Medina Dots Table Runner & Matching Placemats

 I'm excited to share my latest project for Oakshott Fabrics! Everything you see here was made from one F8 stack of the Lipari and one F8 stack of the Ruby Reds collections (a total of 16 super-sized Oakshott F8's which measure 10" x 27"). I set myself the challenge of creating a pattern that would not only let the fabrics shine, but let you feel good about your purchase by using up all of the precious cloth in the two F8 stacks. The result is a super luxurious set of table linens with playful shapes and vibrant colours reminiscent of Moroccan market stands.

The table runner features 60 degree triangles of the blue and green Liparis, appliquéd Ruby Reds circles (by hand, or machine) and a unique diamond-shape that is sure to fancy-up your table! The 6 coordinating placemats make use of the remaining F8's from the Lipari stack with leftover triangles pieced as a border accent. Everything is beautifully bound in a scrappy Ruby Reds binding using up almost every inch!  And because I have a feeling someone will ask...the binding went these angles in the exact same way it works on right angled quilt corners. It just takes a little finesse when turning to the wrong side to create the mitre.

I used a regular cotton blend batting in the table runner, but for the placemats I wanted a bit more structure that would stand up to more regular washing (by hand). I chose heavyweight fusible fleece by Pellon and am very pleased with the crisp finish. 

Everything is pieced with Aurifil 50wt and quilted with a luscious green Aurifil 40 wt thread. I give all of the recommended thread weight and colour info in the pattern. I didn't want to compress those pretty circles with quilting, so I chose to simply quilt 1/4" from all of the piecing lines with my walking foot and repeated the same angles and double lines on the placemats. A Hera marker works a treat for chemical and chalk-free marking on Oakshott shot cottons.

If you're looking for some luxe and would like to make your own set, the .pdf pattern is available in my Etsy shop here and you can purchase the full fabric pack directly from Oakshott here. I've also got a limited number of full kits for sale myself that include all fabric for front and binding of the runner and 6 placemats, the full colour printed pattern + die-cut cardstock circle templates for a great price of $125 Can shipping to North American addresses for $20 Cdn (or available for local pick from my front porch). Please contact me via my email address (upper left corner under my headshot) to claim one! ONLY FOUR AVAILABLE AS OF DECEMBER 4.

Beautiful Backgrounds

I know the internet has been nothing but sales and marketing the past week. I'm tired of the bombardment, too. But I just have to share this rare offer from Oakshott with you, then I'll be done with advertising for a while.  I'm busy with Christmas present making here (so I can't really share because surprises are nice) and prepping for my last day retreat of 2016 happening this Saturday.  Oh, and I got my QuiltCon entries in yesterday a full 28 hours before the deadline, yay me! Did you enter any of your quilts?

If you've got any interest in adding a je ne sais quoi depth & texture to a special quilt by combining a gorgeous background shot cotton with other coloured shots or vibrant prints (think Liberty!), then now is the time to stock up. Oakshott is offering 20% off on 3m purchases (with code BRUNSWICK) of the following background shot cottons: White Sand, Vintage Silver (a personal fav), White Marble, Carmargue, Charcoal and Black. I love that they used my cute Variegated Threads quilt in the flyer image - that quilt uses Vintage Silver and Charcoal as alternating backgrounds. Fabric kits to make your own Variegated Threads quilt, complete with pre-cut charm squares, are available on the Oakshott site here.

Chess on the Steps - Kits now Available!

Hey look, Chess on the Steps went to the Arctic! I have just returned from the most amazing 4 days in Inuvik, NWT. I'll blog all about the trip soon, but here's one of my photos with an honest to goodness igloo!

Now for the great news! I've had several requests from folks who are not Modern Guild Members looking to buy a pattern for my Chess on the Steps quilt. Unfortunately, I don't have individual patterns for sale, but the lovely people at Oakshott are offering a full kit of fabric AND the pattern in kit form!

Create your own unique version of this quilt using the same luscious shot cottons that I did. The beauty of my Improv Under the Influence piecing technique is that no two people using the exact same fabrics could create identical quilts. Every result is an individual, original creation!

