Graduations; What do they mean?

 Welcome to Graduation season!

As our future steps out of the 

shadow of their parents and wanders

into their own way of doing things, 

I thought it might be fun to 

remember some of our own

graduated ideas.

Who remembers the first time

we realized that we didn't HAVE TO  

do everything we were taught?

Who remembers that amazing 

feeling of paying your own way

for the first time and then paying 

for someone else too?

These seem like simple ideas but 

they are the small ways that we 

graduate from child thinking to

becoming adults.

When I designed, "Graduation",

the idea was that gradual learning

from simple to complex that we all

go through whether it is leaving home

or learning a new skill.

So, some of the blocks are easy and some

are a bit more challenging...

just like life.

It is now available in 

my Etsy shop.

You can also read more

about the origin of it

from this blog post:

Nestlings By Robin Blog: Graduation and Elementals

SPRING GARDENS

 

The March issue is available!

Inside you will find my fun and easy

strip quilt, "Spring Garden".

Where do we always start,

the fabrics, of course! 

For this design I used 

Pepper Cory's 

shot cottons. 

Thank you, Judy Gauthier, of 

Bungalow Quilting

for getting these to me!

This quilt is SO EASY and 

these fabrics make it 

so soft and snuggable.

Piece your blocks...

Cut out your applique'.....

Make some vines.....

Use teflon pressing sheet

OR parchment paper to 

make completed butterflies.....

I absolutely love seeing 

these all together!

Model quilted with floral and swirl designs.

PRESTO WHAMMO,

QUILT ready for binding:)

Thank you AQ Magazine!!

Until next time,

~KEEP STITCHIN~

FLOURISH QAL: Fabrics

 The first exciting step in starting a new

project....FABRICS!! 

YAY! YIPPEE! YAHOO!

I had a lovely floral print, 

"First Impressions" designed by

Mary Anne Henderson 

from Red Hen Fabrics 

for Northcott 

that started it for me.

The color is true in the pic above.

I used the colors in the print

to pull my applique' and other

piecing fabrics.

 I placed a ruler over the 

fabric so you can get 

an idea of the print scale.

This print worked perfectly 

with the size of the templates.

You want a small to medium

print so that the fun details show

in the smaller pieces of the design.

Here is a second colorway

shown with ruler and with

the F template since the print

is larger than the original.

It still shows a lot of

color movement though and

that is important too.

A couple of fabrics

pulled to go with

this firework/spray print.

A third colorway 

shown with ruler and 

F template for scale.

Fabrics pulled to go with 

the floral print.

I really like that architectural

print to the left and wonder 

what it may look like in an F:)

Let's look at some

other print / color options..

Wild bubbles above or

repro below?

Folk art floral above or

tulips below??

I love these tulips but will

be saving them for another project:)

As you can see,

there are soooo many options!

How do we ever decide

when we start  new projects?!

In case you missed the 

first post 

discussing some

of the basics, go

HERE to read all about it.

Start your stash hunt and 

next time we will discuss supplies.

~Keep Stitchin'~

FLOURISH: New QAL

 Well-Loved Ladies was a Huge success
and we still have many that are 
working on it because it really
isn't a quick project:)

As promised many moons ago, 

a smaller more attainable project

would be next so that those 

intimidated or not up to the 

task of WLL would be able to

join the quilt along fun and 

sharpen their skills for when

they are ready to tackle WLL. 

Twice a month starting July 1st,

I will present a tutorial via a

post here & FB that prepares us 

for the next step in the quilt along.

You will need a pattern to participate

 in this quilt-along.

The pattern has been written for

fusible applique' and will be 

offered in PDF and print form 

with all full-sized templates.

I will address using the templates

for hand applique' in a blog post

when we get there:)

Techniques involved will include

general piecing of flying geese units

and half-square triangles, applique'

(hand or fusible/machine), & embroidery.

Of course, there will be some video assists

to help in the process.

We will be doing all the discussion and

ooohing/aaahing of fabric choices over

in my FB group, Robin's Rocking Needles.

As before, over the next few weeks

expect multiple blog posts leading up to 

our big reveal day where I will discuss

fabric selection and supplies so you

can start preparing and be ready to go

as soon as you get your pattern.

Please leave a comment here if you have

any questions or email me,

robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

I will be stitching along too as I make

another one in fusible applique' in 

another color way.

Until next time,

keep stitchin'~

Dogwood Stars

Welcome Dogwood Stars

featuring Connecting Threads' 

new fabric line.......

During testing I made my

own version using these

fabrics because the 

color way spoke to me 

but wasn't available yet.

I am a sucker for pretty

much any fabric with 

script on it!!

This design has simple

piecing along with 

fusible applique'.

The diamonds in the border 

sections are all applique'

vs. piecing so cut and stick:)

These little tweezers make

placement of small pieces

so much easier.  

I also use a teflon applique' pressing

sheet so that these bits

are all applied making 

completed flowers BEFORE

fusing to borders/blocks.

