Tag Archives: Cheryl Brickey

Just One Charm Pack – Blog Hop!

Finally! Today is my day on the blog hop celebrating the release of Cheryl Brickey’s second quilt book, Just One Charm Pack. I have been waiting to play with this book for quite some time. I loved her first book Modern Plus Sign Quilts and knew this book would be at least as creative. Cheryl’s patterns are not new to me. I have made three so far (Postage Plus, Pike’s Peak and Flock of Geese.) Additionally, I have carried her patterns in my shop for a long while and they are very popular. (Note – all quilt patterns, including Cheryl’s, are currently 25% off and have free shipping in the US. Take a peek!)

Just in case you are new to Needle and Foot via Cheryl’s book celebration, welcome! I have been quilting on and off since 1978. Well, I made several quilts in 1978 and 1979 and then didn’t begin again until 2011. But as with most quilters, once the bug bit, I started quilting with a passion! Please take a minute to poke around my blog and visit. I have also had an on-line fabric shop for the last (almost) five years. I am in the process of retiring so all fabric there is on sale. If you’d like to check it out, click here!

Some time ago, Cheryl invited a group of quilt bloggers to make a quilt from the new book and share it upon the release of the book. We were able to choose which quilt we wanted to make and I chose the Ninja pattern which is based on a variation of the Friendship Star block.

My version of the Ninja quilt was made with 1/2 of a Kaffe Fassett charm pack that I had left from an earlier project. I was thrilled to see I could complete a quilt with just that small stack! I had both the white and the lavender solid fabric in my stash so it was a breeze to pull fabrics for this quilt. The lavender background is actually a solid cotton voile. I hadn’t made a quilt with cotton voile and have to say, I love the extra soft feel it has.

Piecing the quilt was very simple and because of Cheryl’s clear, concise instructions, there were no issues when putting the top together. By off-setting the placement of the Friendship Star blocks, there is nice movement to the design. I played around with ideas for quilting it until I took a closer look at the sample quilt in the book. It was quilted with concentric circles. The curved lines looked so perfect with the angular design. Not willing to free motion quilt that many circles, I chose to use my walking foot and do a pattern similar to a Baptist Fan. It was so simple to just begin in a corner and work to the center. Once I hit the center (or close to it), I just started another corner. Filling in between all four sections was the last step.

The quilt is backed with a dark purple flannel and the quilting shows nicely from the back side.

This cute little quilt (about 36″ x 50″) will be sent to a friend of the family. They just had their first baby, a girl named Natalie. I hope they will enjoy it and use it to pieces!

By the way, the patterns in this book are all traditionally pieced which means no paper piecing. For me, that is a big win! Another win, in my opinion, is that the quilt designs appear to be quite easy to enlarge. It would be no issue to just make more of these blocks and add to the width of the top and bottom border to make this a larger, lap size quilt.

Now that I have shared the quilt I made, I wanted to also show you a peek at some of the other patterns. Honestly, Cheryl designed some really fun, easy patterns.

*Pieced by Cheryl Brickey, quilted by Carol Alperin*

This quilt is named Fishies, rightfully so, don’t you think? I love the look of the school of fish all traveling together. So sweet.

Pieced and quilted by Myra at Busy Hands Quilt

This pattern is called Ships Ahoy. It was made by Myra of Busy Hands Quilts. Her colors are perfect for a bright addition to a nursery and that quilting is gorgeous. You can read more about her process here

Pieced and quilted by Liz, Savor Every Stitch

Finally, I have to share this version of Cat’s Eye. It was pieced and quilted by Liz at Savor Every Stitch. Just spend a minute adoring the quilting. Liz has such talent. To see more photos and read about Liz’s process, click here.

No doubt there is a quilt for everyone in this book. I encourage you to take a further look by following along with the blog hop. It began on July 15th and goes through July 29th. Cheryl will be posting the newest quilts on her site daily so you can read along.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Each pattern in the book uses a single charm pack, an additional fabric (called fabric A in the pattern) and a background fabric). The book is the Hamburger Helper for charm packs, stretching one into a full quilt 🙂

You can grab a copy of Just One Charm Pack Quilts on Amazon or get a signed copy in Cheryl’s shop.

As a bonus, if you purchase a signed copy from Cheryl’s shop, you can get one additional free stand alone pattern (digital or printed) by adding the book and a stand alone pattern ($12 value) and then using the coupon code HOPPATTERN (through the end of the hop 7/29) during checkout.

Camden Road QAL – New Kits!

