Phoenix Quilt Pattern Release

Phoenix Quilt Pattern Release

Phoenix Quilt by Sharon Holland

Phoenix Quilt by Sharon Holland

Has it really been two months since my last post!? Time really does fly when you’re having fun (and keeping busy)!

I hope this post finds you well. I’ve been staying home and trying to get the most out of what’s left of this dismal year. I’ve had a sudden burst of energy and from now until the end of December I’ve plenty of posts and projects planned to share with you! And, be sure to read down to the end for a special announcement you won’t want to miss!

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August is the first month in the next four that I’ll be releasing a new quilt pattern! That’s not the special announcement but very exciting all by itself non the less. This first quilt is called Phoenix, not for the state but because the idea for this quilt came from me playing around with the left over half-square triangle (HST) trimmings from my Sweet Home quilts I made earlier this year. (That’s a hint to the special announcement.)

The Phoenix quilt was born from scraps! Well, really more like one block was born from scraps. I needed a whole lot more HSTs to make the Phoenix quilt.

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This summer-inspired palette is a mix from several different Art Gallery Fabrics collections: Spirited, Decostitch, Marrakesh Fusion, Pure Solids, and Gossamer for the binding. But you don’t have to source out all these fabrics on your own if you’re wanting to make one just like the pattern sample because Brooke Becker at Lady Belle Fabric has made up Phoenix quilt kits with all the pretties you see in the photo above. Don’t delay—these kits go fast! Here’s a link to the Phoenix Quilt Kit. You’ll also need the quilt pattern and you can find that on my SHOP page.

Bundle photo courtesy of Lady Belle Fabric

Bundle photo courtesy of Lady Belle Fabric

Lady Belle Fabric is your one-stop online shop for fabrics and long arm quilt service. I have sent several of my quilts to Brooke and she has one of mine she just finished up yesterday. You’re going to love the service!

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The entire Phoenix quilt is made from half-square triangles. You’ve probably heard me sing the praises of Bloc_Loc Rulers before and I’m still singing! If you’ve never tried them or feel it’s finally time to invest in a quilting tool that’ll make your life and quilts better, this may be the time—especially if you’re planning on sewing this quilt—there’s a lottttttt of HSTs! If you can only by one HST ruler, by the largest one because you can always trim smaller sizes with a large ruler.

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I did a very simple and quilt machine quilting on the diagonal for this quilt. For my batting I used Hobbs Heirloom Bleached 100% Cotton because my background is Art Gallery Fabrics Snow and I didn’t want any color showing through from an unbleached batting.

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Over the years I’ve been approached by makers wanting to know if I ever use pattern testers. I’ve never done so in the past but thought that this year might be a great chance to use testers and help promote new rising quilt makers.

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So, during July I started work with my testers. I have 17 in all right now which is plenty so the search for testers is closed for this year. Since I have four quilt patterns coming out over the next few months this was as good a time as any to get some help from pattern testers and I’ve split up the testers into groups by quilts. Today I’d like to introduce you to six of my testers who have made and tested the Phoenix quilt.

Meet the Testers

Phoenix quilt make by Brittany Tunison

Phoenix quilt make by Brittany Tunison

Brittany Tunison created a Phoenix quilt in a soft, farmhouse color palette and used a mix of Art Gallery Fabric prints from a variety of AGF fabric designers. I love her Farmhouse style and sweet fabric selection. See more of Brittany’s work on Instagram @brittanytunison and on her Etsy shop at White Plains Quilts.

Phoenix quilt make by Christine Trotta

Phoenix quilt make by Christine Trotta

This lovely Phoenix quilt top was made by Christine Trotta of Serendipity In Love Creations. Christine used Bari J.’s new 365 Fifth Avenue AGF fabric line and it couldn’t have been any more perfect a collection to juxtapose a feminine twist to the geometrics of this quilt design. Let’s all pause a moment to take in this beautiful garden setting for this quilt—it’s gorgeous! For more fabric fun, check out Christine’s shop on Etsy.

Phoenix quilt make by Kathleen Armstrong

Phoenix quilt make by Kathleen Armstrong

Kathleen Armstrong is a prolific quilter. Just check out her Instagram account @creativestitchesbyk and you’ll see exactly what I mean! You can learn more about Kathleen from her website Creative Stitches Quilts where she also takes custom orders. Kathleen used prints from my AGF Everlasting collection for her Phoenix quilt and I love how she mixed up the fabrics in the blocks for a unique twist on the pattern.

Phoenix quilt make by Marija Vujcic

Phoenix quilt make by Marija Vujcic

My long-time followers may remember my friend Marija Vujcic from my blog tours. Marija is the Queen of Bold Colors and her AGF Pure Solids fabric pull for the Phoenix quilt is pure Marija-magic! I love how she pulled colors from my AGF Bountiful Tartan Field print (the backing) for the color inspiration for the blocks. You’ll definitely want to follow her on Instagram @mvquilts and on her blog Mara Quilt Designs where she has quilting, tutorials, and lots of sewing inspiration to share.

