"Swoon" + Moda's Daydream = Dwoon!

What comes first when you start a new project: the pattern or the fabric?

I've fallen deeply and hopelessly in love with Swoon by Thimble Blossoms, a quilt with a modern take on the classic Carpenter's Star/Dutch Rose quilt block. (UPDATE: It's now available here!) Though I often fall in love with quilts that are a little above my skill level, Swoon is deceptively easy—the hardest parts are half-square triangles and flying geese which I'll be making with Creative Grid's two-in-one half-square/quarter-square triangle ruler to save fabric and take away any sewing "guesswork". (Learn how to make more accurate HSTs and QSTs here!)

Coincidentally, around the same time I started following the Swoon-along's hashtag on Instagram, #swoonalong, one of our new arrivals at The Quilt Patch—Moda's fantastical Daydream by Kate Spain—caught my eye.

Spain's trademark palette of rich and vibrant colors brings her fantasy-filled doodles and drawings to life on fabric; playing perfectly with one another in any combination.

So, in a moment of temporary insanity, I offered to make my first-ever shop sample! (You can follow my progress on Instagram.) Since Swoon is fat-quarter friendly, 18-piece FQ bundles of Daydream are available in-shop and will be online soon. As for the pattern, it's on backorder, but will be available by next week.

Now, I'm going to be better at posting more frequently, but blogging seems to be the thing on my ever-growing to-do list that's always pushed back. (._.) However, in between blog posts, you'll find me on Instagram, posting in-progress shots of my projects, photos of new fabric arrivals, and pictures of E. Follow me on Instagram!

After I finish my Daydream-filled Swoon (nicknamed Dwoon since I can't say it aloud without giggling), I'll be starting something called the The Sibling Project. What's that, you ask? For the time being, I'm gonna be mysterious and fill you in on that a little bit later. ;)

Saturday Sampler 2014

By the end of the year, I will have finished two quilts (though neither are entirely pieced yet), so I'm already looking on the lookout for new projects and patterns. Since I'm so busy taking care of E (who's now almost eleven months old!) and working, having two big projects dominate my design wall, sewing table, desk, and all other surfaces in our study is making me a bit crazed. Plus, it seems like I'm rescuing cut fabric from E's drool-drenched hands every time I hop off my treadmill desk!

To solve the fabric-clutter issue, I'm thinking about making one of our Saturday Sampler 2014 quilts. Since I only receive the fabric for one block every month, small, colorful piles of neatly folded fabric (read: baby magnet) will be kept to a minimum or at least have a spot somewhere out of reach. Now I just have to decide which one to make! Which one is your favorite?

If you haven't participated before, here's how it works: our Saturday Sampler (SS) is a unique twist on a Block of the Month program. First, you choose one of four quilts (each in a different colorway or theme), purchase the pattern, and pay $5 for your first block. If you bring both your SS punch card and the previous month's finished block to us on one of three designated days (the second Saturday of the month and the following Monday and Tuesday), you get your next block for FREE. On the occasion that life gets in the way and your block isn't finished in time or you can't drop in on one of the SS days, that month's block is $5. More often than not, QPers make an entire quilt for just $5 or $10 plus the optional finishing kits!

Only one block per quilter can be free each month, so those who choose to do two, three, or all four quilts pay $5 per month for those quilts' blocks (regardless if their sewn or not). It's an extremely economical way to make a quilt and it's tough to resist the four very different colorways and patterns Kathy and Mary handpicked. Learn more about each design in the Facebook album I'll be adding each month's blocks to all year or scroll down for a preview.

Ella Mae's Sampler  (78''-x-78'') 

Style: Brights | First Block: $5 | Pattern: $7.99

Abigail's Sampler  (50''-x-60'')

Style: Country | First Block: $5 | Pattern: $11.99

Autumn Jewels  (84''-x-84'')

Style: Christmas | First Block: $5 | Pattern: $19.99 

Paris in the Fall  (66''-x-86'')

Style: Black, White & Red | First Block: $5 | Pattern: $22.99

Sign up starts today, Wednesday, November 20th, but not all of the patterns will be in-stock until tomorrow, Thursday, November 21st. Call the shop at (517) 423-0053 or drop in to sign up. 

Busy Blocks: Choosing Fabric

Choosing a pattern for my first project wasn't the easiest task. Along with a couple simple quilt patterns (like the classic beginner's quilt Rail Fence), Kathy ordered the book Modern Baby for me to peruse. Of the fourteen patterns, I fell in love with, umm, most all of 'em. Designed by a bunch of different pattern designers and bloggers, the quilts are all pretty modern, fresh takes on classic quilt blocks. What really got me was that all of the quilts are small so it's not "too much" for my first project. I mean, I can't imagine I'm going to have "quilter's regret" or "quilting fatigue" on my first go-round, but why chance it, right?

I'm lovin' the whimsy of the cover quilt, Bubbles, by Dana Bolyard.

Some of the quilts would be a little challenging for a newbie, but Kathy okayed one of my faves, the very first pattern in the book, Busy Blocks. Shea Henderson's simple (but sooo not boring) design caught my eye immediately, so I was giddy when it became a contender.

Photo Credit: Checker Distributors

Since it's nothing but squares and half-square triangles, I'll only have to worry about using two rulers—Kathy's go-to quilting ruler, Creative Grids USA's 6-1/2''-by-18-1/2'', and their quarter-square/half-square triangle ruler, Multi-Size 45 Degree/90 Degree Triangle Ruler.

Now, compared to choosing fabric, picking a pattern was cake. I meandered around The QP, pulling bolt after bolt until I had three or four different colorways piled chaotically on one of the cutting tables. One hour and one bored baby later, I had zip, zero, notta.

Eddie resorted to playing with a (well-attached!) stray thread on a dino-filled sample while I buzzed around the lower floor.

Having seen quilters in my predicament time and time again, Kathy suggested I pick out just one fabric. Starting in the purples (since I love me some eggplant), I pulled a violet dot by Robert Kaufman.  Along with the idea to have four main colors instead of two, a teal Michael Miller joined up and snowballed the rest of the color-picking process.

I ended up with cantaloupe orange, bright red, teal and violet as the primary colors (for the main parts of the "hexagons"). Choosing the fabric for the inner squares was easy and, to tell you the truth, a bit of a relief. The QP has over 7,000 bolts of fabric and it's a bit overwhelming (for a newbie, at least) to pick just 8 prints. I questioned my choices nearly the whole time with questions like What if this isn't the right shade of teal?, What if I change my mind after I cut it up?, What about turquoise?, and Is this teal-y enough?

The secondary fabrics that make up the inner blocks won't touch any of the other secondaries.

Kathy helped keep the (crazy) second-guessing voices at bay long enough for me to cut the yardage I need. By the time I was done rotary cutting and the fabric was neatly folded, I was (and still am!) loving my fabric choices . . . and only slightly rethinking the big red-and-white stripe.

When you pick fabric for a quilt, do you typically bring a friend for a moral support/a second opinion/a shoulder to cry on?