Tag Archives: bonjour quilts

Meadow Quilt is a Finish!

Making a quilt is not a quick endeavor. At least for me it isn’t. Back in 2016 I read a tutorial by Bonjour Quilts and left a comment about how much I loved the quilt. Then in 2020, in a newsletter by Bonjour Quilts (side note – if you don’t receive her newsletter, check it out. Kirsty writes a great newsletter and I very much enjoy reading it) I was reminded of the quilt. At that time, I started cutting pieces for the background. I believe this was at the beginning of the pandemic. Fast forward to 2021, I decided to finish the quilt so I could give it to my nephew and his bride when they married in July 2021. Well, then we decided to list the house and move so all sewing came to an abrupt halt.

With my sewing room (almost) set up and my time freed up, I am sewing and quilting again! I had the Meadow quilt top finished and basted before we moved, so I started to quilt it. Before basting it, I did some FMQ over the flowers in the center. I knew I wanted to secure them tightly, even though they are fused to the base. However I didn’t want all of that to show on the back. I did a preliminary set of stitches before basting and then finished securing the flowers after it was basted.

The background is free motion quilted with whatever came to mind. There are swirls, basic stippling, some flowers, hearts, sunshines and a few words here and there. On the top I used an off-white Glide thread and the bottom is a pale green Glide thread. (I am a big fan of Glide for free motion quilting).

Every meadow has a few butterflies fluttering about, right? I fussy cut these and fused them to the top. Using Perle cotton, I did some basic stitching around the edges to help them stand out a bit.

I forgot to take a shot with the backing showing but in this one you can see a bit of the corner. It is a 60″ wide voile by Frou Frou. Grassy green with tiny white stars on it, the fabric is so soft. I think it gives a cuddly feel to the quilt. (I have had this on the shelf for a long time so don’t know that it would be available anymore?)

The pictures were all taken in our yard. Right now everything is so green. Foxglove are standing tall in the backyard, giving a meadow like feel to it.

I am so happy with this finish. It is unusual but not difficult. I actually think this is the case with many of Kirsty’s (Bonjour Quilts) patterns and tutorials. It is on the way to the bride and groom, just in time for their first anniversary!! I hope they love it.

Sharing at my favorite link ups – see the list at the top of the page for the details!

REMINDER: The first link up for 2022 Positivity QAL opens this Sunday, June 26th. Please come back (here) then to link up and show us your progress with your blocks. I am looking forward to seeing the different color combos!!

Catching Up

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Oh my goodness – time is flying by. Nothing like a pandemic forcing all of us to stay home day after day to make a person busy, right? In March when all of this started I thought I would accomplish this huge to-do list due to being stuck at home. I created a list of blog posts to catch up on, pictured myself scrubbing the kitchen and bathrooms till they sparkled – it was going to be such a productive time. Ummm, what the heck? I have hardly posted here and it took me until yesterday to force myself to scrub one shower. Not the picture of productivity I had anticipated!

Ah, just proof of my human imperfections!! Also proof I really am not into house work. Haha. OK – moving on to sewing. There hasn’t been a lot going on. I did get the April and May blocks done for the 2020 Monthly Color Challenge. Want to see them?

The block for April was made with purple and I was able to continue my polka dot theme. Have to say, I have no idea how I will put these blocks together. I suppose I need to think of a way to sash them with some sense of continuity.

Love the green block which was May’s color. It is a great pattern and would be cute as a quilt on its own.

I also made this cute little pink Dresden. Now I have three of them. Still not a concrete plan as to how I will use them but I like making them and they use up lots of tiny scraps so that is a win in my book!

A few days ago, I posted on Instagram that I was totally inspired by Kirsty of Bonjour Quilts to start a new project. She sent out a newsletter and as she always does, showed some quilts that had been made by others, using one of her patterns. She has a tutorial called Meadow and when I saw that quilt, I got all excited to make one. I clicked over to this post which was from a long time ago (maybe 2016?) . Deciding I really NEED to make this, even though there are three quilt tops on the guest bed waiting to be quilted, I started to pull scraps.

I spent a pleasant evening sorting through white, off-white and green scraps. I ironed a stack of them and began cutting squares in three different sizes. This is a great pattern to use lots of scraps from my bins.

Last night I started making nine patch blocks – only made a few but it is a start. These are the biggest size, using 6 1/2″ squares. They gradually become smaller. Fun, fun, fun. I love starting a new project!

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of my very imaginative grand daughter. She was pretending to be a bird in her nest, reading books. Thankful this bird is safely wearing her helmet while sitting wayyyyy up high in her imaginary tree. 🙂

Bonjour Quilts and the Cost of Designing Patterns

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I have long been a follower of Kirsty Cleverly, owner, pattern designer, blogger at Bonjour Quilts. (And for a quilt pattern designer and maker, isn’t her last name just awesome???) I think I first found Kirsty a while ago when there was a movement called May is for Makers to support indie pattern designers. I remember I bought her Fleur pattern at that time (which I have yet to even use, sigh.) After that, I started to read her blog and eventually signed up for her newsletter. In return for signing up, she gave me a great pattern called When You Wish. I did make this one though! The pattern is now available in larger sizes and is called Color Explosion.

When You Wish baby quilt with my sweet great niece enjoying it!

Since then I purchased the larger version of the pattern and look forward to making it as a queen size.

OK – I am getting off topic. What I really want to talk about is this incredible post Kirsty recently wrote discussing the costs of bringing quilt patterns to print and then selling them – both privately, through quilt shops and through large scale distributors. Kirsty had posed a few questions in a recent newsletter, gathering information from her (13,000+) readers. I thought it was an interesting topic and as such, responded to her and we had a nice exchange about it. The resulting blog post is compelling. I love interacting with and supporting our indie pattern designers in the quilt community but have to say, I didn’t know the extent of the costs of running such a business. I really, really (!) hope you will click over and read Kirsty’s post as it applies to so many designers who provide both free and paid patterns. One aspect of the post that I was surprised by was the discussion around pricing PDF and print patterns at the same price. I suspect you will find it really interesting. Another part of the article I greatly appreciated was her list of suggested ways to support indie designers. There are ideas listed which are easily done.

