Blogger's Quilt Festival - Original Design - Charm Dash

I am entering a second quilt in to the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I am very proud of my Charm Dash quilt - given it is my first ever released Pattern - so I am entering it in to the Original Design category!

 

Those of you who have been around here for a while would know I released my Charm Dash pattern about a month ago, but for those of you who are new here (You'll find some captivating information about me and my work up there in the "Who is Ms Midge" section  ^^^^) - here's the low down!  The Charm Dash came to be after the first Aussie Charm Swap I ran, with Kate Spain fabrics.  I was left wondering how to use my 5" charm squares without wasting ANYTHING?  After tossing and turning one night, I spent the morning drawing up a block, which would go on to be the Charm Dash block and a whole quilt!

 

The block is a bit of a mutant churn dash - except that you are using 5" charm squares and not wasting a single inch of fabric.  

 

It is perfect for showcasing your favourite fabrics - and in my case, the Kate Spain collection of prints was a stunning example of how fabrics from a multitude of collections can mix beautifully.

 

I pieced and quilted the whole quilt using my trusty Aurifil #2024 in a 40wt.  The free motion pattern is what I'd like to call "vines", but you can call it whatever you like!

The backing is a very simple on fabric finish - but oh, what a fabric!

This quilt made me believe that I could actually reallllly be original and come up with some of my own quilty ideas!  Which in turn led me to designing my Pavement Puddles quilt.  So I guess you could say it was the start of a whole new beginning!

A BIG thank you to Amy's Creative Side for always putting on a fabulous quilt show!  You can check out the Festival main page HERE.  Make sure you allocate yourself a few hours to get through all the quilty eye candy!  And you can also nominate your favourite quilts HERE!

QUILT STATS:

Designed & pattern made by Me!

Size: 50" x 62.5"

Fabric: Kate Spain Charm squares & White Homespun

Quilting:  By Me on my Bernina

Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil 40wt in #2024

Winner Winner - Tokyo Dinner!

I know, I know - It's supposed to be winner, winner, chicken dinner - but I couldn't help myself!  You see, whilst this post is popping up on my FB page, your inbox or wherever else you read my posts - I'm in the air on my way to Tokyo!  I am currently sitting here on the computer at home, having just finished my lunch after a last minute dash to my son's high school to - ahemmm - sort out some "stuff".  Kids.  Anyway - I digress!  My suitcase is sort of packed, the house is sort of clean, I have written a plethora of phone numbers and instructions on the fridge for the kids and the husband.  I've weighed my suitcase, then edited it heavily.  It's still rather hefty though.  I'm blaming all the stuff I'm taking over for my Tokyo BFF and her kids AND a couple of realllly heavy magazines for Alyce!

I've booked my excess baggage for my return, and went and exchanged the cash my Mum gave me yesterday to purchase her fabric.  I've transferred money to my credit card to pay for the fabric I will be purchasing for myself.  I think I've got the fabric funds sorted....

Japan must be very excited about my impending arrival, because they've scheduled a SUPER TYPHOON in my honour!  Woohooo!  Ummmmm.......

I think I'm prepared.  I hope I'm prepared.  Nine days away from my family, in a foreign country.  I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't nervous.

Soooooo - I'll see you on the flip side!  Be sure to follow me on Instagram - because something else I've pre-arranged is portable wi-fi!  I'm gonna instagram the s*it out of Tokyo!  And you know I'm going to have some of the most epic Sunday Stash posts in history when I return......

Back to the winners......  Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my little giveaway for a copy of my Charm Dash Pattern!  Random.org tells me the winners are:

Check your inbox ladies!  There's a little old pattern awaiting your attention!

And to everyone who has already purchased my pattern - THANK YOU!  I seriously want to email you all individually to say how much I love you and your faith in my ability!  I look forward to seeing a whole bunch of Charm Dash quilts popping up!

Have a fabulous week everyone! xxx

Charm Dash Pattern Testers & A Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who gave me such wonderful feedback and encouragement on the release on my first ever quilt pattern - Charm Dash!  I was a little overwhelmed by everyone's kind words and even more overwhelmed that some of you actually bought it!  Hoorah!  If you missed my post last week, then you can check it out HERE.  And just because we all love pretty pictures, here is the pattern cover photo....