Phoenix quilt make by Mary Grove

Phoenix quilt make by Mary Grove

You’ll find Mary Gove on Instagram as @thecurlyquilter and be equally blown away by her beautiful quilt makes like I was when I first viewed her page. This new comer to quilting has a natural eye and Quilty talent plus I’m very envious of her Wyoming landscape for photography! Mary chose Art Gallery Fabric blender prints and solids form several different AGF collections to create the perfect summer-vibe palette.

Phoenix quilt make by Victoria Newmyer

Phoenix quilt make by Victoria Newmyer

Victoria Newmyer is also brand new to Instagram. In fact she just started her account @midlife_quilter the beginning of this year but don’t let that fool you, this girl has talent! Check out her Etsy shop at Brass Tacks Sewing. I can really connect with Victoria’s aesthetics and if you know anything about me by now, you know my love for this palette she used for her Phoenix quilt. Although her fabric selection is a mix of many AGF designer collections her backing fabric (the trees print) and some of the block prints are from my AGF Tapestry collection.

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Be sure to stop by my pattern SHOP and get the Phoenix quilt PDF so you can start your quilt today! I can’t wait to see what you create with the Phoenix quilt pattern! If you’re posting to Instagram be sure to tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and use the hashtag #phoenixquilt so I don’t miss your posts!

Quilt Along

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post I had a special announcement to make…drum roll…Maureen Cracknell (Instagram @maureencracknell ) and I will be hosting a Sweet Home Quilt Along! We’re also going to be joined by a special new quilting friend, Jennifer Jones of Penelope Handmade! Find her on IG at @penelopehandmade. It’s sure to be loads of fun!

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The Sweet Home Quilt Along begins September 9, 2020 and will run for six weeks. If you haven’t already bought the Sweet Home quilt pattern yet you can find it in my pattern SHOP and started gathering your materials. All three of us hosts will be making new Sweet Home quilts from Art Gallery Fabric collections and I can’t wait to show you my fabric pull.

The QAL is going to be so much fun and there’ll be plenty of giveaways and tutorials during the event. Stay tuned for more QAL news—hope to see you there!

Sweet Home quilt by Sharon Holland

Sweet Home quilt by Sharon Holland

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.




Table Scraps

Table Scraps

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Okay, that blog post title was funny, wasn't it!!?? What did you think I was going to blog about, composting? No, silly, this post is about using up those left over fabric strips to make something beautiful for your table!

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I definitely have a thing for quilted table runners--they're just fun and fast to make, plus quick for changing up the look of your table for the different seasons. 

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This is my second time making my Stacked Strips Table Runner. See the original tutorial with instructions, HERE. I stitched this one exactly the same as the first, with 2"-wide strips but the finished size of this second runner is larger and finishes out at 18" x 84". The beauty of this pattern is you can easily customize the size to fit your table. 

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The fabrics used in this runner are all Art Gallery Fabrics and include prints from all six of my fabric lines. Here's the list: Pure Elements solids, AGF linen, Gossamer, Sketchbook, Coastline, Tapestry, Bountiful, Signature, and Ink Outburst from Woodland Fusions.

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The other variation I made from my original pattern was to utilize Quilt As You Go (QAYG) when sewing the strips together. By doing this, not only was I assembling the runner top, but I was quilting the runner as I sewed the strips!

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Using QAYG for a table runner is a great way to try this method on a small project. I used my favorite Tuscany Silk Blend batting and AGF linen for the backing to give the runner a nice weight and feel. To learn how to sew the QAYG method for quilts and other projects check out my dear friend and sister AGF designer Maureen Cracknell's QAYG Craftsy class

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This was really fun to make and since I had some strips left at the end, I decided to make some matching coasters!

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My coasters finish at 4-1/2" round and I trimmed the strips to 1-1/2" wide to start with so the scale would be better proportioned. You could even start with 1" wide strips if you wanted even more fabrics in the coaster.

I used the same strip assembly method of sewing strips short ends together before trimming to the desired size and sewing together QAYG-style to a batting and backing foundation.

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After I had the strips sewn into a large enough piece to cut out 5" circles from, I placed another piece of linen, right sides together with the QAYG piece and marked out circles with the bottom of a tin that was the right size. 

I sewed a 1/4" inside the drawn line, back stitching at beginning and end, and leaving and opening for turning. 

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Cut out on the drawn line. Clip curves and turn right side out through the opening. Turn opening under 1/4" and press. Blind stitch opening closed by hand. 

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I did not do any additional quilting or stitching to my coasters once turned. This method has four layers: patchwork top, batting, and two layers of linen. 

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I think next time I try this I will make some placemats. It's really very addictive and I'm sure we all have a bunch of left over fabric scraps begging to be turned into something useful and beautiful!

A Community Sampler Giveaway - Week #1

Community Sampler Giveaway - Week #1

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Each Friday, throughout the Community Sampler sew-along, which Maureen Cracknell and I are co-hosting, will be a Giveaway Friday. We've coordinated special giveaway prizes with our amazing participating sponsors for each and every week! If you've happened to miss the first Community Sampler posts, take a look back from the first post Sneak Peek at the 2018 Sew Along to get caught up to the present. Feel free to start sewing with us at anytime--it's never too late to join in, and it's free! 

