Fellow Quilters,

Once again I have been invited to participate in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks blog tour, this time to celebrate the release of Volume 8.  As usual, I had lots of fun scanning the issue for blocks that used Northcott fabrics or were designed by quilters who publish patterns in partnership with Northcott.  This time around I found 6 blocks – #721 Pin-whirl by editor-in-chief June Dudley (she used Serenity by Cheri Strole), #733 A Night Out by creative editor Carolyn Beam (she used assorted Northcott fabrics), #742 Walk About by Chris Hoover of Whirligig, #761 Formation by new Northcott pattern designer Shayla Wolf of Sassafras Lane, #794 Orion by Celine Perkins of Perkins Dry Goods, & #800 On the Grid by Jocelyn Ueng of It’s Sew Emma.  I chose 4 of the blocks to play with this time, redoing them in Northcott’s Stratford Park collection of tonal textures.  Let’s take a look at the blocks!

June’s Pin-whirl block

Jocelyn’s On the Grid block

Celine’s Orion block

Chris’ Walk About block

Stratford Park is a collection of 6 tonal prints (pindot, ticking stripe, vine, floral, Jacobean, embroidered eyelet) in 6 color palettes: white, pearl, ivory, fawn, chocolate and ebony.  My favorite fabric in the collection is the embroidered eyelet, and I have used it in 4 quilts that I have made so far with Stratford Park.  It adds so much interest to the quilts, and quilts beautifully.

I tried combining some of the blocks in various quilt layouts, but not all of the blocks wanted to play nicely with the others – this happens sometimes.  So I made some digital quilts showcasing each block on its own.  What surprised me were the secondary patterns that were created in each quilt.  Aren’t the quilts interesting?

#5 – Jocelyn’s & Celine’s blocks as a quilt

#2 – Chris’ block as a quilt

#1 – June’s block as a quilt

#3 Lots of Celine’s blocks with some of Chris’ blocks

#4 – Jocelyn’s block as a quilt

I am giving away a copy of this fabulous issue of Quiltmakers 100 Blocks.  For a chance to win, please post a comment by November 18^th telling me which quilt you like the best.  If you’ve participated in previous blog tours, you know that I also include a couple more giveaways, so I will also give away a couple of fabric packs of Stratford Park.  And please visit the other blogs on this tour (http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/)  to see what the other quilters are sharing with you.  Next week I will post some pictures of my Stratford Park quilts, so please come back for a visit.  Until then, enjoy the tour!

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

The mayhem of October and Quilt Market preparations is over, and I am settling into the mountain of paperwork that has taken over my desk.  Fellow Northcott staffer Hania, who likes a minimal amount of clutter, shakes her head when she sees my desk.  I am one of those people who functions nicely in a controlled amount of clutter – I have a lot of stuff on my desk, but I know where to find whatever I’m looking for.  I think that creative people need a certain amount of clutter.  How about you?  Is your sewing space spotless, or do you have to push piles aside to cut a fat quarter into pieces?

I have lots of loose ends to tie up, and several new ones to show you.  Last month, being October, I teased you with a couple of fat quarter packs of Sweet Jane, our latest Quest for a Cure collection supporting breast cancer research.  There were some wonderful comments posted – thank you to all of you!  It seems that a lot of us have very supportive spouses/partners, followed closely by friends, sisters and children.  I randomly chose 2 comments – congrats to Jane Ritz & Kathleen Lambert.

In my August post for 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge I also had a giveaway, and Bonnie Pfrimmer, Sheila and Myra were the winners of packets of Noah’s Jungle fabrics.  During my August road trip through Alberta, Canada I presented trunk shows in which I inspired the attendees to use panels in their quilts for simply stunning quilts.  Since Noah’s Jungle has 2 panels, these lucky quilters will receive them in their packets.  How fun!

Another quilt that uses panel-type fabric (it is actually running yardage of 8” blocks) is my Frosty’s Mittens quilt, featured on the cover of Quilting for Christmas, the annual holiday issue of The Quilter magazine.
Needless to say, I was delighted when I saw my quilt gracing the front cover!!  It uses the Holly Jolly Christmas flannels for a super easy, super comfy lap quilt.

Northcott has recently added a free downloadable pattern for Solar System to the website. 

This easy wall quilt features the Stonehenge Out of this World collection, and several of the fabrics glow in the dark.  We even added twinkling lights to it.  How cool is that?!? The Solar System wall quilt uses the panel in the center, and has 2 simple borders.  I taught this class at Quilt Market – it is an abbreviated version of my favorite new class on Borders and Binding, in which I teach participants 6 different border techniques, along with our speedy machine binding that looks as good as hand-binding.  I really love this class because it empowers quilters – they learn how to fearlessly apply mitered borders to their quilts, among other things.  The students pre-cut the mitered borders before they apply them to the quilt.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, but trust me when I say that it works!  I was delighted when the Quilt Camp at Sea organizers asked me to teach this class on their upcoming Panama cruise next April 7-18^th.  The students will start with a panel as their “quilt”, and then add lots of borders as they fill their “technique” toolbox with these new-found skills.

The other class that I am teaching is my Simplified Double Wedding Ring, and this one is almost full.  Kathy, Pat and the QCAS gang do an amazing job of co-ordinating everything, including providing sewing machines.  It is like going on a retreat on a luxury floating resort.  I am really looking forward to several of the ports of call, including Aruba, Curacao, Cartagena, Costa Rica, and of course the Panama Canal!  I will be ready for some fun in the sun by April, and look forward to seeing some of my quilting “buds” from previous cruises, as well as making some new friends.  If you are interested in joining me, please visit www.quiltcampatsea.com.  It will be a blast!

I’d like to send a shout-out to 2 guilds that I visited this week – Dunville’s Own Tiny Stitchers, and the Erin Village quilt guild.  Tomorrow I am presenting at the Prince Edward County guild in Picton, ON.  I am also participating in a blog tour for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 8.  As in previous blog tours, I am giving away a copy of the magazine, and a couple of fabric bundles, so please come back tomorrow for a visit, or even better, subscribe to my blog.  And have fun visiting all of the other sites on the blog tour.

Cheers,

Patti