Busy City Pattern

Well before he was even 18 months old, my first son would point and hoot at every truck or digger he spotted through the window from his car seat.  By three, he could distinguish backhoes from front end loaders and correct me on the finer points of cranes and forklifts.  When he was ready to move to a big boy bed, I knew I had to make a construction themed quilt for him.  I found there to be so little on the market for boys and definitely nothing that would appeal both to his interests and my own modern aesthetic.   I'm pleased to say that Busy City, a pattern I created as a licensed designer for Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio, does just that. It is inspired by the quilt I designed and made for my construction crazy four year old.  It includes so many of the things little people notice all around them in the busy city.

The pattern shows you how to create paper pieced vehicles, buildings, trees, and more arranged in various ways to create unique, customized quilts and pillows.  It includes 35 block patterns which are the same size, so they can be used interchangeably, allowing you to personalize every project in the book.  The pattern includes instructions for a twin sized quilt, a baby quilt, and two pillows. (Thanks to Shea for letting me use her photos.)

Each project is designed to be customizable in a number of ways.  Not only can they be made with just the blocks you choose, the blocks are grouped by level of difficulty.  Quilters who are less experienced with paper piecing, have no fear!  Detailed paper piecing instructions are included, and you can begin with the simplest blocks or choose to use only those blocks in your project.  Those more comfortable with paper piecing can tackle the more detailed blocks, although all the blocks are suitable for intermediate quilters.  The baby quilt and pillows are quick projects that use just a block or a few blocks, and of course the heirloom twin quilt uses 35 blocks.   All the block patterns are included on a CD, so you can print out just the ones you want to use in two size options.  There is no need to photo copy or trace patterns.  Yay!

The projects are so easy to tailor to your child’s specific interests.  If your little one is into farming, you can use the tractor, pickup truck, and barn blocks.  The house becomes a farm house and the trees an orchard.  If he is interested in race cars, you can make a pack of cars in different colors and include the tow truck and ambulance on the sidelines.  You can make a charming little neighborhood of houses and trees with a school bus.  The possibilities are as numerous as the children for whom you sew, both boys and girls!  I made this 12 inch pillow cover for my new niece.

Each block pattern is paper pieced, with additional templates to create wheels and treads which are appliquéd onto the completed block.  By using black fabric with white polka dots, you can mimic the look of tires while using a single piece of fabric for each wheel.  I used fusible web and machine appliqué, although you can pick the appliqué method of your choice.

I'm so excited to partner with Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio to publish this pattern.   It is especially fitting because Shea was the one who first encouraged me to create a pattern for this quilt.  My response was, "No way."  Ha!  But that seed of an idea stayed with me, and once I had the pattern writing experience and the appropriate software, this pattern grew. Here is a list of places you can purchase Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio patterns.  Busy City is shipping to stores now and is already available at Pink Chalk, Superbuzzy, I Don't Do Dishes on etsy, Hyggeligt in Canada, and locally at the Bernina store on Metcalf and Sarah's Fabrics in Lawrence, KS.

Update: Busy City is now available for purchase as a digital download from Empty Bobbin. Download the pdf here.

As always, I would absolutely love to see what you make with my pattern.  You can email me or upload a picture directly to the flickr group.

Those of you who are still reading definitely deserve a shot at a free pattern.  Leave a comment, and I will choose a winner, at random, Saturday morning.  Does someone come to mind when you look at this pattern?  What blocks do you think he or she would like best?  For a second chance to win, hop over to Shea's blog where she is also offering a giveaway.  Giveaway now closed.

The Therapist

I finished my scrap quilt this weekend, and I feel better.  I really did enjoy every step of sewing it.  I started sewing these blocks last fall.  They have been a really satisfying and enjoyable long term scrap project.  As I wrote earlier this year and more recently, I began sewing these monochromatic strip sets as a sort of therapy, without a definite plan in mind.  I totally recommend mindless, colorful scrap sewing.  It's happy stuff.

If you enjoy that sort of thing, I can also recommend Scrap Republic by Emily Cier which is full of inspiration.  Her Volume quilt was the starting point for this quilt.  My version is larger, at 60 x 80.

I also incorporated neutral blocks.  I always seem to have lots of these low volume strips, which can be hard to use up.  I think they provide restful bookends to the quilt.

I used a simple figure eight, free motion quilting design in each column, moving from side to side, starting at the top of the quilt and going down each column to the bottom of the quilt.  The side to side movement was hard to achieve fluidly with my tiny machine's throat space because the columns are 5 inches wide, but it was doable.  I think it would be far easier with narrower columns, and I will certainly try it again.  It went so quickly.

The black and white striped binding is a great choice for any rainbow quilt.

Amazingly, I still have plenty of scraps.  I'm contemplating some more therapeutic sewing: maybe a baby quilt with a more limited palette.

