$300.00
Bjorn Bear picnic quilt kit. What could be better than a rainbow of bears with a sprinkle of sparkles?
Quilt measures 81 x 78 inches.
The kit includes the full colour pattern booklet by Elizabeth Hartman with step by step instructions and almost 12 meters of fabric including:
*Essex metallic in storm reads as a dark yarn-dyed grey with silver lurex thread. Ebony is very similar in real life, but contains gold lurex thread
Leave comment with your choice at the checkout.
This quilt uses rotary cutting and machine piecing technique and will suit those with some experience or adventurous beginners.
$250.00
Fabric and pattern kit to make the Bjorn Bear picnic quilt. Quilt measures 81 x 78 inches.
The kit includes the full colour pattern by Elizabeth Hartman with step by step instructions and almost 12 meters of fabric including:
This quilt uses rotary cutting and machine piecing technique and will suit those with some experience or adventurous beginners.
$35.00
The Collection Quilt block of the month program.
This is the first installment of The Collection Quilt, which has been designed by Carolyn Friedlander as a needleturn apllique skill builder. You will work progressively through hand applique techniques for preparing your blocks, stitching straight lines, points, convex and concave curves, reverse applique and more.
During the course of the program you will also receive 6 bonus pattern options based on blocks from the quilt
The cost of the program is $35 per month for 9 months and includes the series of pattern cards printed in full colour and all fabrics for the quilt top and binding.
NOTE - by purchasing this product you are commiting to complete the 9 month program and understand that you will be invoiced for 8 further installments at $35/month
Finished quilt size is 40.5 x 50.5 inches
Fabrics are have been carefully selected from Carolyn's recent ranges and Kona cottons and matched as closely as possible to the colours in the original. A selection of the fabrics are shown here and ranges include:
On sale $67.00 $65.00
PRESALE - Magic Forest - bundle of 10 fat quarters
Fabrics are due in store late July
Magic forest is the latest collection by Sarah Watts for Cotton and Steel and features unicorns, squirels, bees, foxes, and fish which seem to almost glow in the dark.
The bundle includes one FQ of each of the quilting cotton prints from the collection.
FQs are cut by us in store to generous metric dimensions ( approximately 50c x 55 cm, or 20 x 21 inches)
100% cotton, on unbleached quilting cotton substrate.
You guys!
The Collection Quilt Block of the Month has been so popular that I've opened up a few more places If you've been thinking about joining us, now is the time. You can sign up here
This month we are working with different substrates again as I've included the heavier weight of one of the prints from the Euclid collection on Essex linen.
I know I've been banging on to everyone about changing things up with the placement and selection of fabrics, but this month I decided to stay fairly true to the way Carolyn Fridlander manipulated the flow of colours across the panel.
The grey bone fragment print from Carkai is lighter in value than the fabrics in the original, but I enjoyed the definition it gives to the scallops. I was also pleased with the punch of colour from that saturated blue-green Freidlander print, and the solid foundation of the Kona Windsor at the bottom.
Its up to you how you lay your panels out, but I like the way that navy solid acts as a bridge with the blues in the panel underneath from Collection 6.
I thought you might find it useful to see the fabrics that will be coming in that neighbouring panel - so here's a sneak peak.
My tips this time are pretty basic:
We've had plenty of practice stitching curves so far on this project. I'm pretty happy with the way mine have improved as I've gone along. The new technique this month was learning to stitch those interior points.
I actually found them OK. Just take your time and study the photographs in your pattern leaflet.
Actually, now that I think of it I do I have a third tip:
3. Take particular note of the diagram which illustrates clipping into the seam allowance at that inverted point. It is a little hard to see as the colours are dark; but pretty much you only want to clip a scant amount - no more than half way in towards your line of basting stitches. (I wish I thought to take a photo of mine as I worked to show you!) If you clip any deeper you will end up with a bit of a hairy mess, with stray threads wanting to escape.
Happy applique everyone
Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas?
Part of me thinks so, but the release of Noel by Cotton and Steel has me really excited. Noel is the collaborative holiday collection from Cotton and Steel for 2017.
To be honest, I've never been a huge fan of Christmas quilts. Here in Australia it is so hot at that time of the year. Even on those occasional nights that I need to pull up a quilt, the heavy maroon and bottle greens you find in traditional Christmas pallets just seem a bit oppressive.
