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Complimentary Holiday Bouquet Table Runner pattern!

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Guess what is in the new complementary issue of Through the Needle?
My Holiday Table Runner featuring my Holiday Bouquet line for Blend Fabrics.

It is really simple to piece and really fun to quilt.
I fussy cut the ornaments using my ornament print from the line, but you could also make your own as a template is included in the pattern.

I embellished the piecing with embroidery stitches on the Bernina 780 using Aurifil thread.

The stippled in the background of the central panel to make the flower motifs pop!  For the quilting  used an Aurifil 50 wt. white cotton in the white areas and So Fine in muted green and red in the colored areas.

One note:  There is a small mistake in the pattern as printed.  It is pretty obvious, but just so you have it here it is… You need to cut 4 (1-1/2” x WOF) strips of the ladder rail fabric rather than 4 (1/2” x WOF strips) to yield 4 (1-1/2” x 30-1/2”) rectangles.


You can download the pattern here.  If you sew up something fun please send pictures!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Winners and a Labor Day Sale!

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Hi everyone,

In honor of Labor Day we are having a sale until Monday at midnight – 25% off of all patterns in my shop!  Just enter the words “LABORDAYSALE” in all caps with no spaces when you check out.  The offer does not extend to books – sorry but they are much more expensive to ship and, since I offer free shipping in the U.S., it is hard to cover an additional percentage off as well.  (Right now I ship to the US and Canada.)  So, if you are looking for some fun patterns for the fall, now would be a good time to shop!

Also, it is time to announce the winners of last week’s Fons and Porter magazine giveaway.  Congratulations to Marilyn, who likes citron and grey, Helen L, who likes teal, and Catherine. who likes periwinkle.  Please send me your snail mail addresses!  The majority seemed to rooting for purple, which really fascinates me.  Purple, like orange, seems to be a color people either love or hate.  I love it, but find it a bit hard to shop for, since there are so many shades.  At the moment I love how periwinkle pairs with navy.  With maybe a little green, which is no surprise since I’ve been accused of thinking green goes with everything.

Have a great labor weekend everyone and don’t forget to check out the sale at C&T Publishing as well!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Bella’s Garden yardage and a magazine giveaway

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Hi everyone,

I’ve had so many emails this weekend from people looking to find Bella fabric to make Bella’s Garden. No, I don’t have any kits unfortunately.  There just aren’t enough hours in every day for me to stock, inventory, and cut fabric in addition to designing so I leave that to the wonderful quilt shops.  Unfortunately this was a few collections back so you might need to do some searching, but I have seen it  in shops.  I know that my local shop, Sew Much Fun, in Lowell, NC has some yardage, and I’ve seen it online too.

What is can do is provide you with SKU information.  I went back through my design notes and this is what I found and I reconciled them with Fons and Porter’s directions.  If you want to see what the fabrics look like up close, visit my fabric page.

Gold print for the background – this is actually a creamy color (115.101.06.1): 1-½ yards
Turquoise print for the sashing, outer border, and binding (115.101.04.2): 2-¼ yards
Turquoise large scale strip for the sashing – this is actually the medallion print in the Bella collection, not a true stripe (115.101.03.2): 1-½ yards
Pink print for pieced rows and large yo-yos – I’d describe this as an orange and pink circle design (115_101_07_1):  ⅝ yard
Dark pink print for inner border, petals, and small yo-yos (115.101.08.1): – 3/8 yard
Green print for pieced rows (115.101.02.2):  ⅝ yard
Light green print for stems and leaves –  (115_101_04_1):  1 fat quarter (or 1/2 yard if you prefer to make bias bars, as I did in the original, rather than curvy applique shapes)
Blue print for pieced rows (115_101_06_2):  3/8 yard
Orange print for petals and small yo-yos (115.101.05.1): 1 fat quarter

Bonjour, Mon Ami, one of my more current collections for Blend Fabrics, plays very nicely with Bella, so you may be able to draw from it to produce a lovely quilt as well.  Hope this helps!

Also, Fons and Porter sent me a couple of extra issues that I thought I would pass on to you all, so if you would like to enter to win a copy leave a comment on this post telling me what color you think should be the “color of the year” for 2014.  No research – just your personal opinion.  Deadline is this Wednesday night, August 28th.

Happy sewing!
Amanda