More Therapy from Scraps

I have been working on one of my long term scrap projects (I posted about it earlier here).  I call this kind of project "scrap therapy" because it is what I sew when I need something mindless, cheerful, and soothing.  I love playing with scraps anyway, but there is something so therapeutic about chain piecing scrap strips into monochromatic strip sets.  Maybe it's just me.  Anyhow, I trimmed them to 5 1/2" x 10 1/2" and kept a running total of how many I had of each color.  Initially I had no plan in mind.  The enjoyment was mostly in the making, rather than in an end product.

As they stacked up, I started to think about various arrangements.  There are so many possibilities for rectangles of this size and of course a rainbow of colors to work with.  I think I have settled on a plan now, so I've rounded out my stack to just the number I'll need, including a bunch on neutral, low volume rectangles.

I hope to get these 96 blocks sewn into a top soon.
Now can someone tell me how it is possible my scrap bin is still full of strips?

Oakshott Winner

Congratulations, comment #16, Katie B., you are the winner of the Oakshott cottons.  Email me your address, and I will put these in the mail to you.

On the Line

This wall hanging is my second pattern for Oakshott fabrics, using the Impressions fat eighth bundle. (You can find the first pattern, Spring Quarter, here.)  Marmalade Fabrics has just a couple of Impressions bundles left in stock.  Choose you favorite eight colors from the bundle to create the quilt.

This 36 x 25 quilt was inspired by sheets hanging out to dry - the way the light shining through changes the colors as the sheets overlap, the layers and shapes that appear when some sheets are in front of others hanging behind them. 

 

The layers and depth in the quilt are easy to create with the lovely shimmer of Oakshott shot cottons and my detailed pattern with digital illustrations.  I'm pleased to make it a free downloadable PDF.  You can find the free pattern here.

The pattern is written so that you may choose your own colors and fabrics for each section of the quilt.  Play around with colors to create transparency by changing colors where the shapes overlap, as I did with the blue and yellow rectangles.  For those who might want to recreate the quilt as shown, here is a color guide.

As always, I would love to see your On the Line quilt.  You are welcome to add photos to the teaginny designs flickr group, or tag me on Instagram @teaginny.



And for those still reading, leave a comment for a chance to win this fabric stack which includes all the fabrics required to make your own On the Line quilt top.  I will choose a winner randomly on Friday. Giveaway now closed.

Voile Color Wheel Quilt

I am very excited to become an aunt for the second time soon.  My niece should arrive next month.  An added bonus: I get to sew for a girl!  My brother requested I keep the pink to a minimum, so I decided to create a color wheel.  It's not too pink, right?

I used my 22.5 degree wedge ruler and a self drafted template to piece the curves in quarters.  There are just sixteen wedges in this 40 x 40 quilt, as opposed to the 52 in the gorgeous color wheel quilt from, Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, making this a pretty quick baby quilt.

The fabrics are all voile by Anna Maria Horner.  I got a quick start on the project with a fat eighth rainbow bundle of voile from Westwood Acres. Since there is no white voile, to my knowledge, I searched for a solid of a similar weight.  I'm so pleased I found Art Gallery Pure Elements in Snow at my friend Elizabeth's new Etsy shop, Cucire.  This solid has a smooth, silky hand, making it a nice match for the voile.

I kept the quilting light, and backed and bound it with more voile.  This quilt is so soft and lightweight - perfect for a summer baby.

 

Spring Quarter

I am excited to be able to share this quilt with you at last.  I made Spring Quarter using a fat eighth stack of Oakshott Impressions.  The colors are just lovely, each woven with a white thread.  The way the fabrics are woven gives them shimmer and depth.  I can't say enough about them really, and the fact that Oakshott is a family business that produces quality fabric in an ethical way makes me extra proud to work with them on a few patterns.

Spring Quarter is a beginner-friendly pattern made of quarter log cabin blocks.  You may recognize the pattern from a baby quilt I made earlier which is available here.  These colors change it so much!  I chose a spiral pattern for the quilting, which contrasts with all the sharp angles.

 

I'm happy to share the pattern for this simple quilt.  It includes instructions to make the quilt in two sizes: the 34 x 34 baby quilt/wall hanging shown here, as well as a 50 x 65 throw sized version.  The step by step instructions include digital illustrations.  You can download the free pattern here.

 

One more piece of good news is that you can now purchase Oakshott fabrics from Marmalade Fabrics.  Tammy has the Impressions fat eighth bundle as well as some other really gorgeous color ways.  The one called Water is calling to me.
As always, I would love to see what you make.  Add your own Spring Quarter photos or anything else you've made from teaginny patterns or tutorials to the Flickr group.  It's a small group now, so your work will be front and center!