Easter Blessings 2017

Each year I like to release an Easter Project and this year it's Easter Blessings

A bouquet of parrot tulips, a mischievous bunny and plenty of charm—it must be Easter. I just love this abundant basket of bulbs and it's admiring hopper in the tradition landscape layout (above) but I also know that there'll be those of you who have a perfect spot that would suit a portrait design rather than the original landscape option, so I've made another version. In face, this project offers you three styles: the original landscape layout, a portrait option and an Easter Egg bonus for all those chocoholics out there who want to celebrate the fun of garden treasure hunts along with bunny and bunting to boot! Speaking of bunny, this little fellow is too sweet to kick out of my garden patch, with his twitching ears and possessive taste in tulips, he’s the star of the show.

The finished size is 32 x 24 inches which is a perfect golden ratio number whether you opt for the landscape or portrait layout. With the 2 inch border, you have multiple options. The pattern shows a layout consisting of 2 x 2 inch border blocks which when turned, create an egg shape. However if piecing these 2 inch blocks doesn’t appeal, simply add your 2 inch border and applique the egg shapes into position or leave the egg shapes out completely and replace those motifs with an interesting fabric print. It’s up to you! Which will you choose?!

 

It's a real honor for me to keep up this free Easter Project tradition. When I started out in quilting, I wanted to connect with other people who were passionate about the art of creating and who wanted to be part of a 'creative bubble' with me. A place where we could create and inspire and dream- all in fabric. I didn't know then that this creative hub would indeed happen, but that it would happen unexpectedly and online of all places. But it did and I'm so grateful that it turned out that way.

Another thing I didn't expect was that the Group would attract the most perfect people to it - our Moderators - who, as well as being skilled and committed were also prepared to volunteer their time for free - just to help others get what they needed in order to get on with creating. What an unexpected surprise it is when I look back on how all these events turned out. What a blessing!

This Easter is a reminder to me that life goes on and what time we have is both precious and fleeting. This time last year, I was completely oblivious to the fact that my mother was about to die. In the time since, I've thought a lot about what a blessing it is to have life and to be in a position to share life's passions with others. I do indeed believe in Easter and in the power and beauty of acknowledging that blessings abound. 

It's an honor for me to share my Easter Blessings with you this year 

 I hope that you'll love it as much as I do!

Be sure to come back as I'll be showing you how I made my own Easter Blessings in a tutorial post tomorrow. You know how much I love seeing your work, so be sure to join my BOM Group and share your own thoughts and ideas as you make your block.

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: A Lovely Beesting

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

When is a bee sting lovely? When it's a cake slice .. delicious :)

Today I'm in a Springtime kind of mood. I've just finished the pattern for my free Easter Project which will be released on Friday, (be sure to come back and download this lovely project, it's a real gem) and now I'm preparing a plate to take to my end of term sewing class. I've been volunteer teaching a group of young ladies to sew (general sewing, not quilting) and it's been great fun. Today, we're finishing up after a successful 10 weeks of sewing essentials and it's a perfect excuse for some slices, pastries and biscuits during morning tea.

As you can see, I'm cheating. I didn't actually bake this bee sting slice, I bought it - along with some other lovely morsels to make up a 'plate' to take in with me. I'm afraid that I am mostly beyond baking sweet things. I just can't be bothered and shop bought tastes and looks so much better. I probably shouldn't admit that, but it's true. Nowadays, my DDs bake all the celebration cakes in our household and they are much better than shop bought in those instances. But when it comes to slices and morning teas, I have no knack for homemade cupcakes, macaroons or things with custard and cream.

My talents are better spent with fabric creations. And speaking of fabric creations, I can't wait to share the 2017 Easter Project with you. See you on Friday!

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Garden: Colouring In Block 2

Last week I showed you how I made my bluebells. Well, I've accepted that they're bluebells, I like to keep it ambiguous - they can be whatever you envision them to be. So, after making up my bluebells I started rethinking my yellow print stems. I felt they took away all focus from the beige toned leaves. Then I thought it was actually the leaves that required enhancing. I couldn't decide how to balance out the block.

So I took out my coloured pencils and crayons to play around with my block and get things more how I 'see' them in my mind. I love colouring over fabric prints with coloured pencils and water soluble crayons. Once you heat seat these quality pigments, they're permanent so there's no need to worry. And, the little touches you make can really impact a big difference. Usually I highlight areas of an applique block with a tiny amount of white, yellow or block matching colour to make certain areas stand out more than others - but this time I'm creating a gentle wash to change the tone of an existing print.

This is my usual colouring in work for applique blocks - a simple enhancing of the existing colour - in this case blue with some added highlight in white to give my flat fabric some dimension. I think the Prisma pencils work best for this.

It just adds some overall subtle visual movement

For the gentle tone wash, I move over to my favourite crayons. They're Caran D'Ache which is the gold standard in pencils, crayons and colouring in pigments. These are water soluble crayons and like the Prisma pencils, they are permanent once heat set. They are pricey - this set cost me AU$160, but they last for years. I've had this set for several years now and I've no doubt I won't exhaust it for a few more years yet.

Being water soluble, I can mix a small amount of pigment with some water and use this to 'paint' with

This is my 'before'

and this is my after

It's a small change which blends in the stark print which was glaring at me.

And that's it for now. It's time for me to get on with making Part 3 so you can actually see what I've done by the time it gets released April 1st. 

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

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Welcome to this wonderful Mystery BOM 

This very special applique Mystery BOM has launched!

Will you join me on this adventure?

The journey started February 1st, 2017

You can join right now

Digital pattern downloads are instant!

The BOM runs for 12 months

The pattern will be emailed to you directly each month

The finished quilt size is 80 x 80 inches

WOW: Diamond Hill: Part 3 is Launched

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

Can you even believe Diamond Hill has reached Part 3 already? WOW! 2017 is just flying by. Each month I get to enjoy seeing how everyone is making up their own Diamond Hill over in my BOM Group and it's wonderful to see so many members sharing their progress pics. I hope I'll be able to share some of those here on the blog just as soon as they're made. They're gorgeous!

I'm really enjoying seeing what backgrounds you've chosen and what fabrics have captured your imagination. There are so many different fabric ranges coming out all the time, it's a real treat to see them in action.

This is my BOM Quilt Group over on Facebook. It's where you can connect with other quilters making any of my quilts or projects. You can also download all current and previous Diamond Hill blocks from the 'FILES' area. It's basically the best online quilting club in the world. For those of you who are not in my BOM Group but who are making Diamond Hill, here's your monthly link: simply click the Diamond Hill badge above to start downloading now:

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Garden: Thread Picking

My Secret Garden block is coming along, but the tones in this block mean that my leaves need some help. Because of the blue, they are now completely lost into the background. Because the background is such a soft green, it mostly doesn't photograph correctly, colour wise. It is much softer in real life and the green background is lighter than it looks here.

 I'm really tempted by a strong yellow, but I think it might be too bright

 So I'm just playing around. There's so much scope for embellishing and working and adding all these kinds of details to the Secret Garden blocks, I'm just playing around and enjoying the moment..

 How is your Secret Garden coming along?

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to this wonderful Mystery BOM 

This very special applique Mystery BOM has launched!

Will you join me on this adventure?

The journey started February 1st, 2017

You can join right now

Digital pattern downloads are instant!

The BOM runs for 12 months

The pattern will be emailed to you directly each month

The finished quilt size is 80 x 80 inches