Noel on the other hand, has a light airy feel. The usual reds and greens have been given a fresh lift with the addition of minty blues and peachy pinks. As usual, the designs have all of the quirk and whimsy that we've come to expect from Cotton and Steel.
One of my favourites is this snow baby print below This the mint print (I'm such a poet!), but it also comes in red, as well as grey with a pop of neon pink. What's not to love about those penguins, pooches, pigs and bunnies? And is that a Christmas panda I spy?
Continuing with the festive vibe, there are a few metallic prints like this one called gold flakes by Melody Miller. It also comes in a dusty blue. There are a couple of super handy metallic stripes as well.
Leaving the best for last are the cats - apparently they're leopards, by Rashida Coleman Hale. There are red ones as well as this green. I think they are SO stonkingly good, and -I cna't wait to see you all fussing cutting them. Check out the pink spots on their cheeks. Such awsome detail!
One of the strengths of this collection is the fact that while cheerily festive, the designs can so easily be included in other projects. Honestly - I love Santa, but he's really only relevant for a few short months of the year.
The fabrics in this collection will seamlesly coordinate with your stash , and you will find yourself using them year round in your projects.
Noel is due in store mid June. Why not grab a bundle and make the most of our free shipping offer on pre-sale orders.
You can check out the bundle and all of the gorgeous prints here.
Seriously - if you are a fan of Cotton and Steel you will the new Cotton and Steel Noel fabric collection.
If your budget wont stretch that far at the moment, why not contact us to discuss a lay-by?
Happy stitching everyone! Don't forget to tag me on your projects using #nextstitchfabrics
So you would have had to have been under a rock not to have heard that Pink Flamingo is the Kona Cotton Colour of the Year for 2017. Pink Flamingo has finally landed in Australia and we are excited to be bringing it to our customers
It is bright, yet not overpowerring, and has just a tinge of peach which lends a gorgeous warmth, but still reads as pink. It is distinctly different from any other pink or peach hue in the Kona pallet.
The possibilities for mixing and matching are endless.
Check out the lookbook here for some project ideas.
The best news is that if you have fallen in love with any of these designer quilts, that patterns are all available as free downloads on the Robert Kaufman website.
As a limited release colour, Pink Flamingo will only be in production in 2017, so be sure to grab some before it disappears. You can find it here
This month with The Collection Quilt BOM, Carolyn Friedlander has us stitching concave curves again. The difference this time though is that we are trying our hand at reverse applique.
Last month I used a regular lead pencil to mark the appliques, however I didn't want any shadow from the marks to show through that white carkai fabric. This time I used a water erasable market, though a ceramic pencil would also work well. We have several options available from Sewline. You can see them here
Whatever you choose to use, make sure that you test them on a scrap of fabric first and if using a marker, ensure you remove the ink with water before ironing.
My tip this time isn't really a tip as such; more of a don't make the same mistake I did comment.
I completely forgot to factor in the seam allowance when clipping the inside of those curves. Look closely in the image above and you will see what I mean.
Instead of paying close attention to the instructions, and OK - doing as I was told, I clipped too close to the basting line. I just went into automatic pilot and clipped away until I was just a thread or two from those basting stitches as if I were easing an armhole in dressmaking.
There are some great photos that Carolyn Friedlander has included in your pattern leaflet. They show the distance you should be clipping so I suggest you check them out carefully.
Essentially my mistake meant I had little whiskery bits to deal with as I turned the seam allowance under. If you look closely you will be able to make make them out.
Clipping too closely also meant those curves lost their smoothness ancd reverted back to that 50 cent piece I was talking about last month.
I could have binned it and started over, but I decided to just embrace the irregularities. I can also really see the improvement as I worked the piece which was really pleasing.
In the next couple of panels, I decide to go a tiny bit off piste again. I added just one piece of the silver and pickle aerial print that we used back in Collection 1. You wont be using any of those low volume prints from your first pack again in this project, so go ahead and dive into them if you'd like.
I really like the idea of a large scale printspeeping though the cut out sections we have made with this technique. Lots of scope to play with colour and texture, so reverse applique is definitely a technique that I am keen to explore again soon.