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Being the start of the new year, there are all sorts of fun quilting challenges, projects and quilt alongs to take part in. Today is the kick off of a fun quilt along, the Camden Road QAL. Hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs and Cindy of Hyacinth Designs, this might be just the project to start your new year right. The pace is a bit quicker than Cheryl’s Mosaic Mystery QAL which I have been sewing along with since late summer. As you can see in the picture above, the Camden Road pattern is gorgeous!

Prints from this kit are a burst of color!

Cheryl, the designer of the Camden Road pattern, curated several kits and asked if I would stock them. She based the kits on a floral print by Pat Bravo called Femme Metale Boho. (This vivid print with berry, teal blue and orange is available in the shop). From there she gathered other Art Gallery prints that look fantastic with the Femme Metale print. These kits are helpful for quilters who don’t enjoy putting their fabrics together.

Each kit creates a different look depending on the background fabrics used. For the purposes of this post, I am showing the kits in the smallest size of Camden Road – finishing out at 45 1/2″ square. The pattern also has options for a lap size and twin size quilt. What do you think of the version above with its mint green and off-white background fabrics?

Here it is with a background in Macadamia and Linen, which are a soft beige with pink tones and a creamy off-white. With these background fabrics, the look is warmer.

This version is lots of fun with two print backgrounds. The teal blue has tiny plus signs and the inner background fabric is a tone on tone white dotted fabric. Using small prints like this adds movement to the overall look of the quilt.

The Camden Road pattern is fat quarter friendly, uses lots of flying geese blocks and is a sure success. Cheryl Brickey is a pro at pattern design and her instructions are very clear. Through the 28th, the Camden Road pattern is 25% off if you use the promo code, CAMDENROAD. Click here to take advantage of the sale. For more details on the quilt along, click here.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Hope your week is off to a creative start! I took Julia back to the university yesterday and she started classes that afternoon. The holiday break went so quickly – now it is time to get back on track.

April Blogger Bundle, by Cheryl Brickey

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It is time again! I have a new blogger bundle to share with you. This month’s bundle was curated by the talented Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs. Many of you know Cheryl through her wildly popular mystery quilt event that she hosts annually. I have a confession. I haven’t done one of these yet because I feel intimidated by the process. I know, kinda weird but it’s true. I may have to jump on board with the next one though because I have always loved seeing the amazing quilts made by the participants of these events! Cheryl is an engineer by day, a very talented quilter and pattern designer by night and a wife and mom 24 x 7. Many of the patterns in her shop are modern takes on some classic blocks. She also recently co-authored the book, Modern Plus Quilts, with Paige Alexander. Cheryl must be incredibly organized to be able to accomplish all that she does!

I was excited when Cheryl agreed to curate a bundle for me because I so admire her style. The bundle does not disappoint. She chose a selection made entirely by Art Gallery Fabrics. Designers of these pieces include Maureen Cracknell, Katarina Roccella, Angela Walters, Pat Bravo and Sharon Holland.

The palette of black, white, navy and yellow is sophisticated and modern. But the blue piece from Sharon Holland’s Bountiful line softens it just the right amount.

Another aspect of this collection that is really pleasing is the relationship between the Scenic Blue Sky fabric and the yellow Terra Firma Sunlit. The bits of yellow used to accent the cozy farmhouses on the blue print is emphasized when placed with the yellow of the Terra Firma Sunlit piece. I love this because it just pulls everything together. Kudos to Cheryl on the selection of such a pretty bundle.

As before, this bundle is listed in my shop in both fat quarter cuts and 1/2 yard cuts. The price is reduced by 20% today through Saturday. Also, Cheryl is holding a giveaway on her site so one lucky reader will win a fat quarter bundle. Be sure to go check out the project Cheryl made with these fabrics. It will be fun for you to see how she utilized the fabrics.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this collection. Leave me a note in the comments!

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Modern Plus Quilts Blog Hop

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The release of Modern Plus Sign Quilts, written by Paige Alexander and Cheryl Brickey is being celebrated with a blog hop this week and next. I am so happy to take part in celebrating this book. I have long been a fan of plus quilts and made one a while back. I called it Positively Floating and you can see it here. Adding a book devoted to modern interpretations of plus quilts is the perfect thing for my collection of quilting books.

There are a couple of things I really appreciate about this book. One is the ease of most of the patterns Paige and Cheryl designed. I am not usually one for fussy quilts with tons of pieces to cut and points to match up. While there are some advanced, challenging patterns in the book, there are also lots of options for simpler designs. Also, there is a nice write up on the history of plus quilts which I really enjoyed. Finally, with many of the patterns, the authors included an illustration of a suggested layout for cutting the pieces such that you get the most out of the fabric needed. This is really helpful for me as I just don’t have a strong ability to see spatial relationships and often (more often than you’d think) will cut my pieces and find I don’t have quite enough fabric. This is because I don’t always choose the most efficient cutting plan. Part of me attributes this to the fact that for years I sewed clothing, not quilts. Clothing patterns always show the best way to lay out the pieces on the fabric – so I never had to figure this out for myself. Anyway, I think this was a great addition to the quilt book and you don’t see it in many books that are published.

Let’s move on to the quilt I made. This is the pattern called Postage Plus. It is based on a postage stamp quilt (basically small patchwork) used to build the plus. The oversized plus is set into a bold pattern of stripes. This gives a very modern result. The book shows a quilt with a gray and white background which is looked really clean. When I chose to make this pattern, it was so I could use up an older Moda jelly roll that I purchased from a destash last year over at Academic Quilter. Using strip piecing with a jelly roll made this quilt a very simple project to assemble.

The quilt came together so quickly. I love using the stripes to bring out the brown and green shades in the patchwork. The colors make me think of ice cream for some reason. Lime sherbet or coffee ice cream, which would you choose? I would go for coffee ice cream every time!

You might notice I am sharing a quilt top, not a finished quilt. If you are a fan of Instagram, you probably saw the posts where I was unhappily removing a large amount of long arm quilting gone bad. Ugh! I took this quilt top and loaded it on a long arm at my friend’s house. For whatever reason, I couldn’t use her machine and obtain a good result. It just looked horrid. I am far from a perfectionist and will often leave issues such as wobbles, mistakes, or points that don’t quite work out in the quilt. (Maybe I am too lazy to fix things like this). But this was bad. Even the lazy quilter in me couldn’t just ignore it. So I stopped, after quilting about 25% of the top, removed it from the frame, took it home and unpicked it. Really, it wasn’t too awful a task and I am happy I fixed this.

I am eager to load it on the machine at the same shop where I have been renting time. I have an appointment on Friday of this week and will be able to quilt this up then. Off topic here, but take a look at the blue skies we enjoyed yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and I am lucky to have taken photos then. Today it is fierce, pouring rain – not a day to be outside. Sure changed dramatically over night!

In closing, I strongly recommend Modern Plus Quilts. The book is top notch with creative patterns of varied complexity , nice tips and clear information – a book well done. The blog hop goes on all of this week and through next week. Paige and Cheryl are offering giveaways each day so be sure to hop over there and enter the giveaways. Lots of fun happening in blogland these days!

Below is the schedule for the hop

Monday, March 12

Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Paige @Quilted Blooms

Tuesday, March 13

Signature Plus

Soma @Whims and Fancies

Ann @Brown Paws Quilting

Kitty @Night Quilter

Tribal Plus

Sophie @Luna Lovequilts

Afton @Quilt Mod

Shelley @The Carpenter’s Daughter Who Quilts

Wednesday, March 14th

Plus Surround

Jayne @Twiggy and Opal

Jen @A Dream and A Stitch

Abigail @Cut&Alter

Kaleidoscope Plus

Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Sandra @mmm!quilts

Karen @Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th

Postage Plus

Linda @Flourishing Palms

Bernie @Needle and Foot

Liz @Savor Every Stitch

Stacey @Stacey in Stitches

Rick Rack Runner

Michelle @From Bolts to Beauty

Patty @Elm Street Quilts

Melanie @A Bit of Scrap Stuff

Friday, March 16th

Row Addition

Myra @Busty Hands Quilts

Izzy @Dizzy Quilts

Transparency Chains

Ruth @Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner

Christa @Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th

Faceted Rings

Jessica @Quilty Habit

Cindy @Hyacinth Quilt Designs

Jennifer @Inquiring Quilter

Petal Plus

Julie @The Crafty Quilter

Tuesday, March 20th

Message in a Bottle

Tish @TishNWonderland

Judy @Sew Some Sunshine

Emily @The Darling Dogwood

Cute as a Button

Wanda @Wanda’s Life Sampler

Karen @Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats

Katherine @Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st

Celestial

Anja @Anja Quilts

Kate @Smiles From Kate

Sue @Sevenoaks Street Quilts

Pinwheel Plus

Carole @From My Carolina Home

Alison @Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd

Intertwined

Debbie @Esch House Quilts

Laura @Slice of Pi Quilts

Beth @Cooking Up Quilts

Bear Claw Plus

Janice @Color Creating and Quilting

Joanne @Quilts by Joanne

Friday, March 23rd

Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Paige @Quilted Blooms

Linking to my favorites. Find them at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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