Order your kit here!  If you fancy a different colourstory, Oakshott has many gorgeous 1/2 metre bundles that would do the trick. The Scandinavia collection would be divine as the alternate set to the same black, midnight blue, charcoal, vintage silver and cream colourway as in my quilt.  If you let them know you're purchasing for a Chess on the Steps quilt, they'll send you a copy of the pattern with your 1/2 metre collection!

Scandinavia 1/2 m block

Let me know if you create your own version - I'd love to see it!

Little Quilts Swap - My Very Own Cocktail Shakers!

Ooooooh!! Check it out, my gorgeous mini quilt was waiting here for me when we arrived home from Italy last Saturday (yes, we were in Italy! I tried posting remotely using my phone but it just wouldn't work - stay tuned for pics and stories coming soon).

I think it's so much fun that my secret (maker) partner made the same pattern for me as I made for my secret (recipient) partner!  Also, I didn't know Nedra prior to this swap, so thank you Amy and Sarah for introducing me to a new friend and fabulous quilter. 

Nedra did an amazing job of piecing this mini with lovely shot cottons, as in Amy's pattern. I love the colours and the variegated quilting thread. This little number is going to hang in my sewing room where I can enjoy it daily. Thank you so much Nedra!

I've still got the Shaken, Not Stirred runner here. I'm almost finished a little extra I wanted to include for my partner and then I can pop it in the mail!

Cosmic Connection

The whole Blog Universe is such an interesting place and an interesting community. Friendships via ethernet cable are every bit as meaningful and real as ones nurtured in person. I have made many, many friends through writing Poppyprint and reading blogs and flickr and now Instagram. When friends ask for help, or a favour, I try to oblige because I know the day will come when they'll happily return it.

Back in the fall I got lucky when two such requests came in almost simultaneously: a pattern test and a fabric test.  Tracey asked me if I would test her amazing new Cosmic pattern and Lynne asked if I would like to try Oakshott's new Lipari cottons (shot with black for a lux luminescence) and share the results on my blog.  I had been staring at the beautiful fat eight stack of Lipari's sent my way, wondering what to do with them when Tracey's request came in.

Lightbulb moment: a Lipari Cosmic block! Finding the right background fabric from my stash to surround that star was tricky. The Lipari's are so rich and vibrant, flat cotton solid would not do. Only this black tone on tone batik seemed up for the task.  You can see by the rotary cutter that this block is a behemoth, measuring about 28" square. This quilt design fits in perfectly with the popular craze of giant one-block quilts. Tracey's design was inspired by a vintage scarf and she worked up the pattern with EQ.

Now the quilting. I'm afraid my FMQing skills are rather rusty. I used to FMQ with abandon years ago, but I've been straight-lining it lately.  I just couldn't see laying down a bunch of straight lines of one colour thread all over this star. No, I was envisioning a more traditional, formal quilting treatment. In a continuation of sharing the blogland love and asking for help, I turned to fellow VMQG member and friend Janet. She is amazing at quilting feathers and that's what I wanted on this wallhanging. Lucky me, she agreed to do a trade and is now working her magic on my Cosmic star (and don't worry, I'm enrolled in an advanced FMQ workshop in two week's time to kick start my mojo and get back in the swing. I want to FMQ my current scrap quilt - it's the perfect pattern to hide a rusty quilter's work!).

Tracey's excellent instructions and templates made this a surprisingly quick make. Even though it looks potentially complicated, the star sews together without y-seams. Just standard piecing! Tracey  now has plexi-glass template sets available to help with cutting out and pre-trimming the triangular corners to make it even easier. I know that a full-size 88" quilt of this pattern is in my future (and I just ordered a set of templates to help with that. Bonus is that Tracey is working on a second pattern for the same templates!).  

Shame I don't have a massive piece of farm equipment for a photo shoot! 

This really gives you an idea of the scale of this quilt.

So there you have it, the Cosmic Connection that brought 4 bloggers together over one 28" square wallhanging. That's happy-making for me.

Disclosure: I'm not making money here people, but Oakshott supplied the fabric & Tracey supplied the block pattern. I bought the templates to support my friend because I think she's a fantastic quilt designer and her patterns are incredibly detailed and well-written.