Enjoying my mug of chai on the deck. What a lovely view! After spending the weekend at my cabin in northern Wisconsin, I felt excited to share this table runner pattern. I designed it with the northwoods in mind.
This is “At The Cabin” , which measures 16″ wide x 40″ long.
Believe it or not, once in a while I design a pattern that has no paper piecing. This tote is one of those patterns. Besides designing patterns, I also work part-time in a local quilt shop. Every year I design a tote pattern that works well with the Wisconsin Shop Hop fabrics. Lots of states offer a yearly shop hop featuring fabric about their state.
The Wisconsin 2018 fabric includes a panel fabric with 6″x 6″ square floral panels (the fabric pictured in the top left corner). I used the panels for the outer pockets.
The Plenty Of Posies Tote features 6 outer pockets and 2 inner pockets. It measures 14″ high, 16″ wide, and 4″ deep. This is a nice generous tote bag size! It is great for going to the market, using for a project bag (sewing or knitting), a beach tote, or an airplane tote(large enough for a lap top).
Here’s a closeup of one of the outer pockets. Each floral panel is a different Wisconsin state flower. This panel fabric could easily be substituted with any floral fabric, but if you want this exact fabric, you can call the shop where I work to order, beginning June 8: Quilt Essentials at (920)230-3680.
The pattern is designed for an easy/intermediate sewing level. It is a great pattern to learn how to sew a tote with a boxed bottom.
Growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin has instilled a life long love of animals. The “Farmyard Stars” quilt was motivated by all my lovely memories of animals and pets that we saw on our farm every day.
I love everything about this design. The animals are bold and bright with whimsical expressions. The black and white border presents a calming, yet quirky frame to the colorful animals. The animal sounds were machine embroidered in the sashing, but could also be satin stitched, appliqued, or skipped altogether.
I have a hard time choosing my favorite animal, but “Demi Moo” the cow is right up near the top. Remember, these are farmyard STARS, so each is named after a celebrity.
Here’s “Kitty Purry” the cat.
“Pig-Casso” the pig…
“Lady Baa Baa” the sheep…
And, another one of my favorites, “Pony Danza” the horse. Love those teeth! I have designed lots of horses, but he is precious.
To see the names of the other animals you will have to check out the pattern at Etsy or Craftsy.
Finally it appears that spring is here. The birds are up early singing and busy building their nests. I have some lovely paper pieced bird patterns to add to your collection.
The Hummingbird is one of my favorite patterns. They are so fascinating to watch.
This Yellow Finch is stunning with it’s gold and black coloring. Finding a fun striped fabric for the wings adds some punch.
The Blue Jay is a bird that I don’t see very often around my hometown of Oshkosh.
The Cardinal is always a lovely addition to any bird collection.
The Parakeet is sweetly looking over its shoulder.
And this colorful Robin completes my collection of paper pieced bird patterns thus far. All of the bird blocks measure 6″x 6″ finished, are super easy, and can be found on my Etsy shop.
This wall hanging was a simple way to incorporate some of the birds into a project.
Would you like to see any other additions to this collection? Just leave a comment!
One of my favorite quilt shops, Keep Me In Stitches, is showcasing my latest, newest paper piecing designs now through April 30. Visit Jacqi in Appleton to see samples of my newest creations.
Homeward Bound is a great quilt for Quilts Of Valor projects. It incorporates paper piecing, applique, and piecing all in one project. What a great way to use up red and cream scraps.
I love this paper pieced eagle. He is made from 2 square paper pieced blocks.
3 Cats And 1 Dog With A Bone is one of my newest whimsical table runners. This is so much fun to make! I love a pattern where all the blocks are different.
This dog is goofy but loveable.
I always love a calico cat!
See these projects and more at my Keep Me in Stitches trunk show now through April 30. You will be amazed with all of Jacqi’s adorable fabrics. I never walk out of this shop without a new treasure to add to my stash.
Thanks for all the “water bird” suggestions you shared with me this week. I was inspired to create enough blocks to put together a lap quilt.
This Flamingo will measure 8″ wide by 16 1/2″ high, unfinished. I decided not to limit myself to just birds from the northwoods of Wisconsin. Since I adore flamingos, I had to include 1 in my collection of water birds.
