Thankful Quilting Collection (Sneak Peek!)

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Hi everyone!

I’m back home after Quilt Market and Festival and, in addition to drawing fabric for next year, the holiday season is in full swing!  How did that happen?  I swear only two weeks ago it was July…  Does anyone else feel this way?

I thought that, given the time of year, it would be a great time to give you a sneak peek of what is coming NEXT year – my Thankful line for Contempo of Benartex.  A modern autumn-themed line to fill what I think is a hole in the industry. Are you with me?  If you love it please do me a huge favor and ask your local shop to place an order… I really want to prove that there is a market for traditionally themed prints but with a modern edge!

The Thankful portion of my booth at Quilt Market. (I’ll share the Christmas pieces and collection you can see a peek of on the far left another day.)
Some Thankful prints…

There are always so many traditional autumn-themed prints but very little in the more modern direction, so I made a case to Benartex that there was a market for a fall-themed line that coordinated effortlessly with one’s home. I am so excited about this line and can’t wait to see what you all make!

There are 18 SKUs in this collection, plus a panel with infinite project possibilities!

The Thankful panel

I used my favorite print print from the collection on the back of this pillow…

Only a quilter would show the back first, right?  So now for the front…  This new pattern is called, “Plenty”.

A detail from the pillow from my “Plenty” pattern. (Starring Thankful paired with Aurifil thread!)

Plenty is super easy as perfect placement is not required, and it can be finished into a pillow, table runner, or bed runner!  And it will come with a download code for SVG files for those of you out there who have digital fabric cutters.

The bed runner and pillow from “Plenty”.

The runner graces the cover of the pattern.

But, if you are more of a piecer, you might really enjoy my new Autumn Leaves pattern.   I’m excited about this one.  It is quick and super fun to piece.  There is a light version too that I’ll show you when the pattern ships.

Did I mention it is fat-quarter friendly?

 

Autumn Leaves was quilted with my new pantograph from my Pumpkin Quilting Collection LA80208 from OESD. It is digitized for both domestic embroidery machines and longarms.

 

Look at these lovely casserole carriers that By Annie made for me featuring the Thankful fabric… I love them!  (For those of you who haven’t tried Annie’s patterns, they are SO great.  Even a bag-novice like me can figure them out!)

Annie’s casserole carriers at Market. And did I mention there is a coordinating Thankful OESD embroidery collection? You can see some of it on the towels peeking out from underneath…
A casserole and pie carrier in Thankful by ByAnnie.com

The Plenty and Autumn Leaves patterns will come out late this year and the fabric will ship in March/April, so there is plenty of time to do projects for next year’s holidays!  If you want to be the very first to hear when the patterns ship, please join my Facebook Group, Quilting with Amanda Murphy.

Good Measure Rulers in the final packaging

Speaking of shipping, some of you have written to me about my Brewer Rulers.  They are expecting that shipment over at Brewer literally any day now.  It took a little longer than expected to get the packaging but as soon as the warehouse receives it I’ll post in my Facebook Group so dealers are aware and place orders. (BU orders will automatically ship.)

Good Measure Rulers – with lots of markings and a non-skid backing!

Oh – and one more thing. Benartex is kitting the quilts from my Diamond, Ruby, And Platinum Jubilee patterns, so if you are interested you can ask your local shop to order even if they don’t carry yardage!

Clockwise from the top right, Diamond, Ruby, and Platinum Jubilee, now available as kits through your shop from Benartex!

So thanks for letting me share Thankful. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support that keeps me and others like me designing for this industry.  Have a lovely Thanksgiving and happy quilting!

Amanda

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Introducing Free-Motion Fantasy!

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Happy summer everyone! It has been awhile since I’ve posted and I have some excited new things that I wanted to share – including my Free-Motion Fantasy line for Contempo of Benartex and patterns that debuted at Spring Quilt Market just a few weeks ago. 

Free-Motion Fantasy at Spring 2018 Quilt Market!

Of course, all of these pieces were pieced on the BERNINA 7 Series and quilted on the amazing BERNINA Q24. Even though I’m hard at work on some BERNINA University projects (that have me so excited I can barely breath), I’ve been wanting to share my new work with you and hope that you love it and that it will help you learn to free-motion quilt! 

Some of you might remember that awhile back I did some quilting panels for BERNINA where you could follow the lines to quilt some common free-motion motifs.  Well, in my Free-Motion Fantasy line I’ve expanded upon that concept to present an entire line of free-motion prints.  The feature print comes in four color stories that are inspired by the seasons and features feathers, swirls, cross-hatching, leaves – you name it!

