Shape Up! - A Modern Quilt Pattern Collaboration
Reflecting on the lockdown years, I can't help but cherish the silver linings, and one of the brightest has been the incredible friendship forged with my quilting buddies, Kathleen from Cowden Quilt School and Anna from The Hackney Quilter.
Our Zoom calls, born out of shared experiences as beginners in quilt pattern design in the UK, quickly became a cherished tradition. With over 30 quilt patterns collectively, we eagerly anticipate our annual meet-up at the Festival Of Quilts in Birmingham. During one of these gatherings, the spark for a pattern collaboration ignited!
Quilting isn't just a craft; it's an art that weaves together creativity, skill, and camaraderie. Enter the "Shape Up" quilt pattern bundle - a collection of our best designs showcasing various techniques and styles. Join me in this blog post as I unravel the inspiration behind our collaboration and give you a sneak peek into the exciting patterns waiting for you in this bundle.
Exploring new quilting techniques
A highlight of the "Shape Up" bundle is the chance to delve into diverse quilting techniques. Each pattern in the collection highlights a distinct skill: sewing curves, half-rectangle-triangles and flying geese. Beyond crafting beautiful quilts, this collaboration aims to nurture a community of learners. With this bundle, quilters can enhance their skill set and experiment with new methods, all while savouring the shared passion that brings us together.
The Shape Up Quilt Patterns
New Moon Quilt - by The Hackney Quilter
Curves in quilting might seem intimidating at first, but we're here to show that they're not as daunting as they appear! Curved piecing adds a unique dimension to your quilt designs, allowing you to create beautiful arcs and circles. It's like learning a dance – once you get the rhythm, you'll be unstoppable!
The New Moon quilt pattern by Anna of The Hackney Quilter (yours truly!) provides step-by-step guidance, complete with helpful tips and tricks to make curved piecing a breeze. As you conquer curves, you'll build not only your quilting skills but also your confidence in trying new and exciting design elements.
Collider Quilt - by Made Just Sew
Half-rectangle triangles are like puzzle pieces that fit together to create intriguing patterns. While they may seem like a puzzle at first, mastering them introduces you to the world of geometric designs, where every piece fits perfectly into place.
The Collider Quilt Pattern by Claire (me!) of Made Just Sew offers a crash course in working with half-rectangle triangles, teaching you the techniques needed to create clean lines in this stunning design. The process is challenging yet incredibly rewarding, and you'll be amazed at the captivating results you can achieve.
Airspace Quilt by Cowden Quilt School
Flying geese are a fundamental quilt block that often appear in various quilt patterns. Learning to piece these triangular units together not only opens the door to countless design possibilities but also hones your accuracy and precision.
With the Airspace Quilt, new quilters can confidently tackle flying geese, understanding the intricacies of piecing them together with ease. The satisfaction of creating these sharp and elegant shapes will make it a skill you'll cherish throughout your quilting journey.
Want more?
BONUS TUTORIALS
When you're ready to dive into stitching, we've got your back with a treasure trove of super helpful bonus blogs and video tutorials that come alongside the patterns – all free of charge. Explore additional tried-and-tested techniques and glean valuable tips for achieving your best quilting results. Here's a glimpse of what awaits you:
- Sewing Curves Without Pins: Engaging Instagram reel tutorial with Anna Wraith of The Hackney Quilter.
- Trimming Half-Rectangle Triangles: Video tutorial presented by Claire Campion of Made Just Sew.
- Making Four-at-a-Time Flying Geese: Step-by-step photo tutorial led by me, Kathleen Anderson of Cowden Quilt School.
Press the trienagle and play the Half-Rectangle -Triangle video tutorial.
Pre-Quilt - a DIGITAL COLORING TOOL
To ignite your creativity for your Shape Up quilts, we've introduced an exclusive digital colouring feature on the PreQuilt app.
PreQuilt empowers you to visualize and plan your quilts before diving into the sewing process, ultimately saving valuable time and fabric. Its digital colouring pages offer a fun and straightforward method to infuse your personal style into the Shape Up quilt pattern designs (and many others). PreQuilt comes equipped with a variety of solids from renowned brands such as American Made, Andover Century Solids, AGF, Free Spirit, Kona, Michael Miller Cotton Couture, Moda Bella, Paintbrush Studio, Riley Blake, and RJR Studio Cotton Supremes. This makes experimenting with colour and contrasts a breeze. Give the colour randomizer a whirl for inspiration and discover unexpected colour combinations.
Are you ready?
If you take the leap and join us on our Shape Up journey, we assure you there won't be any squats, lunges, or burpees in our shaping-up regimen! We're all about the patchwork, dedicated to assisting you in honing your sewing skills and building your shape. We understand the apprehension of trying a new patchwork technique for the first time because we've been there, too!