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The Community Sampler Sponsors

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Lady Belle Fabric  Omnigrid   Aurifil Thread  Art Gallery Fabrics 

Hobbs Batting  Dritz  Fat Quarter Shop  Bloc-Loc

Today Maureen and I are kicking off our weekly Community Sampler Giveaway with a prize from the two of us!!!

That's right, this week we're offering the winner a 12-piece Community Garden curated bundle including six gorgeous prints from my Bountiful, Tapestry, and Sketchbook collections for Art Gallery Fabrics. These prints mix perfectly with coordinating prints from Maureen's beautiful new Love Story collection and a favorite from Nightfall also from Art Gallery Fabrics. This bundle will include a fat quarter cut of each of the 12 prints that you see here. 

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This bundle is also available exclusively at Needle in a Fabric Stash! See their online shop for more information and orders will get a bonus fat quarter free to make a baker's (or gardener's) dozen. Plus, don't forget to shop their huge selection of Art Gallery Fabrics and check out the Sharon Holland Sampler bundle with free shipping!

ENTER TO WIN!

Here's how: Since Maureen and I are taking turns hosting the Community Sampler Giveaway Fridays, this week I'm sending you to Maureen Cracknell's blog to enter!

A BIG thanks to all of you who are joining the 2018 Community Sampler sew-along and to those who enter our Giveaway!  

♡ Sharon

October

My Favorite Month

Leaf prints by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics

Leaf prints by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics

Fall is my favorite time of year and October (being my birthday month) is my favorite month of the year. I have always loved trees and tend to draw and paint them a lot. Many of my fabric collections contain some sort of leaf print:

Top row - Sketchbook Framework, Tapestry Eternal, and Coastline Tropical

Middle row - Bountiful Vine, Bountiful Arborescent, and Sketchbook Framework

Bottom row - Tapestry Eternal, Coastline Tropical, and Bountiful Scenic. 

This year the weather here in Ohio has been all over the place and our growing season seems a bit turned around. The plants and trees got an early start due to a mild winter but a hot spring slowed growth so spring and summer flowers were not very showy. Although the plants in my yard are still not full, we are experiencing some second blooms on plants like Coneflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Coreopsis, and of course Mums, Autumn Joy, and Sunflowers are seasonally now in bloom. I don't normally have this much color in my yard this late in the season and it makes one think summer might last forever. 

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In the past I've painted predominantly landscape paintings and landscapes with barns. I've been wanting to get back to my canvases for some time now but it never seems to fit into my schedule. I've been taking photos of flower bouquets to have a reference for painting later when I have time to paint and want to try my hand at still life painting this next time around. I wish I could stop and paint while the flowers are fresh but my days seem to always be full of other priorities. These photos will have to do when I'm ready to paint and I love that the flowers and branches came from my yard. 

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I did have a chance at the end of September to get out my oil paints and relearn how to paint. It has been too long between sessions and I feel very rusty. In fact, I am so rusty that my first attempt paining this creamer with flowers I grabbed some tubes of acrylic paint (which I though were oils) and painted with a mix of oil and acrylic. Needless to say it was not a great experience and I couldn't figure out why the paints didn't act like I was used to them handling. 

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This very clumpy painting is okay but left much to be desired. I decided to redo the same image the next day so I could concentrate on mixing colors better, working with only oils (hee hee, that was a big improvement right there!), bolder and looser strokes.

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Much improved but still a long ways to go to get to where I want to be. This is something that will take time and because I love the process of learning as much as I like doing it will be a fun challenge. I still want to loosen up my strokes but once I have reacquainted myself with the basic techniques of painting with oils I wont have to concentrate on those so much and can work on style and strokes next. 

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Last week my husband and I had a great time in Phoenix, Arizona celebrating his father's 89th birthday. It always blows my mind seeing the desert landscape and I cannot help but feel I've stepped onto a different plant! I have no idea if the plants in AZ normally bloom this time of year or if they're also experiencing a second bloom season but I was pleasantly surprised to find so many blooming plants there this visit. I do love all the texture and the small leaves on the trees. 

I did come away with a pattern idea from our trip that I intend to explore this week and see if anything comes from it. My only hint is it's not from the plants and is inspired by something man-made and natural at the same time. Although the desert plants are really beautiful I don't feel a deep connection to them as I do the plants native to the Midwest so I will leave those to photography at this time. 

Photo cortesty of Quilter's Planner

Photo cortesty of Quilter's Planner

Looking ahead October will fly by. Quilt Market is only a week and a half away! The 2018 Quilter's Planner calendar will be available soon and this year it's packed with goodies. A separate magazine will have quilt patterns and it also comes with 4 pages of planning stickers by Alison Glass! To see all what the 2018 Quilter's Planner has to offer read more here (affiliate link).

Photo courtesy of Quilter's Planner

Photo courtesy of Quilter's Planner

Enjoy the beauties of October and soak in the last warm rays left-over from summer!