Seeking pattern testers

Thank you so much for the wonderful response to my request for pattern testers.  Enough people have put up their hands at this stage that I'm not looking for any more.  More patterns are in the works so to anyone who missed out this time, thank you, and there will be another opportunity.

For a long time, I've been thinking about writing up some of the quilt designs I've created as patterns. I've essentially written several patterns already, for my Paper Petals quilt, for my Rubies in the Rough quilt, and for the various classes I've been teaching this year.  I just haven't self-published any of them.

Anyway, this week I came up with a new quilt design, as a way of using my charms from Ms Midge's Bonnie and Camille charm swap.  It's a nice pattern in that it's completely pre-cut compatible (you could use charm packs or layer cake squares, and jelly rolls), it makes use of strip piecing to speed things up, and it only involves squares and rectangles.  I've written the pattern to include five different size options: baby (30" by 43"), cot (43" by 56"), throw (56" by 69"), queen (69" by 82") and king (82" by 95").

I spent a while trying to find excuses not to publish it, and then I decided to put my big girl knickers on and go for it.  Now, I'm wondering whether anyone would be willing to volunteer to test this pattern for me.  I'm looking for testers who:

- can make a finished quilt top, and send me clear, well-lit photos, by my proposed pattern release date of 27 October (New Zealand time, so that probably means 26 October elsewhere);

- have made a couple of quilts before - the pattern is super simple but it's not written as a complete guide to making a quilt.  I've given cutting instructions (of course) but have assumed the reader knows how to straighten the edge of fabric, sew a quarter inch seam, etc; and

- can give me feedback on the pattern - whether the instructions and diagrams are clear, whether my quilt math seems to work, whether there's anything they wish I had included, etc.

Ideally I'd love to have testers make the whole range of sizes, but I realise my deadline is totally ridiculous!  If you're keen, please send me an email at adrianneonthewindyside at gmail dot com with the size you'd like to try, and if possible, a link to your blog / flickr page / other social media presence.

Testers will receive a copy of the final pdf pattern and their photos published on my blog, with a link back to their blog / flickr stream / other website.  I would be grateful if testers could keep the pattern private until it is officially released, but sneak peeks are definitely permitted!

I'm making the throw sized version myself, and I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Thank you so much for the wonderful response to my request for pattern testers.  Enough people have put up their hands at this stage that I'm not looking for any more.  More patterns are in the works so to anyone who missed out this time, thank you, and there will be another opportunity.

Ursa Major aka the Big Bear (and a giveaway)

A couple of months ago I saw that Juliet from The Tartankiwi had designed an amazing big bear block.  I put my hand up to pattern test it because I thought it was just so cool!

This was the image I saw in Juliet's instagram feed!

I have to confess that when I opened up the pattern Juliet sent me, I wondered if I'd bitten off more than I could chew.  This block is 30" square and there are quite a few pieces to tape together.  I have some experience with paper piecing but I wouldn't call myself a paper piecing expert or anything.  However, once I decided to make a polar bear version, I got so excited about putting my block together that I got over my fears.

After that, the whole process went super smoothly.  It took me one evening after work to cut out all my pattern pieces and tape them together, and then this Saturday I pieced the whole thing in one day.

You can see from the back of my pattern that I made quite a few notes to myself to help with fabric placement!  It's definitely a must with something this size.  I also used a lot of Juliet's paper piecing tips and tricks and they really helped, particularly with some parts of the process I've found challenging in the past, like joining the pattern pieces.

 

I'm so glad I got through my nervousness about this block and actually stitched it up.  I am completely in love with the bear I made.  Using a lot of low volume fabrics for the bear presented quite a challenge in terms of getting enough contrast between the different parts of the bear's body - something I relished.  My fabric choices were not completely perfect but at the same time they resulted in some surprising and pleasing things (like the bear on his nose and the &love tattoo), so overall I'm happy.

I was lucky enough to meet Juliet earlier this year when she was in Wellington for Handmade.  She is honestly the nicest person and I am just in awe of her talent for designing paper pieced blocks.  You absolutely must head over and check out Juliet's post which shows the block she made and the blocks all the other pattern testers made - without exception they are gorgeous and creative!

Juliet's Big Bear pattern is now available on Craftsy for the super bargain price of $2.95 for the first 48 hours (the price will then be increasing to $5.00 which I still think is a bargain for the massive amount of work Juliet has put into making this pattern awesome and easy to use).

Juliet is very kindly letting me give away a pdf copy of her Big Bear pattern, together with a pdf copy of one of her other patterns.  To enter, just leave a comment here letting me know which other pattern of Juliet's you'd like to win - you can check out her Craftsy store here.  If you win and you've already bought the Big Bear pattern, Juliet will either refund you, or give you another pattern of your choice - whichever you prefer.

The giveaway will close at 8:30 p.m. New Zealand time on Sunday 31 August 2014, and I'll pick a winner using the random number generator.  This giveaway is open internationally, but if I can't contact you, you can't win.  Please make sure to leave your email in the comment if you think you might be a no-reply blogger (and check out my tutorial here if you're not sure).

