Welcome to Ships & Violins

The third star in my Constellation Series released today! After months of revealing the pattern - piece by piece - as part of a mystery quilt along, I'm so excited to share my newest foundation paper pieced pattern, Arcturus Shield. Each of my patterns in the series are inspired by stars and constellations and I came to choose Arcturus as a result of an accidental design element. But more on that later. First, let me tell you more about the star, Arcturus: It's part of the constellation Boötes (the Herdsman). It's the fourth brightest star in the sky. And the brightest star...

One of the workshops I attended at QuiltCon Together was Maritza Soto's Color Interplay. While watching Maritza choose colours for her project, I realized the importance of value (the lightness or darkness of a colour) in many of my designs. There are often various and distinct design elements in my quilts; some have been included as secondary or tertiary elements (meaning they weren't put there to be the star of the show!). Instead they may have been included to add depth, movement, or asymmetry. When colour values are used correctly, these crucial supporting actors help to tell a much more effective story....

We're nearly a month into the new year, and I've been furiously sewing since New Year's Day!  (Read to the end for a sah-weet perk!) NEW YEAR, NEW PROJECTS  Things have quickly shifted into high gear for Ships & Violins with the upcoming release of Orion's Spur, setting up my virtual booth for QuiltCon Together, and building an event that I hope - despite its unusualness - will be surprisingly delightful. ORION'S SPUR  Orion's Spur is the second design in the Constellations Series (header image). It's a paper piecing pattern similar to The Square of Pegasus and is set to release mid-February. My second version of the pattern will feature Andover Solids, Giucy...

I'm excited to share a free star ornament tutorial for all of you holiday crafters out there! This is a quick project that will improve your appliqué technique, and add a handmade touch to your Christmas tree. It's scrap friendly and a quick afternoon project that you can use year after year.  Enjoy and happy holidays! Materials:  two colours of felt (6" square of each) two star fabrics of your choice (3" square of each) one 5" square of backing fabric matching thread needle for hand sewing 7" piece of string zipper foot and patchwork foot fusible web  glue stick a handful of polyfil...