Fellow Quilters,
September is quickly turning into a very busy month for me. A few happenings that I wanted to do or blog about last month were delayed due to an unscheduled blip in my daily life. I’m getting back on track now and putting my nose to the grind to move most of my To Do list to my Done list. It feels so good to scratch items off the To Do list, doesn’t it?
First up is my Seven Treasures quilt featured in the current (September/October) issue of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine.
Isn’t she a beauty? When the call for submissions came out for this issue, the theme was quilting techniques from around the world. Since I have a weakness for sashiko hand-stitching (it is my quilty guilty pleasure) I pondered how I could incorporate it into a quilt. I perused Northcott’s current fabric collections and found the perfect one – the freshly-colored whimsical Forest Frolic had an interlocking circles print replicating the Seven Treasures sashiko stitch.
I downloaded the fabric images into my Electric Quilt EQ8 program and came up with a contemporary quilt design that uses the smaller coordinating prints from the collection in melon-shaped appliques to also replicate the Seven Treasures interlocking circles motif. My challenge was adding the planned sashiko stitching to the quilt image before submitting it to the editor. I design pretty much every quilt I do in EQ8 (it’s sooo easy and foolproof) however I usually don’t utilize Layer 3 where the quilting motifs are added. I quickly learned how to do this following the provided tutorials, even changing the weight and color of my thread to mimic the gorgeous Wonderfil Eleganza thread that I used. I was super-thrilled with my resulting EQ8 quilt image – it looks just like the finished quilt, minus the quilting.
I even printed off the Layer 3 sashiko “quilting” design to transfer the motif onto my fabric for the actual stitching. The Eleganza 5-wt and 8-wt thread was a perfect match. It is variegated to coordinate with the various shades of peach in the fabrics.
I was able to secure enough fabric for 15 kits that include a teal background from Northcott’s Shimmer Radiance (oooh, ahhh!) and the striped binding fabric. If you’re interested in purchasing one please pop me an email (patti.pattispatchwork@gmail.com) – they are US$55/Cdn$73 including shipping within North America. You’ll need to purchase a copy of the September/October issue of Love of Quilting for the pattern.
I also had some scraps left over , enough to make 3 mini-kits of the interlocking circles section and the applique pieces (you’ll need to provide your own teal background and binding).
For a chance to win one of these mini-kits please leave a comment below by midnight September 18 telling my what your quilty guilty pleasure is – what quilty technique do you absolutely love to do? As always, I look forward to reading your comments!
Also happening this month is the Garden Party Row-along organized by Marian of Seams to be Sew (thanks Marian!). I have participated in this lively event for several years, missing only one or 2. It started September 8 and runs until early October, with posts every Tuesday and Thursday, and lots of giveaways not to mention the free pattern from each participating designer. Here are the first 2 weeks of bloggers:
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Blue Heron Quilting
Carolyn Butterfield
Made By Marney
Pumpkin Patch BC
The Devoted Quilter
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Bobbin In Quilts Blog
Kissed Quilts
Patchwork Breeze
Songbird Designs/Brenda’s Blog
Stitchin’ at Home
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Daughters of Dorinda
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Just Let Me Quilt
Lovingly Lissa
The Quilt Rambler
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Fabric Bash/Carpe Blogum
For the Love of Geese
Kathleen McMusing
Ms P Designs USA
QuilterChic
I will be posting about my free row later this month so stay tuned and please visit the other designers’ blogs to get their patterns.
Well, back to my quilting – I have 4 more quilts to make this month and 2 more to design (here’s a sneak peak at the one I finished last night).
Cheers,
Patti
pattispatchwork-blog.com 
Building up my stash !
Hilarious! You’re in good company.
My quilty guilty pleasure is appliqueing my wall hangings. My collection is growing.
Love your new design, Patti.
Beautiful quilt! Guilty of increasing fabric stash and piecing tops with bold fabrics and colors.
I love cutting & piecing
Beautiful prints. Thanks Patti. I love the whole process, but really enjoy piecing the blocks together
I love to hand quilt and needle turn appliqué, they are a labour of love. 💗
I add a bit of applique to every quilt, most of the time on the back with the label, but depending on the theme, on the front as well. I also like to do the Disappearing 9 patch quilts. Fast way to do a more complicated patch, and several variations. My go to when I need something quick, I grab those charm square packs we just can’t resist, (that stash business!) and a solid and go to it. Thanks for the inspiration! Love sashiko, learned from a Japanese teacher when we were stationed there in the 80’s (I thought they were cathedral window blocks when I first saw yours!)
Quilty pleasure….. making birthday blocks and gifts for quilting friends. I like to take my time and excel on these projects going to other quilters. If I’m going to do a good job, it had better be here. LOL
Anything by hand for me! Sashiko, English Paper Piecing, embroidery, wool applique, heck – even binding!
I recently tried Sashiko and I love it. The covid pause gave me the nudge I needed to try it because I was using what I had on hand and my small project called out for it.
I love it Patti! I really enjoy sashiko although I usually use the cheater panels with the preprinted stitching 🙂 I also love doing improv piecing.
I love giving away my quilts and starting something new! I love the process and rarely keep any that I’ve made. For techniques, I love anything using jelly rolls.
Hi Patti. Your quilt is beautiful. I love the Sashiko stitching and am gearing up to try it. My quilty pleasure is still piecing blocks and doing pattern tests for my favourite designers. I am becoming intrigued with appliqué work and love pp. in other words I’m addicted to quilting! 😉
Hi Patti. You never cease to amaze me. Your quilt is beautiful. The fabrics are so fresh!. I love machine quilting but sashiko is something that I would love to try. I guess I should look for a book or on line instructions.
WOW! That is very beautiful and fun!! Great work at getting back on track – wishing you more strikes on your To-Do List!
I absolutely love applique and embroidery. Your quilt is so beautiful!
Hi Patti, Your quilt is lovely. I love all the steps of quilt making but my guilty pleasure is the actual quilting. Whether it be cross hatch on a domestic, using my mid arm and my very favorite hand quilting. I think I would love sashiko.
Your quilt is beautiful and I love the Sashiko stitching on it. What a great idea! I love every aspect of quilting, but the one that I love the most is hand stitching the binding down. I know that most people sew it down by machine, but I love to sit and relax and sew it knowing that it is the last step in the completion of the quilt. Thanks!
Stunning quilt Patti, perfect quilting…as always. I love the whole quilting process but always enjoy piecing the blocks and quilting using a combination of machine and a touch big stitch for embellishment.
My quilty pleasure—hand sewing; especially EPP and binding. Seven Treasures is a wonderful design with its Sashiko. Thank you for sharing. I will be on the lookout for this magazine.
I love the quilt. My favorite part of making a quilt is the quilting. I love cross hatch n a domestic, using my mid arm and especially hand quilting. I need to try the sashiko stitching.
My quilty pleasure is paper piecing by machine. I LOVE the precision it allows and that it works for both traditional and modern patterns. I think I’ve become obsessed with the process (I have 4 paper-pieced quilts in progress right now. Yikes!)
Whenever I see a block I like… as much as possible I make a sample.. so that I am building up a collection of individual blocks. I get an immediate feeling of satisfaction and of accomplishment!
Paper piecing is my favorite, there are so many cool things that can be made that way!