Rin Along ++ Alternative Appliqué Methods

Looking for information on other applique methods besides needle turned applique?  Cindy at Hyacinth Quilt Designs is posting today about for alternative applique methods. 

I have not made much progress on my new block, but did get a chance to try out the new 80 wt Aurifil thread.  I had asked Aurifil about the 80 wt thread for the needle turned applique and they very kindly send me some spools to try out (they are also offering a Carolyn Friedlander set of 80 wt spools as a prize for the quilt along!).  For my first block, I used the 50 wt Aurifil thread and it worked well so I was excited to try out the 80 wt.

The 80 wt thread did not disappoint, I don't have the needle turned applique best stitching technique, but because the thread is so fine, the stitches practically disappeared.  I am officially a fan :)

Just as a reminder - the deadline for submitting for the Rin Along parade is coming up in just a few days:  

• You will need to e-mail either Cindy or myself (MeadowMistDesigns at gmail dot com) a picture of your "finish" by July 2nd.
• You only need to have one block made (just appliqued, the block does not need to be quilted).  

Guest Posting at Quilt Theory

Want a peek into the pattern writing and editing process we use at Quilt Theory?  I am over on the Quilt Theory blog today explaining our method to ensure the best possible quality patterns.  You can get to the post by clicking right here.

Rin Along ++ Alternate Layouts

I'm back this week in the Rin Along to share some alternate layouts for your Rin quilt.  Cindy is sharing some more of her progress of her beautiful blocks over on her blog.

love to play around with alternative layouts and grids and thought you might enjoy seeing some different designs (thank you to Cindy for the idea).  These designs tend to include more negative space so you can create a good sized quilt using fewer blocks.

Some lap-sized ideas using 3, 4, and 5 blocks:

A twin-sized version using 7 blocks set on point:

Magnolia Mystery Quilt ++ Sponsors Day 3

I am back today with the last (but certainly not least!) 4 sponsors for the Magnolia Mystery Quilt and their generous prizes (we have a total of over $1,000 in prizes!!).

You can find out more about the Magnolia Mystery quilt here and find out more about the 1st set of sponsors here and the 2nd set of sponsors here.  Without further ado here are the final sponsors...

A family affair! Honey, Bunny, and Doll Patterns are designed by a mother (Lori) and two daughters (Alison and Amanda). While it is hard for us to live in three different states, our mutual love of quilting keeps us close! We aim to design quilts that appeal to a wide variety of quilters and designs that work well with a range of different fabric styles! Most of our designs come from quilts that we have designed for ourselves, including Dashing to the Chapel, Spring Splendor, and Ready, Set, Soar! We also offer a limited selection of kits and precuts in our Etsy store, as well as a variety of 108" wide backing fabrics!

Honey, Bunny, and Doll Patterns is generously donating a choice of one precut item plus one HBD pattern (US only). Here are just a few of their patterns (Dashing to the Chapel, Spring Splendor, and Ready, Set, Soar!)...


Honey, Bunny, and Doll have order a ton of Kona solids as options for the quilt top background and are going to offer special pricing for the quilt along.  The special will be posted on Friday July 7th (the day after the fabric requirements are posted).

Beth from Cooking Up Quilts is another new sponsor this year, she is a quilter, pattern designer, DIYer, blogger, wife and mother. She shares her passion for creating on her blog Cooking Up Quilts.  You can find her patterns in her Craftsy shop.  Beth is donating 2 PDF patterns (winners choice) for each of 2 winners.

Owl Quilt It, based in Texas, has generously offered quilting services as a prize to one lucky winner.  The prize includes consultation and semi-dense edge to edge quilting for a throw to queen size including batting and thread. The customer would need to provide quilt top, backing, and shipping costs (to and from). Prize must be redeemed within one year.

Owl Quilt it, located in Plano, TX, is a long arm quilting business specializing in edge to edge quilting started by Elizabeth Doyle. She started quilting at the age of 5 and now is raising her daughters to love her passion as well. Elizabeth uses a Handi Quilter Infinity to help her dream of picking the right design and thread to highlight your piecing. Owl Quilt It is a relatively new business that has quilted several quilts that were entered into the 2017 Dallas Quilt show and has won an award. Owl Quilt It would love to discuss how to turn your next UFO into a beloved family heirloom.

As a bonus, Elizabeth is going to be offering participants of the Magnolia Mystery Quilt a discount towards quilting services.  More information will be given when the mystery quilt top design is revealed.

I, Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs, am also donating some prizes to the Meadow Mystery Quilt winners.  I will be donating 2 digital quilt patterns (winner's choice) to 4 winners.  You can find my quilt patterns on my Etsy and Craftsy shops.  Here is a small selection of patterns of my patterns to select from:

Many, many thanks to the 14 sponsors we have for the Magnolia Mystery Quilt!

