Quilt The North

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I love when my quilty friends do exciting things! I love it even more when I get to be part of the exciting thing, like I do this time. My friend Monika is the designer behind Penny Spool Quilts and today she is launching a subscription box called Quilt The North.

Quilt The North is a quarterly subscription box that will showcase Canadian pattern designers and the region they call home. Each box will include an exclusive pattern from the featured designer for a small project (think mini quilt, cushion, bag, etc), plus all the fabric needed to make it. There will also be a block pattern themed around the designer's region (collect them all to make a Canadian sampler quilt!), plus goodies from the region, from local artists or small businesses.

I'm honoured that Monika has invited me to be the featured designer for this first box and I can't wait to show you the mini quilt pattern that will be in the box! That's a quilty secret I have to keep for a little while yet, though, so the contents of the box will be a surprise when you receive it. My fabric arrived yesterday and now it's calling my name as it waits impatiently for its turn. I have to say, it's a really pretty bundle of fabric!

Pre-sales for Quilt The North box are open today and the first box will ship September 1st. Sign up before July 13th to save 10% off your first payment and get a Maple Leaf block pattern to kickstart your Canada sampler quilt.

You don't have to be Canadian to subscribe to the Quilt The North box and you don't have to live in Canada, either! Quilt The North is for anyone who wants to get to know Canadian pattern designers and learn more about this beautiful country 🍁

On-Demand Paper Piecing with Freezer Paper Workshop

If you're like me, you love the weird angles and the precision that paper piecing makes possible, but you hate ripping out the bits of paper after you finish making a block. I switched to using freezer paper years ago after discovering that using freezer paper means I'd never have to rip out those bits of paper again. Cue the angel chorus! Removing the freezer paper is like peeling the back off a sticker 🎉 It's so much less hassle and so much faster.

If you've been around here for a while, you may know that I periodically teach a workshop called Paper Piecing with Freezer Paper. I love teaching other quilters how to paper piece with freezer paper so they can skip ripping out bits of paper, too.

Teaching live workshops is lots of fun, but it also has its limitations...I can only host so many workshops, and you can only sign up if you're going to be free at the time the workshop is happening. That's why I'm excited to tell you about my on-demand Paper Piecing with Freezer Paper workshop!

Included in the workshop

With the on-demand workshop, you'll learn:

• what tools you need for paper piecing with freezer paper (you probably already own most of them)
• how to prepare the reusable freezer paper template. Yes, each template can be reused many times, so no more printing a template for each block.
• how to paper piece your blocks using freezer paper
• how to remove the freezer paper template. Well, really you know how to do that already, since it's like peeling the back off a sticker 😆

Along with the video lessons, when you enroll in the workshop, you'll receive:

• the Burst quilt pattern. Burst is scrappy and beginner-friendly and the pattern includes instructions for three sizes.

• the Storm quilt block pattern. Storm is a 12" block that creates a great secondary pattern when multiple blocks are sewn together.

• a discount code for my pattern shop, so you can save on other paper piecing patterns.

Enroll today

To learn the game-changing magic that is paper piecing with freezer paper, enroll in the on-demand workshop today! You won't miss ripping out the bits of paper at all 😂

Ombre Twirl Pattern Release

After releasing the Stripe Shuffle pattern on Saturday, I'm starting off the week with another pattern release! Ombre Twirl was last year's Stash Artists pattern for May and it is now available in my shop 😊

Ombre Twirl lets you turn your small light, medium, and dark scrap squares into a fun and vibrant quilt.

The pattern includes instructions for the 60" x 72" throw size I made, plus 48" square baby and 96" square queen sizes. 

As with any scrappy quilt, delving into the scraps to find the perfect lights, mediums, and darks is one of the best parts of making an Ombre Twirl quilt! Which colours do you know for sure you have enough of all three values to make multiple blocks? Which colours do you think you may not have all the values? I knew I'd have lights, mediums, and darks in blue and green no problem. I was surprised to find all my reds are the same medium or dark value, so there's no red block in my Ombre Twirl quilt. I couldn't get the ombre effect at all!

As a nice bonus, there are no points to match up in Ombre Twirl 😊 

If your scraps are calling you and asking to become an Ombre Twirl quilt, pick up your copy of the pattern today!