I’m stoked to finally introduce to you the Trippy Triangles Quilt pattern! This quilt has been a pet project of mine for the last year (and then some). From picking just the right fabrics–I changed my fabrics several times before I finally got with it stitching–to fussy cutting, etc. and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m currently working on another version and planning yet another with some fun fussy cutting 🙂
The thing with EPP
Here’s the thing with English Paper Piecing: It’s an obsession of mine. Aside from longarm quilting (which I do almost all day), EPP is my favorite way to pass the time. I always have a little EPP kit in my purse so that if I’m caught waiting at the doctor’s office, or getting my car inspected, or whatever, I always have a little something to keep me busy AND productive. I hate wasting so much time on my phone when I could be sewing something, right!? It’s such a convenient way to pack a little sewing kit and get things done when you otherwise couldn’t.
We’re moving right along into Week 2 of the Moroccan Tiles Sew Along! Head over to the Original SAL Post to review the details and schedule, if you need to.
If you haven’t seen the list of video tutorials for the Moroccan Tiles quilt (they’re listed on page 2 of the pattern), you can see the full playlist of tips and tricks I made specifically for the sew along below. It starts with some different variations of the quilt (you can skip right through that video and onto the next), and goes right into using the templates.
You guys! Today is the day for the Moroccan Tiles Quilt Pattern release!!! I don’t know if I’ve ever been as excited about a quilt pattern as I am about this one. I’m hoping to have all the beds in our house decked out with this quilt be the end of the year!
Check out some of my favorite color ways!
The Moroccan Tiles PDF Quilt Pattern includes these features:
Clear instructions and fabric requirements for baby, throw, twin, queen, and king quilt sizes
Coloring page to help plan your quilt
Step-by-step instructions with pictures to guide you through
Instructional videos for piecing curves and using the templates
Instructions and diagrams for piecing quilt backs for all sizes
Pattern includes printable templates for easy cutting
The option to purchase acrylic templates separately
I designed this quilt when I was pregnant with our little girl, Gemma. It’s been a labor of love for me and I can’t even tell you how many colorways I went through. Sometimes I dream that there are 40 hours in a day so I could make each and every one (hey, I can dream, right?).
Chain piecing some curves 🙂
Moroccan Tiles is a modern quilt using straight lines and curves to create a tile-work quilt with a big impact. I love how much the quilt changes when you alter the colors, or fussy cut some stripes to play with the pattern. This pattern is for confident beginners to intermediate sewists, due to the curves in the quilt. Okay, I know I might have sent you running for the hills when I threw in that word “curves”, but I hope you won’t let that scare you away from making your own Moroccan Tiles! I’ve made several videos to go with this pattern to help you on your curve-sewing journey (the link to each video is in the pattern). You can take a peek HERE. There are 5 different videos to offer any extra assistance you might need if you’re a beginner (you can still watch them if you’re not a beginner 😉
Video previews
Since there are curves in this quilt, the pattern includes paper templates you can print with it. If that isn’t your jam, you can purchase acrylic templates for the quilt here (they’ll ship mid-March). If you’ve never used acrylic templates before, I’ve got a video to show you how:
And if you plan on fussy cutting your fabrics for your quilt, it will be easier to do so with the Acrylic Templates. The templates are transparent, so you can easily see where you’re cutting the print you want to stand out. The stripes on the Moroccan Tiles quilt pictured above were fussy cut (fussy cut means to cut the fabric with intention, being mindful of the orientation of the print). I can help with fussy cutting if you’ve never done that before–in this video:
And then I’ve got a couple of other videos to help you with the basics of sewing curves. If you click on the first video in this post, it will link to the entire playlist and show you all 5 videos that accompany this pattern. I think you’ll find them very helpful, and if you still have questions, you can always ask!
I’ve made up a couple of different colorways that I really love, and if you need some extra inspiration, you can check them out:
The Moroccan Tiles quilt pattern and acrylic templates (along with all other quilt patterns in my shop) will be on sale from February 28, 2019 through March 7, 2019, and the acrylic templates will ship mid-March. I can’t wait to see your Moroccan Tiles quilt, and I hope you’ll share with me via email or using the hashtag #moroccantilesquilt
Who wants a free Ice Cream, You Scream Quilt Pattern? Well today is your lucky day!!!
