Charm Dash - the Pattern

November 23, 2018

Ignoring Oklahoma for a moment - this is the first pattern I had sketched out. This was in progress when Oklahoma jumped ahead of it in the pattern order. This was supposed to be my first release.

So it only seems fitting that I used my most precious fabric ever to make it, right? It’s Objects of Desire by Sandy Gervais, and it’s at least ten years out of print. Which breaks all the “pattern writing rules” - but it’s my pattern and I don’t care.

The pattern uses a charm pack, accent fabric, and background fabric to make a lovely churn dash frame around the charm. I actually tried out about five different versions before settling on the ratio in the pattern! This one is just perfect, though - the right balance of churn dash and charm and everything else.

In my one accent fabric version, I used the blue plaid from the fabric line to make the churn dashes. I pulled out all the blue charms for cornerstones, and two of the background charms because they just didn’t look as nice as centers.

Since the charm pack only had 39 charms (told you it was old!), I ended up having to cut more cornerstones from the accent fabric and a strip of my backing - again, using a blue from the fabric line so it all blended in. You can also use your binding to fill in the cornerstones if you don’t quite have the right number of charms.

My second version uses two accent colors and a fresh fabric line - Vintage Holiday by Bonnie & Camille. Mostly because my local quilt shop has a ton of them still in stock and she said she’d happily display the sample quilt and pattern to move some of them off her shelves.

I used pink and green Grunge as the accent (because my quilt shop didn’t have any Vintage Holiday yardage) and white Grunge as the background. Luckily, this time the charm pack had enough options that I was able to eliminate a background charm and match everything else nicely between the pink and green.

Vintage Holiday isn’t quilted yet, but I did loops and flowers on Objects of Desire, keeping the flower petals squat like the florals in the fabric. The binding is the same blue plaid as the accent fabric/extra cornerstones.

Final size: 59.5x71”

Charm Dash Pattern

Photos by Lori Barbely

And my testers’ amazing versions!

A rainbow Kona charm pack, by Turtlequilterjo.

Another version in Vintage Holiday, with borders! By Windy Sews.

And check out this version in Sweetwater’s Overnight Delivery. The Reluctant Peach got the neighbor’s chicken, Mustang Sally, to pose for her!

BOMs Away - Stars for Vanessa

November 19, 2018

I’m just raiding my blue scrap bin all month for blocks for everyone! Next up are #starsforvanessa - another Instagram block drive, albeit a private one this time.

The blocks are Cluck Cluck Sew’s chunky stars, and the medal is the Route 66 half marathon. That’s what I actually did on Sunday, my block-of-the-month day. I made the blocks ahead of time because I am so tired right now! Mostly from shivering. It was colder at the finish than the start line!

These stars are going to someone who made a couple of my Friendship Chain blocks. Which, well… I suppose we could have each made our own blocks and saved the shipping, but making the same block over and over gets tiresome. And it’s fun to inject a little bit of someone else’s stash! I chose a nautical print for the left star, since it’s going to a Navy gal.

So did anyone else work on their BOM? Or a project broken into {slightly} more manageable monthly pieces? Or a few blocks for someone else’s charity project? Link up here or at What a Hoot!

An InLinkz Link-up

Marine Carpenter's Star - a Finished Quilt!

November 16, 2018

So, it’s not officially official yet, but I’m the district coordinator for the SWOK region of Quilts of Valor! I’ve already started a local block drive and started reaching out to the shops and guilds in the area. But most importantly, I finally started presenting the quilts!

This quilt was for a Marine (duh!) QOV typically doesn’t use branch-specific fabric, but I knew from the start who this quilt would be for, so I decided to go all-in on the theme.

I’ve wanted to make a Carpenter’s Star for ever, but as it’s a square quilt, it’s hard to make to QOV standards. (We aim for 60x80”.) However, I had an EQ drawing from Patchwork Times saved, so I wiggled the design to fit my emblem and the fabric on hand and the guidelines.

I already had the emblem panel and the Marine fabric, but not quite enough to do all the background fabric in Marines. So I went with a neutral background (Stonehenge beige) in the central area and top/bottom edges. The red also changes - I used every bit of the yard I had in the center, so the top and bottom are a new red (America the Beautiful by Kaufman) - but with similar gold stars as the center emblem. The blue is Timeless Treasures.

The backing is royal blue 108” wide backing, because any time I can avoid piecing backing, I will! And I ordered the nice QOVF labels from Spoonflower. (Yes, it was filled out before the presentation.) The quilting was loops and stars in a variegated red, white, and blue on the front, and blue on the back.

64x76”

The presentation went very well - for my first one and considering I was fighting a cold! With the help of many cough drops, I was able to present it at the local VFW’s Veterans Day luncheon. And now I just need to make 21 more to catch up on the local area!

Coconutty - A Fruit Salad Block

November 14, 2018

Have you had a song stuck in your head since I posted the lime block in March? Finally, the lime is getting its coconut! (Is it stuck in your head again? I’m sorry….maybe….)

Another reason I out-sourced the photos - look at the dedication to props! I had no idea where to find a coconut or how to open one if I did. I was going to use the coconut bra from an old Halloween costume. Thank goodness for Lori!

I am using the same neutral (Kona White) in all my blocks, and I use the Quilt in a Day triangle ruler to trim my half square triangles.

Get the printer-friendly pattern here!

Coconutty - 12.5”x12.5" unfinished

If you’re joining me in these blocks, please use #fruitsaladquilt on Instagram or comment here so I can find your blog! I plan on posting one block a month, free on Craftsy until Jan 31, 2019. In December 2018, there will be a layout pattern for the entire Fruit Salad quilt, as well as more specific yardage.