Orchid Valley Quilt and Pattern

I am excited to share a new quilt finish and pattern with you today called Orchid Valley, now available in my pattern shop!  This quilt is a little different for me, I usually do not use this many prints all together, but I must say that this is one of my favorite quilts I have made in the last few years.

FABRICS & MATERIALS

The cover quilt is made with:

• Kismet collection by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics 
• Essex Linen in Flax by Robert Kaufman 
• Moda Bella Solids in White

The start of this quilt was the purchase of a fat quarter bundle of the Kismet fabrics.  I knew that I wanted to use the fabric together as a collection and design a quilt that would highlight all of the wonderful prints and colors.

I used my favorite Warm & White batting by the Warm Company and Aurifil thread for the piecing.  The beautiful quilting is by Carol Alperin and it is kind of a swirls clamshell like design.

For the backing, I went with a soft cream and tan wide back print (I love not having to piece a backing!).

ABOUT THE DESIGN & NAME

I love star designs and this little twist on the star block is so fun, with extra window-pane like grid incorporated into the block.  I also love how having different values and prints in various spots in the blocks make each block have a different look and feel.

The sashing and cornerstones ground the design a little and give the eye a place to rest.

One of my best friends (and the most awesome tech editor in the world!) Yvonne recently moved to the Big Island of Hawaii.  In addition to having the most interesting fruit trees, she also has a ton of native orchids growing on her property.  I named this pattern Orchid Valley in honor of her and in thanks for sharing all of Hawaii's beauty so that I may live a little vicariously through her.

PATTERN DETAILS

Orchid Valley is written at a confident beginner level and is fat quarter friendly.  You can use fat quarters, ¼ yard cuts, or a mixture of both to make the blocks.

The pattern contains instructions to make three sizes: baby, lap, and twin.

Orchid Valley is on sale in my pattern shop as a digital pattern at a special introductory price of $10 now through Sunday, May 9th.  Once you make an Orchid Valley of your own, you can share it via social media using the hashtag #OrchidValleyQuilt.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

MANY THANKS

I would like to thank Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl for her amazing tech editing skills and quilting ideas (and for sharing her wonderful orchid pictures which inspired the quilt name).  I would also like to thank the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting (my favorite!).

MORE PICTURES

I went to take pictures of Orchid Valley over the weekend and had perfect photography weather.  It was around 4 pm and cloudy so the sky was bright but diffuse.  I went on a walk to the wood near my house (I always get funny looks walking down the street with my quilt and photography equipment) and the forest was just coming to life.  

All of the new grown had this gorgeous light green color and played really well with the earth tones of the quilt.  After I finished outside, I took a few styled shots within my house and my littlest cat Piper decided to join in.  

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

PINTEREST 

I have been more and more active on Pinterest (check me out here).  If you would like to save Orchid Valley for later on your Pinterest boards, here is a pinnable image.

Remember, you can get the Orchid Valley pattern in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop for only $9.50 through Sunday, May 9th.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

Salad Bin Fabric Storage

Today I am sharing a tip today that is:

1. good for your fabric
2. good for your health
3. good for the environment

What is this amazing tip?  Using empty salad tubs for fabric storage.  These tubs will organize for fabric, be great for your heath (from all of the salad you will eat), and save the environment by reusing the container.

When I started building up a fabric stash, I would stack my fabrics on shelves and in various containers, which was very messy and disorganized.  My lack of organization made finding the fabric I wanted very difficult and even harder to put away neatly.

I started searching out options for better organizing my growing fabric collection, quickly dismissing plastic storage bins from Target due to the cost.  Making mini-bolts using magazine boards looked interesting, but a good chunk of my stash was fat quarters and quarter yard cuts which do not lend themselves well to mini-bolts. (I do store my cuts greater than 1/2 yard cuts on the boards).

The solution came to me as I was serving my family salad one evening.  The salad bin was the perfect size...and it was free!  I decided to collect enough bins to have one bin per color for folded fabric and one bin per color for scraps.  That is a lot of bins which is where the health benefit of the fabric storage plan comes in...my family ate a lot a salad!

The salad bins I used were from Costco (shown above), but they have similar salad bins at Sam's Club, Publix and other larger grocery stores.

Now take a look at my organized shelves :) Each bin is clear making it easy to see all of the fabric. When I want to go through my pink fabrics (for example), I can just pull out the bin, take out the fabric I want, and put the bin back on my shelf.

Here is how I fold my fabric to fit well into the bins (the pictures below show a half yard cut)...

1.  Begin by laying out your yardage folded like it comes off the bolt, with the two salvages on the right side and the fold on the left side.  For fat quarters, orient your fabric so that the salvage is on right side.

2.  Bring the fold (or the cut edge in the case of a fat quarter) to the savages.

3.  Repeat  #2 again, bringing the folded edge to the salvages.  You should now have a fabric folded to approximately the width of the storage bin.  The length of the folded fabrics will depend on size of the fabric cut.

4.  Now fold the fabric along its length so that the bundle matches the depth of the bin.  I have found folding a half yard cut into fourths works best for my bin size.

What are your best fabric storage tips?

Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup - April 2021

Welcome to April's Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup!

I don't have a favorite quilt finish this month, but did have some big quilting things happen... the Morewood Mystery quilt wrapped up, the Macaron Mystery (starting in July) was announced, and my newest book Just One Charm Pack Quilts was also announced.  That made for a very full April for me (and a lot of time in front of the computer).

Ready for the party?  

Here is a reminder of the party details:

• The linky party will open at 12:01am EST on the last day of the month and will be open for 5 days, through the 4th at 11:59 pm EST.

• For instructions on how to link up blog, Instagram, or pictures from your computer (new - there is now a way to just upload a picture without a web link) to the party, click here.  

• If linking a blog post, I ask that you please add a link back to the party.

• Please visit at least 3 other links (and preferably leave comments) to share the love and celebration :)

I hope you join in by checking out the posts or linking your favorite finish of the month!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

 

Flagstone Path ++ Pattern Release

Today, my newest quilt pattern Flagstone Path is releasing :)  The jelly roll, beginner friendly pattern contains instructions for four sizes: baby, lap (shown as cover quilt), large lap, and twin.  The Flagstone Path pattern is now available in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop. 

FABRICS & MATERIALS

I love Denyse Schmidt fabric collections, they have such a great mix of different colors and prints to give a scrappy yet cohesive look.  For Flagstone Path I used an older DS collection called Shelburne Falls.  I paired the jelly roll with Moda Bella Solids in White to give the eye a place to rest.  I bound the quilt with a bias printed plaid DS print.

QUILTING PLAN AND DESIGN

Using the piecing as a guild, I quilted rows of double loops horizontally across the quilt.  Because of the seam lines, I was able to keep my quilting (mostly) parallel and I did not have to do any marking.  I used Aurifil 50 wt thread in soft white (2021) for the quilting.

FLAGSTONE PATH PATTERN DETAILS

You may remember this design from years (and years) back as it was originally released as only a lap size as a Moda Bake Shop pattern called Ma Maison.  The pattern has been revamped and now includes baby, lap, large lap, and twin sizes.  Flagstone Path is jelly roll and scrap friendly and perfect for beginners as there are no seams to match.

Flagstone Path is on sale in my pattern shop as a digital pattern at a special introductory price of $9.50 through Sunday, April 25th.  Once you make a Flagstone Path of your own, you can share it via social media using the hashtag #FlagstonePathQuilt.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

MANY THANKS

I would like to thank Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl for her amazing tech editing skills and quilting ideas.  I would also like to thank the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting (my favorite!).

ALTERNATIVE COLORWAY

My original version of the quilt for the Moda Bake Shop was made with the Petite Prints Deux collection by French General for Moda Fabrics and Moda Bella Solids in Ivory.  For this quilt I added feathers in the sashing areas and straight lines in the pieced rows.  You can the quilting more clearly on the back of the quilt because it was a solid fabric.

PINTEREST 

I have been more and more active on Pinterest (check me out here).  If you would like to save Flagstone Path for later on your Pinterest boards, here is a pinnable image.

Remember, you can get the Flagstone Path pattern in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop for only $9.50 through Sunday, April 25th.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

Just One Charm Pack Quilts Book!!

I have some exciting news today....I get to officially announce my new book, Just One Charm Pack Quilts!!  The book will be published by Stash Publications in late June and I have a bunch of fun ways to celebrate.

Do you have a pile of charm packs in your sewing room?  I know I do (even after writing an entire book about them!).  Charm packs are so cute and such a great way of getting a little bit of each fabric from a designer's new collection.  I would impulse buy them each time I was shopping for fabric.

But when it came time to use the charm packs, one charm pack never seemed like enough fabric to make a full quilt.  Most charm pack patterns required 2 or 3 packs, sometimes matching packs.  So my stack charm packs slowly grew and grew.

I wanted my charm packs to go into quilts so I came up with 18 patterns that would be the Hamburger Helper for charm packs.  By adding in an additional fabric and background fabric I was able to stretch the charm pack into a full quilt!

The quilts from the book are perfect for babies, children, small lap quilts, table toppers, wall hangings, and more.

TWO COLORWAYS

As a bonus (through the help of some wonderful quilting friends), each pattern is made in two different colorways for added inspiration.

Left quilt by Dana Right quilt by Cheryl Brickey

LAUNCH DATES

Publication Date Late June - Just One Charm Pack Quilts will be published towards the end of June.  The exact date is still unknown depending on shipping times/delays.

Pre-Sale Dates May 29th - June 5th - I am going to be offering a super bundle for signed books that will include additional patterns, plus an unreleased pattern that will only be available during this pre-sale.  More details soon :)

VIDEOS

I will be recording some fun videos in the next couple of months highlighting different quilts and techniques in the book.  You can find the first video introducing the book and showing two quilts here:

Just One Charm Pack - Intro Video

And don't forget to subscribe to the Meadow Mist Designs YouTube Channel so you do not miss one :)

BOOK HOP

In mid-July, there will be a week long book hop where a bunch of quilters will be showing off their versions of the book quilts.  I love seeing everyone's take on the designs and am excited to see what they make.

CHARITY QUILT SEW ALONG

After the book is launched (probably starting in July and ending in November), I will be hosting a charity sew along for the book.  Each quilt made from one of the book patterns and donated to a cause will gain you one entry to win some fun prizes (and help out the worthy cause of your choice).  More details to come...

I hope that you are excited about the book too, thanks!!