You have to check out this adorable fabric line Michael Miller Fabrics just released. The line is called Ice Cream, You Scream and the colors are everything! Also, there’s this border print that is just dying to be put in a quilt (or made into a little girl’s skirt!!), and nearly makes me swoon! I got a chance to get my hands on this fabric to design a quilt for the release, and I’m not gonna lie…I spent a few hours just playing with the fabric and coordinating Cotton Couture. It features sweet ice cream cones, sundaes, and the best stripes. It reminded me of the 4th of July and ice cream socials and everything pure in the world. The best part is, Michael Miller Fabrics is offering this pattern as a freebie–you can get your own PDF pattern download from their website.
Ice Cream, You Scream Quilt – Picture from Michael Miller Fabrics website
The pattern is for “confident beginners”, which just means you need a general knowledge of foundation paper piecing and fussy cutting. I fussy cut the border pieces so the ice cream sundaes were centered along the center of the borders, and the cornerstones in the border were fussy cut to showcase the cute little ice cream phrases on the fabric.
I had a blast designing and piecing the quilt. I had even more fun quilting it! I used Glide thread (from Hab+Dash) and Quilter’s Dream batting in the quilt. I used a few different colors of thread and matched them to the different fabrics. Most of the quilting was handguided free motion quilting, with the assistance of straight rulers for the grids.
Ice Cream Cone Quilting
Cornerstone block quilting
I’d love to see what you do with the pattern–the foundation paper piecing blocks are pretty quick to sew up. Just remember to shorten your stitch length (I like to use 1.5) so the paper is perforated enough to tear away easily and print your paper piecing templates at 100%. Then add your sashing and borders and voila! Don’t forget to grab your free copy, and check out the pattern (pictured below). Happy sewing!!!
You can probably tell that I like to dabble in all things quilty. Last summer, I decided that I wanted to conquer English Paper Piecing. What I didn’t realize at the time was that EPP is extremely addictive because you can take it anywhere…it’s easy to do on the couch while watching tv, great for road trips (when you aren’t driving), and can also be done at social gatherings. When people hear “EPP” or English paper piecing, many probably envision little hexagons, endearingly called “hexies” pieced together with traditional or reproduction fabrics that may end up looking a little dated. I’m not crazy about that look, but I LOVE Willyne Hammerstein’s book Millefiori Quilts. (And now there’s a second book to follow the first.) In the first book, one quilt pattern in particular caught my eye–the “La Passacaglia”. It combines pentagons, triangles, diamonds, and other shapes to create a myriad of rosettes that are breathtaking. I will say there is a slight drawback if you are using the practice of fussy-cutting (positioning your templates on specific motifs on the fabric to create another design), and that is using fabric yardage inefficiently. But you’ll be making scraps for other projects as you go, so really, it’s a win-win! Here are a couple of pictures of some of my completed rosettes.
These all show really great examples of using fussy-cutting with your epp. I really can’t wait
to finally finish my quilt top. I have all the pieces sewn together for the standard design by Hammerstein, but didn’t like the fact that I would be chopping several rosettes in half to square up the top. So I opted to fill in the rest of the quilt to be even with the rosettes that stick out…the quilt top is really pretty small when you consider how much time and cutting goes into it.
I laid out my quilt top on a piece of foam board and pinned it so it wouldn’t shift, then used the paper pieces to fill in around the edges. I probably should really look into documenting the layout better than I did, but for now I just have some pictures on my phone. I’ll share those with you once I have completed and know the layout works, so if you want to do the same thing you can!
I started this project in December 2014 and finished Hammerstein’s layout in September 2015. I’m not sure when I’ll finish the fill-in part, but hopefully it’s soon, because I am dying to quilt this thing!
If you’re looking for other pictures of some really awesome La Passacaglia quilts, you should check out the following Instagram users: @kamiemurdock, @lilabellelane, @izy_sewbusy to name just a few. You can also search the hashtag #lapassacaglia for some really inspiring pictures!