Thank you, Juliet, for letting me be a pattern tester for this block.  It pushed me to do something that I wasn't completely sure I could manage, and I love the result.  I think the most satisfying quilts come from the times you push your limits and succeed anyway!

Full disclosure: the links in this post are affiliate links.  This means that if you're not already a Craftsy member and you sign up after clicking through from this post, I'll earn a small commission.  I've been a Craftsy affiliate for ages because I think their classes are great and I love the way they facilitate indie designers like Juliet.

Raspberry Lemonade (Show Off Irish Chain) - a quilt pattern review

I've written before about Penny and Fenella Jameson, a mother/daughter team who own Stitch Playroom in Christchurch. I met them when they visited Wellington to teach their quilted hexagon ottoman class and then saw them again in Christchurch when I attended Sarah Fielke's class (which was organised by Fenella).

Last year, Fenella asked if I would be interested in reviewing one of their quilt patterns. Since I had so much fun making the ottoman, I jumped right on board. The pattern is for a modern variation on the traditional irish chain pattern, which is designed to show off fabulous large scale designs (hence the name Show Off Irish Chain). Penny's original quilt is made with lots of different coloured Kaffe Fassett fabrics set against a neutral linen background and is a lot of fun. I decided to go down a slightly different route, choosing to keep my feature fabrics in the same colour family (red, pink, purple) and set them against a bright and completely contrasting background (for a great explanation on why those red prints seem to be jumping right off the aqua background, check out Anne's great post on complementary colours).

 

I found this aqua fence to hang my quilt on - wasn't someone daring with their paint colour! The quilt top was a cinch to put together, and super speedy because of the large pieces. I think it would be great for a beginner, and actually, the first quilt I ever made was nine patches alternated with large squares - exactly like this quilt in construction, if not design.

 

Fenella picked out the Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics that I used, and she did a fantastic job with my extremely vague instructions of "red, pink, purple, maybe a bit of orange"! I swapped out a couple of her picks for fabrics from my stash - partly because I wanted to keep this quilt very bright and there were a couple of darker purples that weren't quite working for me, and partly because I love to show how fabrics from different designers can work together. I've snuck in a bit of Jay McCaroll, Amy Butler, and one older Michael Miller fabric.

 

One of the things I look for in a pattern is room to put my own spin on it and to make tweaks. I like the way that this pattern has guidance on how you might like to lay out your blocks, but isn't overly prescriptive. Having a clear construction diagram also meant it was easy to make the borders a bit narrower than the original quilt. Of course, I had to pull out my quilt math, but I enjoy that part! I do really like the chunky borders on the original quilt, but I'm trying to get out of the habit of making enormous quilts, and reducing the size of the borders meant it was easier to baste and quilt (hooray!).

I love my finished quilt, and I would heartily recommend the pattern, especially for beginners.  If you are interested in getting your hands on a copy, email Fenella (fenella at stitchplayroom dot co dot nz) for all the details.

I'd love to know - do you find it hard to resist tweaking patterns too, or are you a strictly by the book kind of quilter?

Quilt Stats
Pattern: Show Off Irish Chain by Stitch Playroom
Finished Size: approx 66" by 75"

Fabric: assorted Kaffe Fassett collective prints, also prints from Amy Butler, Jay McCarroll and Michael Miller, Freespirit Designer Solid in Caribbean Sea.

Backing: Blockprint Blossom in Blush from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection

Binding: Michael Miller Ta Dot in Berry

Pieced and quilted by: me

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.



Full disclosure - Fenella provided me with the prints I used on the front of the quilt in exchange for this review.  The rest of the fabric came from my stash.  The review is an honest reflection of my thoughts on the pattern.

A brighter shade of pale (lucky square)

A little while ago, this quilt top popped up in my google reader.

It is the Lucky Square quilt top made by the lovely Jess at SewCraftyJess, and she asked for volunteers to help test the pattern she has written for it.  I offered my assistance and Jess was kind enough to send me the pdf of the great pattern she has put together.  Over a few days, a whole bunch of cut squares and strips have gone from this:

to this:

to this!

I used the softer coloured fabrics from my fat quarter set of Anna Maria Horner's Field Study Collection, plus one other print, together with a lovely taupe-ish linen from my local quilt shop.

It would be fair to say that apart from putting this quilt together quickly, I am not a very good pattern tester.  This is actually the first quilt I have made using a pattern (um, yeah, I didn't mention that to Jess when I volunteered...) and I made a couple of tweaks like taking out a row and adding a border.  The great thing about Jess' pattern is that it had plenty of information for me to easily work out how to make the tweaks I wanted to, which I think is a very helpful feature.

My version finished 74 inches square (which is why I am struggling to hold the whole thing up in the pictures) and is now basted and ready for quilting.  For the quilting, I am planning to do a very simple straight-line crosshatch over the whole quilt, in a thread that co-ordinates with the linen (and should blend into all the coloured squares).

I went a little crazy on the back - I didn't have any large cuts big enough to do a solid back, so I picked a whole bunch of prints that go with the colours on the front.  This is the first time I have done a really wild quilt back, and I have to say, I like it.

I can't wait to quilt this up and see the finished quilt in all its glory.  I hear that Jess is planning to release the pattern in the week starting the 14th of January, so keep an eye out!