Rin Along ++ Basting and Quilting Progress

I'm back with our weekly Rin Along check-in showing some of the progress I have made on my Rin blocks.  Cindy (Hyacinth Quilt Designs) is sharing some tips on the applique stitch today so hop over to her blog to learn more.

My first block, using some of Carolyn Friedlander's prints, is all appliqued and I have started to hand quilt it.  I used wool batting for the first time and am enjoying the poof of the batting.  I am quilting along the horizontal lines in the background fabric with big stitch hand quilting using Aurifil thread in 12 wt. (the color is 2730).  To make the applique stand out more, once I finish the hand quilting, I will use machine quilting to outline the applique shapes.

For my second block I decided to use some fabrics from the Farm Fun collection by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda.  (I am making each block into a finished item so that it why by blocks do not match or coordinate at all.)  I have my second block cut out and half basted now.  I have my new Aurifil 80 wt thread ready and waiting for the applique.  I have never tried the 80 wt before so I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Magnolia Mystery Quilt ++ Sponsors Day 2

I am back today with the next 5 sponsors for the Magnolia Mystery Quilt and their generous prizes (we have a total of over $1,000 in prizes!!).

You can find out more about the Magnolia Mystery quilt here and find out more about the 1st set of sponsors here.

Aurifil is my go to thread because the quality is wonderful, they have great colors, and my sewing machine loves it (I am actually an Aurifil Artisan).  Aurifil has generously donated a 12 large 50 wt spools of thread collection.  (Collection will be determined in February 2018 based on availability.)

Myra of Busy Hands Quilts makes custom quilts and design quilt patterns. Her patterns include instructions for all sizes from wall to king, including two lap sizes, whenever possible. Clear instructions with easy-to-read charts and diagrams are also a part of her patterns, as well as fabric requirements using yardage and precuts when applicable.  She ♥ strip piecing because it saves time, and she includes directions for strip piecing if it works for the pattern. You can find Myra's quilt patterns on her Etsy shop. Here is a small selection of patterns of her patterns to select from:

Lara from BuzzinBumble is donating a copy of her book, Crafted Applique. The book is totally awesome, teaching a new way of applique that has the speed and ease of raw edge applique without any of the fraying. My of my fellow guild members I showed the book to summed it up best when she said, "This is a game changer".

The Bear Creek Quilting Company is back again as a sponsor, providing a $25 gift certificate to their shop as a prize.  The Bear Creek Quilting Company has so many wonderful fabrics to choose from.

Make Modern is a wonderful digital quilting magazine that is stuffed full of great modern patterns for quilts of all sizes and other quilted items.  I have been honored to have been able to contribute a number of patterns to the magazine through the years.   Make Modern is generously giving out 3 six-month subscriptions to the magazine.

Thanks to all of our sponsors!!!  The third set of sponsors will be posted on  Thursday.

Magnolia Mystery Quilt ++ Sponsors Day 1

I am getting very excited about the start of the Magnolia Mystery Quilt and I hope that you are too!  We are only about 3 weeks now from the first set of instructions (fabric requirements). You can find out more about the Magnolia Mystery quilt here.

We have over $1,000 in prizes for the mystery quilt from some very generous and wonderful sponsors!  The prizes include patterns, fabric, thread, books, quilting services, and more.

The prizes will be given out randomly to those that submit a finished quilt or quilt top in the reveal parade in February 2018.  Because we have so many great sponsors, I will be breaking them up into a series of three posts.  In random order, here are 5 of the sponsors...

The Fat Quarter Shop is providing a generous $100 gift certificate to their shop as a prize.  I have worked with the FQS to create some curated shopping lists for some fabric options which will also be posted on July 7th for those that want some fabric options that will work with the mystery quilt design.

Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl is back as a sponsor for the third year in a row! Yvonne blogs at Quilting Jetgirl. She has been quilting for 20+ years and credits quilting with helping her feel balanced and connected to both her local hometown community and a larger global community. Her patterns are available through her Etsy and Craftsy shops. Yvonne is donating 2 digital quilt patterns (winner's choice) to 4 winners, and you can see a small selection of her available patterns below:

Soma of Whims and Fancies is a software engineer by trade. Aside from math and science, she has loved painting and photography since she was a child.  Soma started quilting in 2012. Within a couple months of that, she started writing quilt patterns. Soma blogs at Whims and Fancies and her patterns are available through her Etsy and Craftsy shops.  Soma is donating a full set of her Seasons Patterns (Spring Kites, Summer Sailboat, Fall Maple Leaf, and Winter Meadow) to 4 winners.

Lorna is a modern quilter, pattern designer and the author of the Sew Fresh Quilts blog. Lorna uses traditional piecing methods to create a menagerie of animal quilts and an occasional block design. Lorna's patterns are available at her Etsy shop. Lorna is donating one each of her Bumper2Bumper, Ducks in a Row, Dog Gone Cute, Kissy Fishy and Black Birds digital quilt patterns.