This Heron also measures 8″ wide by 16 1/2″ high, unfinished. I like to have an assortment of block sizes, not all square.
The Pelican measures 8″x 8″ square. We actually get pelicans in Oshkosh during the summer!
Here’s my mock up for the lap quilt. I plan to use a 1 1/2″ wide sashing, but not sure what color fabric to use. Actually, the white isn’t too bad…any suggestions? Do you think I should limit this quilt to ONLY water birds from Wisconsin? I love getting your input 🙂
A few weeks back, I designed this LOON ON THE LAKE paper piecing pattern.
Every year 2 loons inhabit the lake near my cabin in upper Wisconsin. I love to listen to them singing at night.
I liked my loon block so much that I decided to design more “birds on the lake”. This is SWAN ON THE LAKE. The dragonflies add some depth to the block.
GOOSE ON THE LAKE reminds me of all the Canada Geese that come to visit in the fall.
And finally MALLARD ON THE LAKE. It’s always exciting to see my first mallard of Spring.
I haven’t actually used my blocks in any projects. I plan to make a set of pillows for my cabin. I would also like to add more birds to this collection so I could complete a full quilt. I am working on a PELICAN right now. Can you help me think of any other “water birds”? They don’t have to be specifically northwoods. Which is your favorite block?
One of my favorite projects is highlighting a paper pieced dog block in a toss pillow. It’s such a great way to add a bit of color to a couch, chair, or bed. It’s also a great conversation piece.
This PUG pillow is the first dog pillow I created. I just love it so much! Not sure if it is the huge eyes, the little tongue, or just all the neutral gray colors, but everytime I walk past this little guy, I smile.
This sweet COLLIE pillow was made by Julie. I absolutely adore the bandana fabric she used for the background. It’s the perfect compliment to the Collie’s black fur.
Here is Kelsey’s awesome creation! She made a great rendition of an “Andy Warhol” pillow, using my CORGI pattern. I LOVE this pillow.
Here are a few more of my newest dog designs. BICHON FRISE
And, last but not least, the RED MIN. Needless to say, some of these breeds I had never heard of until a customer requested a design. So please, keep those requests coming. It is such a fun challenge, and I am learning a new appreciation for the subtle differences between different dog breeds.
Once again, my sweet customers have steered me in a fun direction. “Unicorns” keep popping up in conversations and so many people want them for pillows and quilts.
Here is my Unicorn Block that measures 8″x 8″ square and is perfect for a pillow, as pictured below.
I love the 1 block version because its fast, but I also wanted a full body unicorn.
This Large Unicorn is constructed with 6 blocks and measures 15″ wide x 22.5″ high. My intention is to use this unit in the center of a quilt and add some borders. I haven’t gotten around to doing a complete quilt pattern yet, but I can envision some paper pieced butterflies as cornerstones. How would you complete this unicorn into a quilt?
“Watercolor” by Moda inspired me to make the unicorn mane very colorful. This is a lovely fabric line and comes in scrumptious colors.
For the horn, I stitched some stripes with silver metallic embroidery floss, but a fun striped fabric could work, too.
I also want to share a photo from Edith of a cute tote she designed using my Easter Bunny 2 Block.
She did a great job! Keep your photos coming. It inspires me to see what you are doing with my patterns.
Easter is just around the corner. Per my friend Marilyn’s advice…I have been designing lots of Easter blocks.
My Easter blocks measure 8″x 8″ unfinished and can be used in table runners, potholders, gift sacks, pillows, or even quilts. This photo was shared from Marilyn who used my patterns to teach a class on paper piecing.
The bunny and chick blocks can be purchased as a total pattern: Easter Table Runnerand Potholders. Some of these blocks are also available for single block purchase.My Happy Easter Bunny and Happy Easter Ducky are another popular set of Easter blocks. Find a really cute fabric to use for the egg, and you are all set!
Isn’t this table runner adorable? Lisa England used my Happy Easter Bunny pattern and made the cutest Easter runner ever!
If you are into Easter Bonnets, this is the block for you.
And here’s a block to make your mouth water…Chocolate Bunny.
Here’s a real simple block, Easter Egg. Find a cute striped fabric to make this super easy pattern.
This is “At The Cabin” , which measures 16″ wide x 40″ long.