Free-Motion Fantasy feature prints

Then there is a supporting cast of a rainbow of prints in a full spectrum of colors, enabling you to create a unique palette no matter what feature print catches your fancy.  All of these prints are inspired by free-motion motifs that I like to use, so they are great for practicing shapes commonly used when quilting.

There are also four shades of grey in the collection to serve as a backdrop for these exuberant hues.

The fabric can be ordered by shops from Contempo of Benartex now and will ship in July/August. 

I’ve developed four patterns to go with this collection. (They are beautifully printed – the printer really outdid themselves this time!)  And guess what?  They are ready to ship NOW!

First up is Make It 8.  This is a really simple two block design that is perfect for showcasing a feature print.  It uses 8 fat quarters (hence the name) plus a little bit of accent fabric and of course a background.  I designed it in four color stories.  The first is autumn, which is shown on the front of the pattern.

Shown on the cover: Make It 8 in Autumn

Spring is shown on the inside – the colors are just so clear and vivid.  I wish you could see it in  person! Benartex/Contempo did an excellent job with the printing.

Make it 8 in Spring

I designed two more color stories for the other feature prints.  I didn’t make samples of them but the SKU information for all is included in the pattern.

Make It 8 in Winter
Make It 8 in Summer

Next up is Technicolor.  It was my “showcase quilt” this time round.  It is a really a simple wedge quilt that is cut from strip sets.  The best part is that when you make this quilt you end up with a second set of strips in opposite colors that can be used for a second quilt!  I can’t wait to piece this one up in my fabric that will debut at BERNINA University as well. It will be completely different and I’m excited about it.

Then we have Waterfall.  I think that this might be my favorite in terms of the way it showcases the colors of this collection.  It is a two-block quilt again that looks more complex due to the way it is laid out.  The cool version of Waterfall is shown on the cover.

Waterfall in the cool colors of Free-Motion Fantasy

I also did a warm version of Waterfall, which I quilted by “following the lines on the fabric”.  I hope this fabric makes you want to quilt like it did me!

Waterfall in the warm colors of Free-Motion Fantasy; note the quilting on this one is following the designs in the fabric!

Last but not least is Swirls.  This pattern is a fun 5”-square friendly pattern that is very quick to cut out.  It actually is a reprise from a Craftsy class on applique.  I’ve had so many requests from people who have wanted to purchase this pattern separately that I went ahead and released it that way – Swirls just seemed right for this collection.

So, that’s a wrap!  If you are inspired please ask your local shops to order Free-Motion Fantasy and the patterns.  This is the perfect time for orders to be placed – while the line is still available in full  I don’t stock fabric so as not to compete with shops (please if you can support your shop!), but if you don’t have a local shop you can find the patterns in my online store.  The links in this post are to printed patterns but you will find PDFs up there as well for those in far-away locations.

Later in the summer once the fabric releases I’ll do a giveaway and also post the list of shops that have ordered the collection from Benartex.

Have a happy start to your summer and your summer projects too!

Amanda

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Free Figure Skater Pillow pattern and a Cricut Maker demonstration!

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Hi everyone!

I hope you are having a lovely time getting ready for the holidays.  I’ve been working on a few special projects and I’m just loving one in particular – my Figure Skater Pillow.

I love it so much I thought I’d share it with you so that you could make it for a special person in your life.  (Quilting tutorial link below too!)  You can download the directions for the pillow here.

I used the Cricut Maker to cut out this pillow and learned so much!  Of course, you can also make it by tracing the templates directly onto paper-backed fusible web, but I thought it would be great to share what I learned about the Cricut Maker with you in this video.  It is my favorite fabric cutter BY FAR now because you don’t have to starch or stabilize the fabric with anything when cutting.  Which means I can use  SoftFuse without starch – yay!  Its teeny-tiny rotary cutter can even cut something as thin as gauze!  Amazing, huh?

Once I had all the shapes cut out I fused them down and secured them with a blanket stitch on my BERNINA 780 using Aurifil cotton.

I also filmed a tutorial about how to quilt a wintry background using my Blizzard print from my Winter Games collection from Benartex on my BERNINA Q24 that you can view here.

This was a special request that was made in my Facebook Group, “Quilting with Amanda Murphy” – thanks for the idea, guys!

The Figure Skater Pillow is based off of just one block from my Winter Sports quilt.  If you are interested in getting the patterns to make other skaters, or skiers and snowboarders, you can order it (and the SVG files) here.

Also, I filmed a video of how I made a card to go with the presents.  I’m not a paper crafter and was amazed how easy it was!

I hope you enjoy the pattern and these videos and have enjoy the holidays!

Happy quilting!

Amanda

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