Jan from Quilting Among the Grooves is offering the wonderful prize of custom longarm quilting of the mystery quilt (or an equivalent lap size quilt) again!

Winner provides the finished quilt top, backing and batting and shipping costs to Quilting Among the Groves. Quilting Among the Groves provides email or phone and photo consultation with semi-densely quilted all-over design, thread, and return shipping. (Due to shipping costs, this prize is limited to the US only).


Thank you so much to all of our sponsors and we still have 2 more posts full of wonderful prizes!

Rin Along Tips ++ Basting Tips

I have been seeing some wonderful Rin blocks showing up on Instagram, such great combinations of fabrics and colors. You can find them all right here: #rinalong

I am sharing some tips today about basting your applique shapes and applique thread. Cindy is sharing her progress on the blocks, so you can hop over to her blog to check them out (I got to see them in person over the weekend and they look awesome).

1. Measuring Gauge

When doing needle turned applique using Carolyn Friedlander's technique, you want the basting stitches to be a consistent 1/4".  Carolyn recommended using the Dritz Quilting 14-in-1 Measuring Gauge (affiliate link). I purchased the measuring gauge and found it very helpful to check my seam allowance. The gauge was small enough to fit in my travel sewing kit and fit in my hand well. I was worried that by eye balling the seam allowance, the seam would actually wind up too wide, but found that when I was basting I tended towards a scant 1/4" instead of a full 1/4".

2.  Finger Gauge

Cindy saw another great tip on the internet for keeping a 1/4" seam allowance while basting. You can put a mark on your finger nail a 1/4" from the tip and use that to check your seam allowance as you baste.  This method worked well and was free.  The only downside was that the line did tend to rub off a bit too easily.

3.  Machine Basting

My final basting tip is also from Cindy and is a real time saver, basting the circle sides (not the scalloped sides) of the Rin rings using the sewing machine.  I loaded my machine with a contrasting thread and stitched a 1/4" seam allowance using a large (4.0 on my Bernina) stitch size.  I will still hand baste the scallop portions of the rings, but being able to machine baste part of the rings was a real time saver.

Magnolia Mystery Quilt ++ One Month Until Kick Off

It's almost time! Just 1 more month until the start of the 
Magnolia Mystery Quilt!

The Magnolia Mystery Quilt is a free quilt-along that will run from July 6, 2017 until February 2018 with a set of directions revealed the first Thursday of every month. The Magnolia Mystery quilt will contain instructions for two quilt sizes: a lap sized quilt and a queen sized quilt.

We will kick off the quilt-along on Thursday, July 6th with the fabric requirements and some helpful hints to pick fabrics and colors (you will have an entire month to gather fabrics before the cutting instructions in August).

1. Quilt-along Instructions  and Test PDF File

Each month, the instructions will be posted in a blog post that will contain the instructions within the post itself and also available to download as a pdf through a link. 

Here is the link to the front cover of the quilt so you can test out this new system.  When you click on the link, you will be taken to Google Drive.  In the upper right hand corner you will see options to print and save the file.  If you have any problems, please let me know.

2. Button - I have made a button for the mystery quilt :) If you decide to join in on the quilt-a-long and have a blog I would love it if you posted the button.

<div class="meadow-mist-designs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://meadowmistdesigns.blogspot.com/p/magnolia-mystery-quilt.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPmPF9F3oXSme_Ls3k4WQyQBb6Eut5VtgWuUO9uYhQOEo8av430Etja7BoR3zYdpq0sTYCXioMvFcIeaXccs-rWwyLgumQfr2NTVDlFdqjex0vs_RuSOvjbsPlvc-urYiE4Ju3kX0dEQ/s200/Magnolia+Mystery+%25282%2529.jpg" alt="Meadow Mist Designs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>

3. Prizes - We will have prizes! Prizes will be given out randomly to quilters who submit quilts or quilt tops to the reveal parade in February 2018. I am currently finalizing the sponsors list and more details about the individual sponsors and prizes will be announced later in the month.

4. The Un-Mystery Quilt - Want to join in the fun but making a mystery quilt is not your thing? If you would like to see the final pattern to decide whether to join in, or to help pick colors; simply e-mail me (MMDmysteryquilts@gmail.com) and I will send you a sneak peak (the only rule is that you have to keep the design completely to yourself as to not spoil anyone else's surprise). **I will begin sending sneak peeks on June 6th **

5. Facebook Group - We have close to 2,000 active members in our Facebook Group (Meadow Mist Designs Facebook Group) sewing together! Join the group today so you can share and see everyone else's fabric, progress pictures, and finished quilts.

6. Questions? If you have any questions regarding my mystery quilts you can e-mail me at MMDmysteryquilts@gmail.com or leave your question in a comment below.

I am linking up with Let's Bee Social at Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday at Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation.