Princess Petunia Likes her Dresden Plates!

My Niece with her New Quilt

My sister finally sent pictures of the little princess with her new "covers!"  I don't know whether she'll give up the raggedy, disintegrating baby quilt, but at least she likes the new Dresden plate quilt that I made for her.  Who could resist that big, happy smile?  You can find posts about the process for this quilt here.

It also fits the toddler bed well, although I didn't plan it that way, and the colors look great in her bedroom.

So, next project on the horizon?  Well, I have a few things in the works.  I agreed to make a costume for Augustus Gloop in our school's upcoming performance of Willy Wonka Jr.  I'll be working on that this week while the kids are out of school for Spring Break.  Then, I'm dying to get started on this "Jingle" Christmas themed applique Block of the Month using Erin Russek's patterns and instructions for needle-turn applique: 



"Jingle" BOM by Erin Russek of One Piece At a Time, 76" x 76"

I've always admired hand appliqued quilts, but have never attempted one myself before.  Erin's designs are so beautiful, and her tutorials are so thorough, that I have decided this is the right time and the right project to take the plunge.  Somehow, the BOM (Block of the Month) format is less intimidating, too, because when you see a whole quilt full of applique it looks intimidating.  But, one little block?  Surely I can do one little block...  and then hopefully another little block...  You can find Erin's free block pattern downloads and instructions each month on her blog, One Piece at a Time, here.  The 37" square "Miss Kringle" poinsettia, pomegranate and tulip center medallion pattern is available as a PDF download from Erin's Pattern Spot store here for just $10.00, and the project is rated for beginners so you have no excuse not to give it a try!

 

I wanted to keep with the Christmas theme and color scheme of this quilt, especially since I don't know what most of the blocks will look like ahead of time, but I had more difficulty than anticipated sourcing Christmas fabrics at my LQS in March.  Over the weekend, I was delighted to find the perfect fabrics ON SALE from an online quilt shop, Quiltable Fabrics.  This green swirly fabric is going to be used for my large setting triangles and border:

 

Winter Wonderland Scrolls in Green from Windham Fabrics

 

And this FABULOUS poinsettia print is going to be for my smaller setting triangles around each block:

 

Winter Magic Poinsettia in Scarlett from Hoffman Fabrics

 

I also got this gold berry print to use for some of the yellow applique and block pieces:

 

Holiday Splendor Berries in Gold from Hoffman Fabrics

 

I just hope these fabrics work well together in person; sometimes the computer monitor can be a bit off.  Anyway, my plan is to cut or reserve enough fabric for the setting triangles and borders, and then start with the four applique and pieced blocks that have been released so far.  I've already purchased and printed out the center medallion pattern, but I'm going to start small and work my way up to that one.  I should receive the fabrics for Jingle by the end of this week, which gives me added incentive to get that costume sewn up quickly!

 

I also have a Storm at Sea quilt in purples, blues and grays that I'm planning to start once I'm caught up on the Jingle BOM.  I purchased all of the fabrics for that one months ago, and then got sidetracked on other projects.  Stay tuned!