Featured and Free Quilts

Sharing quilt patterns is the best part about having this blog. I especially love when one of my designs is featured in a magazine and I can finally post about it! The Spring 2016 issue of Modern Patchwork has one of my favorite quilts sewn with Gossamer fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics. 

Spring 2016 Modern Patchwork Magazine

I called this baby quilt the Gunta Quilt. Named for the Bauhaus textile designer Gunta Stölzl. My quilt design was inspired from a period textile design I found online. The straight line quilting stitches mimic the black line element seen the inspiration textile study below. 

Textile design by Gunta Stölzl

Spring 2016 Modern Patchwork Magazine

Last year I did some house cleaning on the Free Patterns page of this blog. I have offered free patterns and tutorials since first going live in 2010. The Orange Peel Table Runner pattern was the first quilt pattern I wrote and published and was a huge success! It has been downloaded thousands of times but was in dire need of a makeover and re-write! 

When I designed my latest Art Gallery Fabrics collection called Tapestry, I knew this was the fabric line for updating the runner. The prints and colors were just perfect! 

I am happy to announce the new and improved (and easier to follow) Orange Peel Table Runner pattern is ready to download for free from the Free Patterns page once again. 

Keep in mind that this is an intermediate skill level block and although not that hard, could be slightly frustrating if you are new to patchwork quilting. The runner is shown here with several of my new Tapestry fabrics along with the Netting String print from Coastline on the front and Buoyant Fog print from the same collection for the backing. I love how prints from past collections can mix seamlessly with new collections.

Thanks for your patience while waiting for this pattern to be reformatted. Happy sewing!

Spring Grab Bag

Normally I like to have a singular idea or project to post about but this time it will be a little bit of everything all stitched into one blog post.

The current issue of Simply Moderne (issue no. 4) from Quilt Mania features the Bloomescent quilt I made with my Sketchbook fabrics, Pure Elements, and Squared Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics.

I had a little down time (a week) to do some garment sewing and play around with the new Art Gallery Fabrics Denim Studio fabrics. This new substrate for AGF is so beautiful and perfect for all sort of sewing applications. I intend to incorporate some in quilts but wanted to also see how it handled in clothing. 

My first adventure was sewing a blouse for myself. I love the clean lines of the Japanese garments found in book like Sew Chic Kids and Stylish Dress Book.

There's a little learning curve on these books because you need to transfer the patterns to tissue and add the seam allowances. I am not one to do a lot of garment sewing so it probably took me longer than someone with more experience. I am very happy with the end product and made this Button Front Blouse for my first project from the Stylish Dress Book. I definitely want to do more sewing with these fabrics and books!

With the weather getting unseasonably warm I made some bonnets for my granddaughter using the floral print from my Gossamer fabrics and lining from peach colored denim. The free pattern for this adorable Baby Sunbonnet is from Purl Soho. It was easy to make and a great pattern.

Spring also bring Spring Quilt Market! This year the spring show will be in Salt Lake City, Utah and I am already gearing up for the show. My fourth collection will be out in May and over the next couple of weeks Art Gallery Fabrics will be revealing all the new spring/summer collections. Here's the sneak peak for Tapestry.

Be watching as I show more prints from my new collection and glimpses into the Quilt Market preparations and projects for the show. It's starting to feel more like springtime everyday!

Aurifil for AGF

Sewing is not only about what fabric you use but also about the quality of thread you use to stitch it all together. That's why Art Gallery Fabrics has teamed up with Aurifil threads to bring you first quality threads packaged in fabulous thread sets.

A few months ago, AGF decided to rebrand their Aurifil boxes to better showcase the identity of each AGF designer and have a unified look to the box sets. Each designer has a large and small spool box of threads hand picked and curated by the designers for the color and thread weight. 

Since I now have three fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics I decided to put together boxes that would coordinate across all three collections--Gossamer, Sketchbook, and Coastline. My "Color Story" boxes have a very useful selection of colors in a variety of hues for all those sewing projects.

My large spool box is all about machine sewing whether that's garments or patchwork quilts. The large box contains 12 large spools of 50 weight cotton thread with 1422 yards on each spool. These babies last a long time! My small spool box I think of as my accent thread set. It contains 5 small spools of 50 weight cotton in playful colors, perfect for topstitching and 5 small spools of Aurifloss that are perfect for hand stitching, embroidery, and quilting. 

February seems to be the month of giveaways and the new thread sets are no exception. Here's another reason to get on Instagram because you can only enter the giveaway there. Follow Art Gallery Fabrics and the ten talented (me too) AGF designers for a daily chance (weekends excluded) at winning designer thread sets and a curated fat quarter bundle of mixed prints and coordinating solids to get you started sewing with your new thread sets! Read more about the giveaway on the AGF blog.

As part of the #AURIFILforAGF promotion, each AGF designer created a small project to show off their threads. These projects will be part of a traveling show to introduce the new box sets to shop owners and sewing enthusiasts. I decided to highlight the Aurifloss accent spools in my small set and hand quilted stitches on my paper-piece Kaleidoscope wall hanging. 

Kaleidoscope by Sharon Holland

For this month of love and giving, I am adding my Kaleidoscope pattern to my Free Patterns page. This is a nice beginner paper-piecing project if you've always wanted to give this technique a try. I love the scrappy color wheel look of this energetic wall hanging and how I incorporated some prints from all three of my collections along with a few Pure Element solids. I finished the quilt with simple straight line hand quilting using in the five different floss colors from the small spool set to accentuate the rainbow of colors and echo the lines on the blocks. 

McCall's Quilting

It may be only September, but this is a great time to start planning your holiday sewing projects. The McCall's Quilting November/December 2015 issue is shipping subscription issues now and will be available on the newsstands at the end of this month. This festive issue has 15 holiday projects and one of those projects is a quilt I have designed with my Gossamer fabrics. 

McCall's Quilting November/December 2015

The Snow and Shadow quilt is a 70-1/2" x 80-1/2" quilt made with Gossamer fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics. This is a great quilt for year-round appeal. In the winter it takes on a frosty look with angles and points. For spring and summer this has a more nautical look of beach glass and waves. McCalls Kits are available for this quilt while supplies last. 

Save up to 60% on Quilt Kits at Quilt and Sew Shop

If you are an Instagram users, follow me on IG for a chance to win one of two copies of the McCall's Quilting issue. Details on how to enter will be posted on my Instagram account and the giveaway will be an Instagram only giveaway (not part of this blog post). Be watching for an IG post about this magazine for more details. 

On Thursday, September 24th I will be guest blogging on the McCall's Quilting Blog and be talking about how to make Mitered-Corner Napkins. Cloth napkins are great anytime of the year but especially fun around the holidays. With all the fabulous printed cottons out there you can easily make napkins to go with any holiday or home decor look. Be sure to check out my guest post this week for the tutorial as well as a chance to win a Gossamer fabrics fat quarter bundle in the cool blues colorway! See McCall's Quilting Blog on Thursday September 24th, 2015 for fabric giveaway details.

Visit McCall's Quilting Blog post on 9/24/15 for information on how to win this Gossamer fabrics fat quarter bundle! 

So, what are you planning on sewing? I'd love to hear from you. Remember, stop by and say "Hi" on Instagram and be watching for how to enter for a chance to win 1 of 2 copies of the latest McCall's Quilting holiday sewing magazine.