When you have a small space

to work in, the pressing sheet

is a real time saver!

When you are ready to

make one of your own,

find my sweet, 

DOGWOOD STARS,

kit and pattern HERE.

THANK YOU,

Connecting Threads! 

HOME

The Autumn issue of Quilter's World

will have my new quilt design

that I started this past January! YAY!

It is so bothersome that I 

have to keep so much secret 

from all my quilting friends

when I am working.

Once the design is planned, 

it is time to go fabric hunting!

As you can see, I wanted a muted

selection of neutrals in 

gray and taupe.

Look at the perfect and gorgeous

Barbara Brackman fabrics 

I found along the way!

Giddiness!

Have you ever tried to pay attention

to what you are doing at a retreat?

~LOL~

I was super fortunate to get to 

attend the annual retreat with my

friends from Illinois since I 

don't always get to go.

As 2020 has turned out, 

I am SO Happy I made

sure I did this year!!

We are missing a couple in 

this photo but we had a 

great time and it made my

"work" go much quicker!

Here is the other thing that made 

my work time happier!!

These FAB fingerless gloves 

from my mother:)

Pretty and functional!

So there was pinning and stitching

for the HSTs...

Lots of mindless chain piecing

for the log cabin blocks....

Once home, hours of 

NCIS reruns got me through:)

Auditioning of which red

fabric to use for the star....

and Voila'....

HOME!

Thank you (AGAIN) to 

Toddy and Ray Sumsky

for a FAB job quilting this

for me in my weirdo, designer

timeline! 

HOME is now out in the 

latest issue of Quilter's World.

I hope you will enjoy making

it as much as I enjoyed designing

it for you to snuggle under

during a chilly winter eve!

And, don't forget your label!!

~Enjoy~

Sew Alongs

It may be hard to believe but 

I have NEVER done a sew 

along in all my 20 years of quilting!

Now that I have a little

extra time at home, Why Not?!

I have participated in guild 

lottery blocks and 

guild challenges but 

never worked with a group 

on the same project before.  

It is SEW FUN!!

There is a small group of us

that are making projects 

from the book, 

CIVIL WAR LEGACIES II 

by Carol Hopkins.

A design is chosen, we

each get to choose our

own fabrics, and then

we sew together virtually 

since some of us don't 

live near the others anyway.

I went poking around my

room looking for something

and found this charm pack

from MODA, Renewal

by Brannock and Patek.

It was a bit more challenging

to cut charm squares vs. yardage

for my piecing but I managed

and started these sweet little stars.

Just because I was feeling 

crazy, lol, I decided to see if

I could get an extra HST from

each rectangle unit I was making.

I could and I did and Ta-Da!

Here are the lovely 3-1/2" stars!

and I absolutely love them!!

I can't finish just yet because

this design calls for alternate blocks

that we decided would be 

signature blocks for our first 

quilt together.

Another 'First' for me!

I do have a couple of signature 

quilts, one as a guild thank you

to me and one as a result of 

winning the guild lottery blocks once;

but, I have never participated in a 

signature quilt in this method before 

so a first for me.

Because we live off from one another,

it will take some time to get blocks

signed and mailed.  Here is 

roughly what my signature blocks

will look like once framed.

Stay tuned for the finish:)

In the meantime as I wait, I pulled

some fabrics for our next quilt.

On my FB page, the middle

fabric overwhelmingly won

when asked about which one 

for a border fabric.

They were voting blind not 

knowing how big the border 

would be or what 

size/type the blocks 

would be.  

I knew these would all work

for the scale I needed but 

was just not feeling decisive that day!

Thank you to everyone who 

took the time to give me their opinion:)

Once that decision was made for me, 

I was able to start pulling other

fabrics to go with that border print.

I am excited to start the next quilt

even though I haven't finished the

other quilt...what is that called?

Insanity!

I have a room full of that and 

I love that room and all that

lies within and how I feel

when I am in there.

I wish you could all

come join me there 

but since you can't, 

stay safe &

 Keep Stitching~

Graduation and Elementals

THANK YOU CONNECTING THREADS

 for great write ups!

Meet Graduation...

We love how the graduating tones of this quilt provide the perfect backdrop for these gorgeous quilt blocks. This modern, stylish design is sure to brighten up any room!

Finished size: 60-1/2" x 72-1/2". $57

https://www.connectingthreads.com/graduation-quilt-kit/p/94744

I had an idea of doing a series of blocks that used the same 

components and graduate them in difficulty.

It turned out so well that we decided to do it in 2 fabric lines

in 2 different layouts.

Meet Elementals, named for the fun nature line.

This beautiful quilt is a fantastic opportunity to sew, one block at a time! A fantastic skill builder that will look stunning in any room.

Finished size: 48-1/2" x 72-1/2".  $59

https://www.connectingthreads.com/metamorphosis-quilt-kit/p/94754

Great kit deals for lap size quilts that will 

be easy to make and fun to give!