Rosette Mini Quilt + Your Free September Calendar

Did you enjoy the Olympics? How beautiful is Brazil? I watched more events than in previous years and was inspired by the athletes passion and commitment; they are amazing! I loved watching the diving, the gymnastics and the equestrian events and its a little sad its all over. The next four years will pass quickly and then it will be time to watch it all again in Tokyo.
It's also time for my new monthly mini and your free September Calendar. So, let me introduce you to the gorgeous, Rosette:

Like all young girls, I was obsessed with horses and ponies and I loved reading the Jill's Gymkhana book series by Ruby Ferguson. I had grand dreams of pinning an ornate satin rosette to the bridle of my chestnut horse, after winning gymkhana's just like Jill.
I'd practice in the backyard with my horse (a stuffed school sock, tied to a piece of dowel from dad's shed) and home made jumps that I could soar over. My equestrian dreams fizzled quickly when I actually rode a horse and it scared me so much, I never tried again :(

I find myself, holding my breath when I watch equestrian events. One feathered touch can bring down a jump or an irregular rhythm can ruin a dressage competition. Its all beautiful to watch and since I will never win a rosette of my own, I decided to make one as a mini quilt instead.

Rosette is a quick and easy paper pieced mini, finishing at around 14" square, which is a lovely size for a table topper or a cushion front. It would also make a lovely quilt, if you made multiple blocks and joined them with some simple sashing.
I picked a lovely bright palette of navy, red, teal and pink, which seems to be my favorite combination of late and they all came from my stash. I quilted my mini with my favorite flower design and I added a few connecting loops this time, just for something different.

The pattern includes full step by step instructions, diagrams, paper piecing templates and a colouring sheet for your fabric/ colour selection, plus optional instructions for hanging your mini.
If you would like to make your own Rosette mini quilt, from today until the end of September, PDF patterns will be available at the discounted and introductory price of $4.95 (AU) in my Big Cartel shop, HERE.
Or if you prefer an instant download, patterns are also available in my Etsy shop, HERE.
And I also have your free September 2016 Calendar, featuring the gorgeous Rosette:

To download and print your free calendar, just visit HERE.
I may not have a wall of beautiful equestrian rosettes but I do have a lovely wall of mini quilts, so that's close enough for me :)
I hope you love Rosette as much as I do. It was a fun little quilt to make and for me, it will forever be a reminder of those wonderful backyard gymkhana's which brought so much happiness to my childhood.

Happy sewing :)

Playground

I'm working on a few big projects at the moment and one of them is a gorgeous quilt for one of our Australian magazines. I can't share any of it with you until its published but I really wanted to show you the fabrics I've chosen, to bring this new design to life. You may have seen them already but if not, here's the beautiful Playground fabrics by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics:

For this quilt, the design came first and then I was on the hunt for the right fabrics. As I soon as I saw these, I knew they would perfect for my quilt. The range is gorgeous and I'm in love with the dainty floral designs and the beautiful colour palette.

From sandboxes and tyre swings, to hopscotch and Ring O' Rose's, the Playground fabrics depict the simplicity and beauty of childhood. I love the plum and blue He Loves Me prints and these will feature a lot, throughout my quilt.

The lighter fabrics are super sweet and will add some lovely contrast to the design, plus a couple of them are perfect for a little fussy cutting.
I love them all but I think this Jumpsie Daisy one is my absolute favorite:

There's a lot of work in this new design, some of it quite complex but seeing it slowly coming together and how beautiful it's becoming, keeps spurring me on :)
Happy sewing :)

Chatelaine- Free BOW Sampler Quilt Fabric Requirements

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and emails regarding my Chatelaine Sampler Quilt. I'm so thrilled you love it as much as I do. I did have a few inquiries regarding fabric requirements and thought I would address them now, as my quilt is finished and I can make a clearer calculation.
I gave you so many options for making this quilt so I'm using my quilt as a guideline for fabric requirements. I'm always generous when calculating fabric yardage but there are a few variables you need to consider:

• Paper piecing and using templates makes it trickier to estimate yardage. You need to allow a little extra, just in case, as we all cut and piece differently, especially with paper piecing.
• You may substitute some of the Bonus Blocks in your quilt, which will require less fabric than some of the more complicated blocks.
• I have given a couple of easier options for some of the blocks, so this will affect your requirements.
• You may choose more or less blocks for your quilt. I used 83 blocks, set on point (3A in the On Point Layout File) and I used the border option HERE.

It's important to remember to use my fabric requirements, as a guide only. I have divided the requirements into sections ie. blocks, layout, borders and binding, so you can see where the fabric is allocated and make adjustments accordingly.
I used a mix of Bonnie and Camille fabrics from their Vintage Modern, Marmalade and Scrumptious range, using Jelly Roll strips, fat quarters, charm packs and a little yardage plus the lovely white homespun.
You can download the Fabric Requirements file, with both metres and yards HERE.
I think I have covered everything you need to know, to make your own Chatelaine. If you have any questions, feel free to email me and I'll do my best to help. And email me some photos of your blocks/quilt....I would love to see them :)
Way back in 2007, I started my first ever sampler "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler". At the time it was a free pattern on the internet, so kindly shared by Jennifer Chiaverini  It sparked my love of pieced blocks and I learnt so many new techniques. My grandma always said "give when you receive and teach when you learn".  Chatelaine is my way of giving back and sharing free patterns and imparting what I have learnt from that very first sampler quilt :)
Thank you again for being a special part of my Chatelaine Sampler journey xxx
Happy sewing :)

Chatelaine- Free BOW Sampler Quilt Photo Gallery

Words can not express my love for this quilt, nor how special it will always be to me. I'm going to let the pictures do all the talking (and its inside pics I'm afraid, the weather just didn't want to play nice):

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for each and every comment, every email, every like/share on Facebook and Instagram, over the last 94 weeks. Sharing this whole journey with you, has been an experience I will treasure for ever. You are sooooo supportive and encouraging and just amazing ♥♥♥
Happy sewing :)

Chatelaine Free BOW Sampler Quilt - Quilting Facts

Yesterday afternoon, I finally finished the quilting of my Chatelaine Sampler. Quilting big quilts like this one on my domestic machine, always makes me question my sanity.  In the beginning they are so heavy and awkward and difficult to maneuver under the machine but as the quilting takes shape and the pins are slowly removed, there's less weight and more control. The end result makes the whole process, worthwhile. My Chatelaine quilt is beautiful ♥

Just for fun, I decided to keep a bit of a tally for this quilt, recording how many hours I spent quilting, how many bobbins I used etc., so here are the results:

• I quilted my Chatelaine in 11 sessions (ranging from 1 hour to 6 hours) for a total of 41 hours at the machine.
• I used 27 bobbins.
• I used 2000+ metres of top thread (2 and a bit spools)
• I used a packet of 5 machine needles
• I cleaned my machine 10 times during the process.
• And I watched/listened to around 41 hours of television while I was quilting :) YAY for Netflix!!

So there's my fun quilting facts. It was interesting for me to see the stats and I thought you might enjoy reading them as well.

Today I'll sew on the bindings and hand stitch them down over the next night or two. Over the weekend, hubby has kindly volunteered to be my assistant and take my Chatelaine out into the wild, for a photo shoot. Cross fingers for good weather and dry surroundings so we can take some great outdoor shots. Quilts always look lovely in natural surroundings :)

Until then, happy sewing :)