Chicks in Space

The other day I was tidying up my sewing room, and I temporarily put some black pin dot fabric on top of my Sweet Prairie bolts whilst moving some fabrics around. Then I noticed how lovely the black looked against the vibrant colours of that collection, and an idea was born.

You may have noticed that I never, ever, EVER sew with black or even dark backgrounds. I've always been a white background girl, and only very occasionally venture out into other pastels such as ivory or powder pink... So this was definitely pushing myself out of my comfort zone!

The pattern is my Backyard Chicks mini quilt.  I keep looking at it, and I like how modern it looks, and how the colours seem to pop against the black, but I don't know if I 'love' it... What I keep thinking is that the poor little chicks seem to be floating in space, rather than having a peaceful graze in the backyard :D What do you think though? I would love to hear your opinions. 

The Backyard Chicks Mini Pattern is my 'Pattern of the Day' in the shop today and is 25% off. This pattern is also available as a full size quilt. I've also put a bundle of 17 fat quarters from my Sweet Prairie collection in the shop - this fabric is several years old now and hard to find so don't miss it. I have very little left of it now, and have already run out of 4 prints.

In the evenings I'm continuing to make progress with my cross-stitch 'Storytime Sampler' - all 12 story frames are now complete and I've started filling in the blank squares in the backgrounds of the earlier frames. I feel like a rebel deviating from the pattern, but I think it looks better this way. I'll show you the whole thing next time hopefully.

Until next time dear friends (and I'm so proud to be blogging regularly again! I've missed hanging out here!) Stay safe and happy sewing,

Spool Key Fobs Tutorial

I'm back as a regular guest blogger on fellow Riley Blake fabric designer Amy Smart's blog Diary of A Quilter, where I'm sharing a tutorial to make these rather special spool shaped key fobs!

This is a great little project for your favorite fabric scraps, and they make lovely gifts too. I used Liberty tana lawn in my spools.

Please go to Amy's blog for the free picture tutorial and the templates. Enjoy!

Baby Storybook in 'Milk & Honey'

It's been three years since I published my popular Baby Storybook pattern, so it was time to give it a makeover in new fabrics! Elea Lutz' new collection 'Milk & Honey' was a match made in heaven - look at those adorable colours (sweet mint and pink, with gold highlights) and the prints are pretty cute too. Perfection!

Let me introduce you to 'Honeybun' and 'Bearhug' and take you for a tour inside their house. There’s breakfast in the kitchen, a quick morning shower followed by a day’s play, and a cosy tuck into bed at the end of a busy day. The pattern has interactive elements and also includes templates for a tiny apron, a bib, and a hand embroidered patch for the back cover with the recipient's name on it.

You can download the PDF pattern here. Paper patterns are also available in the shop but please be prepared for significant postal delays due to COVID 19 - my recommendation is to get the instant download PDF pattern if you have a printer at home.

Ever since its initial publication this pattern has consistently remained one of my post popular (and most pinned!) patterns. It has a certain olde-worlde vintage charm that people love, and it makes a perfect heirloom gift for a new baby or grandchild. If you make one please do email me at sedef@downgrapevinelane.com or tag me on Facebook or Instagram as I would love to see!

'Pinwheel Duet' Quilt | RBD Block Challenge

Gosh, I've really fallen behind with my blog posts - sorry! If you would like to keep more up to date with my work, please consider following me on Facebook or Instagram - I post on both of those accounts almost daily and I also often run special discount codes, 24 hour sales and the like that you would otherwise miss.

I have a new quilt pattern out! It's called 'Pinwheel Duet' and is a beginner friendly pattern that comes with two size options - baby quilt and throw quilt. A simple 6” block is all that’s required to make this quilt that is super easy and fast to cut and piece. The same block is rotated throughout the quilt to create two sets of pinwheels in alternating colours.

The fabrics are of course from my Rhapsody collection, with the exception of the navy print which is from an old Lori Holt line. I love the 'pop' it gives!

I have also joined a new social media challenge that Riley Blake Designs are currently running. It's called 'RBD Block Challenge' and every week we are making a traditional block. I missed week 1 which was Churn Dash, and since then we've made a Log Cabin block and a Friendship Star. The challenge runs for 10 weeks and I'm going to turn my 9 blocks into a 3x3 mini quilt. To join just make a block (in any size) using either your own method or one of the many free tutorials you will find on the internet. Share on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #rbdblockchallenge.

I was sorting through some of my old WIPs the other day when I came across a cross stitch sampler I started back in 2015! The pattern's by the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and is called 'Storytime Sampler', it was a monthly stitch along that year. Anyway, I'm finishing it now (better late than never), and it's really helping me as meditative therapy during this COVID 19 lock down. Hope you are all keeping safe (and sane) dear friends - sending lots of love to each and every one of you!

'Perfectly Pretty Patchwork' Book Tour

Kristyne Czepuryk's beautiful blog Pretty By Hand was one of the first blogs that inspired me to buy my first sewing machine and learn to sew, back in 2011. Fast forward almost 10 years and here I am to show you her wonderful new book 'Perfectly Pretty Patchwork' and share what I made from it!

The book is full of beautiful patchwork projects ranging from the smallest (pincushions) to the biggest (bed size quilts). It's full of inspiring fabric selections and photography, and there's something in it for everyone. Now, for me, I have a real soft spot for Dresdens, so when I saw that blue Dresden on the cover of the book I knew immediately that's what I had to make.

For the Dresden Plate I used my Summer Blush fabrics, with only one other print, a pink mini floral, from my Sweet Prairie collection. The low volume background print is from one of Amy Sinibaldi's early lines. I turned my project into a trivet , by machine quilting the background in a fan pattern, and hand quilting the edge with DMC perle floss. Making this trivet was truly therapy for my soul - like most people around the world I'm struggling with all the bad news relating to COVID 19 and the massive toll it's having on everyone's lives. It's truly surrreal, and sewing really helps me to keep my anxiety in check and do something productive whilst we are in lock down.

Hope you are all doing well and keeping safe, dear friends - well as much as any of us really can at a time like this... At least we have sewing to help keep us sane in isolation, that's one blessing! Here is a list of all the other makers taking part in the book tour - go check them out and see some other projects from this beautiful book!