Oh,
there's so much to share about the release of my Whirly Girl quilt,
where do I begin? How about if I just jump to the good stuff first?...as
part the of Whirly Girl release, I am offering a 20% discount on ALL my patterns in my Payhip shop, just enter the SALE CODE: Whirly. Sale ends Sunday, March 24th (GMT+1)
So, just in case you missed it yesterday, join me on the Whirly Girl blog hop, which starts with me today! Tomorrow, she'll show up with:
Melanie –
March 15th
Sandra –
March 16th
Alex - March 17th
Judith –
March 18th
Sharni - March 19th
I suppose it's been said, never ask someone to do something that you would not be willing to do yourself, right? And since I asked my testers to make at least a 3 x 3 row Whirly Girl quilt, I thought I could join in with them too!
In all reality, the truth of it is that a while back I ordered a few precious Cotton & Steel fabrics that had caught my eye, and you know how it is sometimes... some fabrics shout a little louder than others that they need to be made into something, and NOW! (am I the only one with talking fabrics?) Have you noticed that soft grey seems to have grown on me?
But somehow no matter how you slice it or dice it, the weather in Northern Germany has just not co-operated with me when it comes to taking photos... she won't pull back that thick veil of grey!?! Ok, well in all fairness, she did for about four days, but three of those four I was out for the count on the couch with a not so pretty cold. I think in some of these pictures you can literally see how thick it is.
I'm just glad that spring is on the way despite the weather... these little blooms are one of my favorites - "Märzbecher" in German, and they are the absolute perfection of spring daintiness.
Not only have I been battling the dense grey, but also the wind. I would have to say that we are give the "Windy City" a good run for their money!
Be sure to follow along on the blog hop this week, and hop on over to Instagrm to check out what my other patterns testers have whipped up - under the #whirlygirlquilt hashtag!
Tomorrow is the official release of my Whirly Girl quilt pattern... so, are you as excited as I am? To kick things off, I'm announcing a little Blog Hop that starts with the pattern release! I had so many talented pattern testers, and what was particularly exciting for me was that I had so many German testers in the mix... it really makes me feel more a part of the community where I am living!
So, here's where Whirly Girl will be taking you this week...
So before the official release tomorrow, I thought that I would leave you with a few color combinations as inspiration for your own Whirly Girl quilt...
I find that a cool color combination is one that I come back to over and over again when I am playing with colors. You'll be seeing more cool colors with my next pattern. (can you believe it's already in testers hands!?!)
Vibrant, warm, popping tones cooled down with grey accents are sure to keep things spicy...
I love gradient quilts, and what could make them better than using some highly saturated Alison Glass fabrics?
Things are super dramatic when combined on a dark background. I usually tend for high popping contrasts on white, but this version has me rethinking things...
But, not all quilts have to knock you over with a powerful punch of color - these sweet and soft pastel fabrics from Heather Ross are on my wish list... those strawberries are just too cute to pass up.
So, be sure to stop back again tomorrow for the official release, March 14th! (and a few other surprises) But before
I see you again, I wanted to leave you with a few things that
my pattern testers actually had to say about the pattern:
"For me the directions where easy to understand. I would call myself an intermediate quilter and it was fun to sewing the pattern. Because of the directions of the flying geese it is still interesting to sew and its great for chain piecing and comes together pretty fast but looks stunning at the end." - Christa
"The pattern has been a joy to make, I love the partial seam element - not too tricky and your instructions are really clear. Just a little challenge for a confident beginner. I also like how you can make it your own with colour placement.". - Helen
"What a great, easy pattern. I did a mini quilt early on in my quilting journey with partial seams and it has scared me ever since. (I do not recommend partial seams with 1 1/2" wide pieces!) So, there was a little trepidation but when I got to this step it was sooo easy. I will not be scared of partial seams again!" - Naomi
"The directions were clear and easy to understand. I feel that intermediate/advanced quilters would still find this pattern very interesting. Although the blocks are simple in construction, the design comes together in a way that feels very modern and looks complex.
The cutting tables were easy to use. I loved that you broke each section into separate segments. This was a very useful feature because I like to break up the cutting and sewing into sections. It was also helpful in being able to choose colors as I went because I was able to audition fabrics for each section". - Erica
"I enjoyed making this quilt - I will make another in different colors for sure". - Suzanne
"The construction pictures made it very simple to follow and the block comes together great. The partial seam will never stop me again from sewing a particular pattern." - Regina
"Ich bin von dem Pattern sehr angetan. Es sind viele traditionelle Blöcke miteinander vereint. Sie ergeben zusammen ein verspieltes Layout. Die Anleitung finde ich besonders für Quiltanfänger toll aufgebaut. Du erklärst jede Methode genau und nachvollziehbar. Die einzelnen Schritte zusätzlich mit der entsprechenden Schnittabelle zu versehen, finde ich wirklich klasse". - Judith
Without sounding totally cliché, it really is amazing to me the connections that you make online... especially within the quilting community. When I first moved to Germany, I never would have imagined that one day so many of my daily contacts and friends would stem from relationships with people that I had met online.
Even just a few weekends ago, I spent the weekend with the ladies from our HH Modern Patchwork Treffen for a retreat in Denmark... all of them, with the exception of one, I had met online!
I think I "met" Magda about the same time that I "met" Melanie... it was a WIP Wednesday connection, back when Freshly Pieced was still hosting. Before I knew it, the three of us were also in a quilting bee together, and Magda was joining us in Hamburg for our monthly quilting meetings... and coming all the way from Denmark!
Not long ago she shared with us that bundle-of-joy number two would be joining her in the world. Mell and I decided that it would be fun to ask our other bee members to add in a few extra blocks to make a baby quilt for her. We had pulled the colors from Magda's bee blocks, and added some greys and chartreuse to the mix. We scoured our Pinterest boards, and picked an easy block that would come together quickly, but with a nice design despite its simplicity. (inspiration design here)
I connected the paper pieced blocks together and Melanie quilted it. I really love the straight line quilting design that she used to finish this! And now this quilt is snuggled around ten tiny fingers and toes this winter... what a perfect way to stay warm.
Do you have any fun quilting community online connection stories to share?
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
