sweet 3" block.
Have a great weekend! 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!
Week 2 of Sewcialites with a block from Susan Ache called Tussy Mussy. This traditional nosegay block is adorable as a floral bouquet with pretty colors. Since it is a fairly definite shape and easier to "see" as a bouquet, I thought it would be fun to explore how else it could evolve.  First I have my traditional nosegay of flowers with a little modern feel by keeping the solid colors for the base of the flowers and all the outer fringy ring in the darker pink. Then I went for a blocky stand of greens and mixing apricot into the outer petals to give it a more explosive feel. But what if it is not a nosegay at all? I had to throw a little orange in there in honor of Halloween and that one just plays with shapes and switching up the white into the inner parts of the block and letting some background come in on the outer triangles. That last one was more shape exploration and I keep seeing a little red-haired paper doll girl with a pink skirt. Do you see her?  She's wearing a big pink scarf and orange mittens...she might be doing jumping jacks while carrying her grocery bags home. I can't help it! Sometimes the funniest little things jump out! Due to QUILT MARKET happening, my block will have to be sewn when I get back. But I look forward to seeing all your fun Tussy Mussy blocks!
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About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. I am proud to be a designer for Moda Fabrics!
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