November Musings and More

Fellow Quilters,

If you live in the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere like I do, November can be a dreary month.  The landscape is drab and gray, and the weather tends to be cold, windy and rainy (or snowy if it’s cold enough for that).  It’s a great month to quilt though.  It’s also a great time to work on my Christmas list.  Some years I have left it to the last minute – not recommended, just saying.  Typically I am travelling for much of November and December so I don’t have time to shop.  That’s when gift cards come in handy.  This year however my travel plans have been put on hold.  Not only do I have time to shop for gifts, I also have time to make gifts.  I love it!  What about you?  If you have some spare time I’ve got a great gift idea for you!  The roll-up tote in my Tote Bag Trio pattern makes the handiest shopping bag ever – it fits in your pocket and holds a ton of purchases.

PC249 Tote Bag Trio

I made some for my besties back in September and they LOVED them.  Batiks work best because the bag rolls up into a smaller tube.  You can find the pattern here.  And if you’re looking for a gift idea for your quilting peeps, I can recommend the E-Z Miter/Lone Star tool to help her/him achieve perfect mitered corners and lone star blocks/quilts every time.

The E-Z Miter/Lone Star tool for easy mitered borders every time – no kidding!

So here’s a splash of brightness for November.  My son’s girlfriend had a birthday recently and I whipped up a toiletry bag and matching jewelry roll from the not-even-in-stores-yet True Kisses by Heather Bailey for FIGO. So pretty!  So perfect for her! Thanks, Heather, for designing such a delightful trendy collection.  It will be in quilt shops in March.

I designed a couple patterns with True Kisses and I’m planning a quilt-along for one of them.  This will be my first quilt-along, starting in April, and the Hexie Crush quilt is ideal for it.

Join me in April for the Hexie Crush quilt-along

With 6 different blocks, we can do one block a week and have the quilt done in no time.

Here’s another splash of brightness.  My new pattern Splendid Split Stars is featured in a Northcott ad on the back cover of Quiltmaker’s November issue.

PC253 Splendid Split Stars featured on the back cover of Quiltmaker magazine

It is made with the Bliss collection.  This quilt is a riot of color!  Just for fun I also mocked it up in FIGO’s new Serenity collection, shipping to stores next month.

The FIGO Serenity version of Splendid Split Stars

It is fascinating how different a pattern can look by changing out the fabrics.  Which one do you prefer?  Splendid Split Stars includes instructions for 4 sizes and is now available in my shop.

I’ve added another pattern to my shop as well.  Journey features Northcott’s ethereal Journey collection.

My Journey quilt featuring Melanie Samra’s Journey collection

Designer Melanie Samra has added her special touch to the collection with the alcohol ink technique applied to many of the beautifully rendered designs and rich textures.  I showcased the “world” panel in my quilt design and added various elements in a variety of techniques from applique to paper-piecing – there’s a bit of everything.

The new PC257 Journey pattern includes 3 sizes

The pattern includes 3 sizes from lap through twin/double.  Even though travel plans have been put on hold, we can travel vicariously though this quilt and fabric collection.  As the quilt says, life is a journey, so enjoy each day of the trip.

I also want to share a lap quilt that is featured in the November/December issue of Love of Quilting magazine.

Wrapped in Ribbons from the November/December issue of Love of Quilting magazine

Wrapped in Ribbons features Northcott’s “12 Days of Christmas” collection, with the panel used in the center of the quilt.  I design all my quilts in Electric Quilt, the quilt design software program.  I know exactly what my quilt will look like before I cut into my fabric.  When I’m working with very limited quantities of fabric, I want to ensure that I don’t need to redesign and recut anything.  This design tested my computer designing skills – I knew how I wanted to construct the quilt but it took me some time to figure out how to draft it.  Sometimes this drafting process results in a better construction process.  I had so many quilters email me asking for kits that I decided to offer some for sale.  I sold out within days!  Apparently Christmas fabric is selling out in quilt shops everywhere, as quilters spend more time in their sewing rooms this year.  You can use the super-handy Product Finder on Northcott’s website to find a shop that purchased these fabrics if you’re interested in whipping one up for Christmas. Wrapped in Ribbons is going to look perfect on my burgundy sofa this holiday season.

I have an extra copy of the November/December Love of Quilting issue and I’m going to give it away to one lucky reader.  For a chance to win this copy, please leave a comment below telling me what quilt-related gift is on your wish list this holiday season.  The deadline is November 27.

Speaking of winners, I have a few winners to announce from previous blog posts.  Lori S won a $60 gift certificate for the Patti’s Patchwork online shop as part of the Garden Party Row-along blog hop way back in September.  Caroline R, Jennifer M and Sandra C each won a Seven Treasures Sashiko mini kit from my September 10 blog post.  I still have a handful of kits available for this delightful quilt.

The oh-so-pretty Seven Treasures lap quilt featured in September Love of Quilting

The kits even contain the specialty thread to stitch out the Sashiko designs.

The Seven Treasures kit includes everything for the lap quilt top including sashiko thread

It was so much fun reading all the quilty guilty pleasures of my readers – thanks for making my day!  And lastly, Brenda will receive a copy of my Vail pattern for commenting on my November 3 Quilt Block Mania blog hop post.  Congrats to all the winners!

What’s up next?  I am thrilled to be teaching at Road to California’s virtual conference & showcase January 20-23!  If you’ve never been to Road to California, it’s one of the best shows around, ranking right up there with Quilt Festival and AQS Paducah.  I had the pleasure of manning the Northcott booth a few years ago and was so impressed with this show!  If you’ve been lucky enough to attend, you know what I’m talking about.  Good news!  Due to covid, the team at Road has taken the conference virtual.  There are so many benefits to this – no airfare required, no hotel reservations required, no hauling your travel machine and supplies across the state/country, sleeping in your own bed, participating from your own sewing room with your regular machine and equipment, and so much more.  The classes and lectures will be done through Zoom, a terrific platform for them.  If you haven’t had a chance to take a quilting class through Zoom, rest assured they are fun and interactive.  My local guild had a Zoom workshop a few weeks ago and I felt like I was in the room with everyone else.  It was great!  I will be teaching 3 of my favorite 3-hour classes:  Intro to Improv(isational piecing), Finishing Touches (3 different machine binding techniques), and Skill-building Sampler (tons of tips while we piece a table runner).

I’m teaching three 1/2-day workshops at Road@Home January 20-23

I’m also presenting my Interesting Quilts from Unusual Fabrics virtual trunk show.  I love the fact that I can do this virtually – everyone has a front-row seat and can see the quilts up-close!  You can find all the class details here – simply enter “Patti Carey” in the search box.  I hope to see you in class 😊.

On November 25 at 3pm EST Linda Hahn and Deb Stanley host the final Sew What! Zoomcast of 2020.  This free 1-hour show introduces quilters to special guests in the quilting industry and it’s a lot of fun.  I was the guest speaker back in August, and I will be dropping in on November 25 to say hi.  Please visit my Facebook page or main page of Patti’s Patchwork a day or so prior to the show to get the Zoom link, and don’t forget to have a “beverage” in hand for the show.

Well, that’s it for now.  Time to get some quilting therapy.

Cheers,

Patti

Tags: Bliss, FIGO Serenity, Heather Bailey, Journey, Road to California, Road@Home, Seven Treasures quilt, Splendid Split Stars, Tote Bag Trio, True Kisses, Wrapped in Ribbons