Fleur, Triangle Twist, Go West, and Diamonds in the Deep, by Bonjour Quilts

As a small business owner, this article was very helpful to me. I carry a couple of Kirsty’s quilt patterns in my shop right now. I buy these patterns via a distributor because of the high shipping expense that I would incur if I bought from Kirsty directly (she lives in Australia). But I had not given thought to how this affects her revenue as a designer. Maybe someday the postage will work out such that I can buy from the designer but for now, it wouldn’t make sense. At this time, you will find Diamonds in the Deep and Triangle Twist available in the shop. In another week, I will also have Fleur (mini quilt version) and Go West. I am proud to carry Kirsty’s work as the aesthetic is wonderful, her quilts are not ones that will take forever to make, and the instructions are easily understood.

I am quite curious to hear your thoughts on her post. If you are a designer, do you have any thoughts to contribute that might not have been covered in this article? Let me know in the comments! Have a good weekend all.

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Baby Quilt Number 3

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I don’t know if you remember but when I was posting about the lattice square baby quilt I made last fall, I said that there would be three new babies born in the start of 2017 in our family. This will bring my parent’s number of great-grands up to 12! I wanted to make a quilt for the third baby who is due at the end of this month. This morning I finished the quilt top.

Isn’t it adorable? The bright, rainbow colors make it a cheery quilt for a new baby girl.

Using this free pattern, When You Wish, designed by Kristy of Bonjour Quilts was a snap. It is a collection of HST’s arranged in quadrants. To download the pattern, just sign up for her newsletter. Just so you know, Kristy doesn’t over do it with the quantity of newsletters she sends out and I enjoy reading them. She has a nice selection of patterns for sale in her shop too.

This quilt finishes out at 40″ x 40″ and because of it’s reasonable size, I look forward to quilting it.

I have this little black and white print called Cheerios, in my shop that might be fun for the binding. It is from the Sweet Tweets line and is the one on the bottom in the photo above. I will hunt through my stash for the backing though. There is a plethora of choices in there and I want to use up some of the yardage. It was great to make this quilt top solely with the fat quarters in my stash.

Happy to have this quilt top done and I will likely get started on quilting it this weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing pictures of all three babies on their quilts. I will share them with you when I get them together. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Linking to my favorites, all of which are listed at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

When You Just Can’t Focus

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Today is a crazy day. So much to be done and my mind is just wandering from one thing to the next with little actually being accomplished. Baby Girl is just far too content on the inside and my daughter-in-law is having labor induced today. So far things are going just fine but I am excited for the baby’s arrival and, as any mother would be, empathizing with my DIL and remembering how it was to deliver the first child. Exciting, nerve wracking, lots of unknowns. My DIL is a physician which means she has less of the “unknowns” than I did but still… until you experience it, you don’t really know what it will be like.

So I am distracting myself and playing in the sewing room. It is so cold out – we got a dusting of snow which often seems to happen just when my daffodils are blooming.

As for projects, I have a number of things stacked up in the sewing room! My first priority is a bunting I am making for Baby Girl. I have each flag ready to go. I will applique her name on it when I find out what it is. Until then, I can’t really do anymore on this.

I am using gray fabric for the letters. I suspect I will be working on this tomorrow!

Over the weekend I started to cut out a shirt. I didn’t have quite enough for the entire layout and figured I would run over to the store and pick up another yard of this gorgeous charcoal gray knit. However, they are out and it isn’t coming back. 🙁 So, I am changing plans and will make the sleeveless version. It is cute and will be a good way to make sure the pattern fits correctly. If I am happy with it, I want to make it with the three quarter length sleeve and a cowl neck. I love the version with the cross over in front.

When I got the pieces cut out, I realized I didn’t have the right needle for my machine. Clearly, this just wasn’t in the cards for me and set it aside. I will go pick up needles later today!

Moving on from the shirt, I decided to cut pieces for a baby quilt I am making for my niece. Her third child, a girl, is due at the end of the month. I am using the pattern, When You Wish, by Kristy at Bonjour Quilts. It is a free download when you sign up for her newsletter.

I had plenty of fabrics to choose from and they create a nice rainbow effect.

This quilt is just a very effective arrangement of HST’s. I have most of the HST’s completed and have begun stitching them together. I love the look. I am saving my HST trimmings. Some time ago, I saw something on Kitty Wilkin’s blog, Nightquilter.com, about leaving the trimmings out for the birds and seeing them in nests in the spring. We are just coming into spring and we have a plethora of birds so I want to see if we get any colorful nesting going on!

I plan to gather a few more and put them out in a suet feeder. I will let you know if I get any results.

Ok – last thing for today — I made this awesome frosting over the weekend! (Talk about jumping into a completely unrelated subject!) Julia and I were making a treat for my husband to celebrate a (work-related) special accomplishment. But he can’t have dairy products so I was looking for a new way to ice a cake. The cake was chocolate and it seemed like this Peanut Butter frosting recipe would be a fun one to try. Oh. My. Gosh! It was amazing.

Peanut butter, coconut oil, almond milk and powdered sugar. Amazing. Not at all healthy and three zillion calories, but for a treat? So yummy. Here is a link if you would like to give it a try.

That is the latest and greatest. I will be on pins and needles (ugh, terrible play on words) all day. Hoping for a swift delivery of Baby Girl and that her amazing mama does well throughout the process.