Hold Tight Sew Along

Hold Tight Sew Along

Hold Tight Sew Along Sq.jpg

Since adding the Hold Tight baby quilt pattern to my Shop last week there’s been such an amazing response to this pattern and so many sales that I thought it would be a great pattern for a sew along.

Hold Tight.jpg

Hold Tight is a throw-size baby quilt made with 20 different Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids colors and curved patchwork pieces. Those two features make this quilt a tiny bit more challenging than typical straight-piece patchwork. But, don’t let this intermediate level pattern stop you from trying it—neither of these these aspects are as hard as you may think! Read more about this quilt from the original blog post—Hold Tight Quilt.

Hold Tight Sew Along Banner web.jpg

For the very reason that this quilt pattern has skill challenges makes it the perfect quilt to build tutorials around! In fact, for this sew along I’m even going the extra mile and creating accompanying You Tube videos to go with the different steps for piecing the quilt.

Hold Tight Sew Along Sq.jpg

Every Wednesday from March 20th until April 10th I’ll post a tutorial here on the blog covering tips and tricks for taking your patchwork to the next level. There’s no special sign up for this sew along. The only thing you’ll need for sewing along (other that materials for the quilt) is to purchase the pattern from my Shop page.

Week #1

I’ll share with you how I work with colors. This basic color theory knowledge is something that transcends beyond working with fabrics in patchwork and can be helpful if you’re an artist/hobbiest, decorating your home, putting together your wardrobe, or anything that has to do with color. Balloons and the transparency effect of balloons overlapping is the graphic hallmark of this quilt design and the possibilities for color combinations are endless. The Hold Tight quilt pattern calls for 20 different solids which can feel a bit overwhelming so I’ll be giving you some tools for knowing where to start and how to select your colors. I’ll be using Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids material in my quilts and fabric pull examples.

The You Tube videos for this sew along will all be available on the first week for those of you that would like to work ahead (as this quilt will not take four weeks to complete). Just be sure to snap pictures of your progress as you sew so you can share your progress on Instagram. I’ll be using the official #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag on Instagram to grow a hashtag pool for sew along giveaways. Read more about the giveaways below.

Week #2

Templates have been included in the PDF pattern for the three different shapes used to create blocks as well as a Block Trimming templates. Transferring your templates to template plastic and cutting out the fabric shapes will be covered in week #2. I’ll have tricks for making your cutting easier.

Week #3

For those that have shied away from curved piecing because it looks too hard will find out just how easy curved piecing can be with week #3 pinning, stitching, and pressing tutorials. Create absolutely square blocks and perfect seam allowances.

Week #4

The finish line! Put all the blocks together, baste, quilt, and bind your Hold Tight quilt. Week #4 and beyond is the big reveal weeks. Show off your make and don’t forget to use the #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag and tag me @sharonhollanddesigns when posting to social media.

HoldTightSewAlong Sponsor.jpg

A sew along is a lot more fun with sponsors and giveaways, right!? Our friends at Dritz Sewing, the Fat Quarter Shop, Hobbs Batting, and Omnigrid have generously provided the Hold Tight Sew Along with products I know you’ll love!

Hold Tight Sew Along Badge.jpg

GIVEAWAY

Every Friday, beginning on March 22nd, 2019 I’ll be posting the weekly giveaway on Instagram. By using the hashtag #HoldTightSewAlong on Instagram every time you post sew along photos to a public account (private account posts don’t show up in hashtag pools) your IG account is automatically entered into the weekly sew along drawings! Ideas for what to share include your sew along progress, the I’m a maker sew along badge, your fabric pull, blocks, and finished quilt.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns so you never miss a thing!

HOLD TIGHT PATTERN GIVEAWAY Now Closed. Congratulations to: Rita Long, Laurie Reissler, and Teri!

Note: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (First comment entry).

2. Follow me @sharonhollanddesigns on Instagram (see link above). Just let me know that you do/did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Spread the word about being a Hold Tight Sew Along Maker on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post (separate comment-third entry). 

That’s THREE possible entries! Enter now through Monday, March 18th! I’ll randomly pick THREE winners from the comments on this post around 4 pm Eastern time on Monday. I’ll post the names of the winners on this post once they've been notified and responded to my emails.

Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram! Look for my PDF pattern giveaway post where you simply leave a comment on that post and tag a friend. I’ll be giving away a total of 10 PDF patterns through Instagram—that’s one for the commenter and one for the tagged friend—so five randomly drawn comments.

Use the official #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag every time you post your Hold Tight makes (to a public IG account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG hashtag pool drawings that start on March 22nd! See my Instagram giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for more chances to win this week’s PDF pattern giveaways. 

Happy sewing!

Sharon






Hold Tight Quilt

Hold Tight Quilt

Hold Tight Baby Quilt by Sharon Holland Designs

Hold Tight Baby Quilt by Sharon Holland Designs

I’m so excited to bring you this new PDF quilt pattern! I swear this is has been the most fun I’ve ever had designing and making of a quilt.

Pure Solids Selection.jpg

My niece is having their first baby and is decorating the nursery in an Up theme from the movie by that name. Balloons are an important part of the movie and I certainly had a challenge on my hands to create a special quilt that carried (pardon the pun) that fun and colorful aspect of the storyline.

I knew right away this would be an all solids quilt and since I sew with nothing else but Art Gallery Fabrics I got out all my Pure Solids and made some fabric choices. The image above was an early fabric pull and you’ll notice some colors changed in the final quilt design.

Hold Tight draped.jpg

This baby quilt is purposely over-sized as it will be a great design for baby to grow into. I envision blanket forts, snuggles at story time, and naps out on the sofa well past toddler years.

Gender-neutral, colorful balloons are given an extra layer of fun with playful transparency overlapping colors. This quilt uses 20 different Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids (that number includes the background) and the possibilities are endless for creating looks and nursery color matching. Playing with color is the so much fun that I’ve included a coloring page in the PDF pattern so you can test out different options.

Hold Tight Quilt Hand Stitching.jpg

Since this quilt will surely be laundered a lot and I wanted it snuggly warm I used Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% Premium Polyester batting for extra loft, durability, and warmth.

As if this quilt wasn’t fun enough I added some chunky hand stitching in Aurifloss 6-strand thread to make “strings” for the balloons after it was machine quilted and before binding.

This pattern is available to purchase as a PDF download on my SHOP page. Because of the curved piecing I am labeling this an Intermediate level quilt pattern but I feel a confident beginner will also achieve great results.

Included in the that PDF pattern is a block squaring template for perfect results every time. I highly suggest using Dritz brand Heavy Duty Template Plastic for making your templates from the PDF templates and a 28 mm rotary cutter for cutting curved pieces. See full materials list on the listing for the pattern and affiliate links at the end of this post for my Amazon picks.

Hold Tight close.jpg

I can’t wait to see your Hold Tight quilt make for your special little someone. Be sure to tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and use the hashtag #HoldTightQuilt and #SharonHollandQuilts when posting to social media and if you’re using Art Gallery Fabric Pure Solids don’t forget to tag @ArtGalleryFabrics and use the hashtags #AGFPureSolids and #PureSolids so they can also see your beautiful sewing!

Castle Garden Quilt

Castle Garden Quilt

Castle Garden quilt pattern by Sharon Holland

Castle Garden quilt pattern by Sharon Holland

Hi everyone, I’ve got a new PDF pattern release in my SHOP! The beautiful Castle Garden quilt pattern is now available as a PDF download and in addition you can now purchase and download this pattern directly from my website in a secure shopping cart.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be adding my other for purchase PDF patterns to my SHOP page so it’s more convenient for you to make purchases—rather than sending you off-site to a second-party like in the past. My patterns will still remain up on Crafty but now you can shop right from this blog as well.

Castle Garden Cover 3.jpg

My Castle Garden quilt pattern was originally designed for the May 2018 Quilter’s Candy Box as a collaborative project using Maureen Cracknell’s Flower Child fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and was originally available only as a printed pattern.

flowerchild-logo-transparent.png

Hidden amongst mother earth’s beauty lives the Flower Child. A world filled with lush meadows, wild bouquets & the spirit of the flower child painted with fuchsia, blush pink & teal.

Maureen always creates magical collections and when she asked me to design a quilt for her Flower Child prints I wanted it to be special and showcase the beautiful Sisterhood print of crowned flower girls.

Castle Garden Quilt 2.jpg

The extra-large Castle Garden blocks are perfect for showing off all the prints and framing the Sisterhood print in what I like to think of as an aerial view of a four tower castle complete with Pure Element solid peach flags.

I’m very pleased with how this quilt looks and from a piecing-geek perspective, how I devised and new no-waste method of piecing a tricky patchwork unit used in this design. I do label this quilt as intermediate because there’s a lot of moving parts to the blocks and several different types of units to make before block assembly. But, with that said, the instructions are fully illustrated with step-by-step instructions and I feel confident great results can be achieved even from a confident beginner level maker.

This full-size bed quilt was quilted with Hobb’s Tuscany Silk batting inside and you know by now how much I love that batting. It’s lightweight, drapes beautifully, and handles like a dream. I chose to do a clam-shell type of freeform quilt design with an extra curly flourish in the center. I like how the quilting feels wispy and cloud-like around the castles.

Castle Garden Quilt wall.jpg

This pattern is now available in print or PDF format. See SHOP for details and select desired format type when ordering.


Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to: Kathryn Laposata, Anna Brown, and Amy Loar!

To say “Thank you” to my wonderful followers and celebrate me finally getting around to implementing the digital download feature on my commerce page I want to give away PDF versions of my Castle Garden quilt pattern.

I will randomly draw three lucky winners from the comments left on this post. Winners will be sent a Castle Garden PDF pattern via an email address. Please remember to leave some way to get ahold of you—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to redraw a name because of no contact information.

Note: This giveaway is open to everyone. If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment(s)--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post telling me what you’re thankful for.

Enter now through Tuesday, November 13th! The winners will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winners on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

Thank you!

Sharon




Color Master Designer's Palette Bundles

Color Master Designer’s Palette Bundles

Sharon Holland Designer Palette Bundles 1.jpg

There’s so many reasons why I love designing fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics and the NEW Color Master Designer’s Palette bundles are another exciting addition to that long list of AGF awesomeness!

top-banner_designers_bundles.jpg

You’re probably familiar with the Color Master boxes and bundles by color where prints by the different Art Gallery Fabrics designers are curated to build your stash by color, well…

Sharon Holland Designer's Palette 1.jpg

The new Color Master Designer’s Palette bundles are color palettes curated by designer! It’s like getting a Sharon Holland 10-piece sampler bundle of perfectly coordinating prints from across my different AGF fabric lines all in a pretty bundle or box of fat quarters or half yard pieces of fabric! Both the fat quarter and 1/2 yard bundles contain the same ten beautiful prints.

Learn more about the AGF designers and these new curated bundles HERE on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog.

Feathered Nest Quilt 6.jpg

I was so excited about these Designer’s Palette bundles that I immediately began work designing a free quilt pattern specifically made for use with the ten prints in my Sharon Holland #1 edition. Yes, there’ll be new Designer’s Palette bundle editions in the future!

Feathered Nest Quilt 3.jpg

I’m swooning over the gorgeous color palette AGF has put together with prints from my Signature, Coastline, and Sketchbook fabric collections. This is definitely my color palette!

Feathered Nest Quilt

If you know anything about me and my quilt patterns by now, you know I like to make scrap quilts but I also like to be very efficient with cutting and fabric requirements.

The Feathered Nest quilt is a 58-inch square throw quilt that uses every bit of a Sharon Holland Designer’s Palette #1 fat quarter bundle. See PDF download for full materials list.

Feathered Nest Quilt Flat.jpg

With the addition of three Pure Elements solids to the 10-piece fat quarter bundle I’ve come up with easy cutting instructions for a no-fail quilt design. The prints are a beautiful mix of just the right amount of light and dark, large and small scale prints, as well as visual texture. I even used the left-over scraps for a fun, scrappy binding.

Feathered Nest Quilt 5.jpg

This quilt is beginner-friendly, fun, fast, and rewarding to make! You could easily make this over a weekend. Even though this is a throw-size quilt, I love how it looks on top of a double bed.

I used Hobb’s Tuscany Polyester batting for the first time when making this quilt and OMG, I’m in love!!!! I’ve been so impressed with all the Hobb’s battings I’ve tried so far but honestly wasn’t sure I’d like the synthetic batting until I took it out of the wrapper. It’s the most luxurious poly batting I’ve ever handled and quilted like a dream! The high loft was just perfect for this quilt and gives it an eiderdown-look to the quilt—especially as a bed topper like in this photo.

Feathered Nest Quilt 1.jpg

Maybe it’s the recent cold snap that made me want something extra warm and snuggly but I’m thrilled with my choice of batting on this project. The wonderful bonus of Hobb’s Tuscany Polyester batting is that one, it doesn’t shrink and two, it can be quilted up to 4” apart which was exactly perfect for the minimal machine quilting I used when following the diagonal lines of the half-square triangles. Easy peasy and oh, so snuggly!

More and more shops will be adding these bundle/boxes to their listings but at the time of writing this blog post I’ve found the following fabric shops carrying the Sharon Holland Designer’s Palette bundles:

Dinkydoo Fabrics

Threaded Lines

Fat Quarter Shop

Red Thread Studio

Needle and Foot

Sharon Holland Designer Palette Bundles 1.jpg

Download the free Feathered Nest quilt pattern HERE.

If you’re a shop that carries my bundles and would like to use this quilt pattern for a shop sample, please direct your customers to this blog to download a copy of the pattern for use with their Sharon Holland Designer’s Palette fabrics. Additionally, if you’re a shop that carries my bundles and you didn’t see your shop listed above please contact me so I can add you to the Fabrics page on my site.

Happy sewing,

Sharon