Now, in case you don't know, getting a pattern ready to be released to the world is rather time consuming!  It is also a little stressful, and comes with a little lot of self-doubt.  Well, this was my experience anyway!  A few things made the process a little easier for me:

1.  Supportive quilty friends

2. Understanding husband and children

3. Chocolate

Some of my supportive quilty friends offered up their time to test the pattern for me.  Others proof read it for me, and gave me incredibly constructive feedback to make the pattern more user friendly and in turn, better.  I could not have asked for more!

So today, I am sharing with you some of their fabulous work!

My number one cheer leader, Angie from Gnome Angel, took my first draft written instructions to see if they made any sense whatsoever.  I was beyond thrilled when she sent me through a photo of her finished block.  Angie used some much loved AMH and Cotton + Steel.  I am so looking forward to her finished quilt top!

Emma Hill was one of the first to throw her hand in the air when I put the call out for pattern testers.  And, I kid you not, she had four blocks done a few hours later, and ten days later, her quilt was finished and I had this amazing photo to drool over!  Emma chose to make a baby size quilt, using a 3x3 layout, which I think works beautifully!

The lovely Lea actually offered to pattern test for me before I was even looking!  She didn't let me down, with this delightful fussy cut version.  I love the colour palette she has chosen.

Kelli has started her quilt top, using these beautiful fabrics!  I love the mix of teal, green and purple!

And this amazing piece of work is from the lovely Katrina!  She has switched around the rectangular print block placement, which gives it a whole new look again!  

And a close up just so you can see exactly how yummy the blocks are!

And last but not least, the lovely Susan purchased my pattern to use for her Bonnie & Camille charms!  I was so thrilled when she showed me this photo!  Perfection!

So - there you go!  Some beautiful versions of the Charm Dash, which gives you an idea of just how versatile the pattern is.  If you would like to grab a copy for yourself, you can find it in my Craftsy Store or Etsy Store.

And to celebrate the release, I'm having a little old giveaway!  I have two copies ready to email to two lucky readers.  All you have to do to be in the running, is tell me which charm packs you would use for my Charm Dash pattern?  The giveaway starts now and closes 8am Thursday morning.  The two winners will be announced later that day!

GO!

Charm Dash Pattern Release!

I am just a little bit excited, mixed with a little bit nervous about finally sharing my first ever quilt pattern with you all!  The Charm Dash quilt pattern came about after a night of no sleep, wondering what to do with my Kate Spain charms!  I ended up getting out of bed and started scribbling on a piece of paper, in order to not forget what I had thought of.  Later that day, I played with my fabric and came up with a block design - the Charm Dash.

 

The block itself reminds me of a mutant churn dash!  And when all of the blocks are pieced together, it gives a fantastic octagonal secondary pattern, which provides plenty of negative space for quilting!

 

One of the best parts about this pattern is the fact that it uses 5" charm squares and there is absolutely NO wastage!  Which was perfect when utilising my beloved Kate Spain charm squares from the Aussie charm swap.  It is also a great way of showcasing fussy cut fabrics - with the centre square made for highlighting brilliant prints!

 

All of that negative space was fun to fill.....

 

I free motion quilted what I will call "vine tendrils" over the entire quilt top.  It has added a beautiful texture to the finished look.  

 

I kept the backing simple.  But in an explosive kind of way!  I ADORE this blue print from Sunnyside.  It didn't need to be anything else but itself..... 

I utilised it for the binding too.

Although the pattern is for a throw size quilt, I have included cutting directions and block placement for Cot, Single and Queen size quilts also.

So.  I've designed a quilt.  Written a pattern for it.  And launched it out in to the world!  Who knew?  I'd like to throw out a HUGE thank you to a whole bunch of gorgeous quilty friends of mine, who have been so incredibly encouraging and have held my hand and cheered me on through this process.  You know who you are!  And another big thank you to my fabulous pattern testers!  You will be able to see their wonderful works of art very soon, when I devote a whole blog post to them!

For now - if you'd like to purchase a copy of the Charm Dash pattern, you can pop over to my Craftsy store HERE.  It's an instant download PDF, and the joy of having a Craftsy account means it's forever stored in your own little pattern library - never to be lost on your computer.

Phew.

I'm linking up (EVERYWHERE!) - You can too!