Not all blizzards are blue: WINTER GAMES FABRICS

 When I first designed Winter Games,

I went in with that old taught color

theory that Winter, cold, snow, 

ice, etc. all equated to a 

blue and white color palette.

That doesn't have to be true!

Entering into this quilt along

with you, 10 years after 

making the original, I realized how

much my fabric choices 

and color palette 

have changed as I studied

what was truly pleasing to me!

So, I will be making my 

new version in lovely

muted colors of 

taupe and gray and mustard.

Not sure I have the exact yardage 

I need for each bit so I will

be scrapping it out some:)

Don't forget that the pattern

is still available at the 

introductory price for 3 more days! 

I hope this inspires you to 

sort through your stash and 

choose a palette that brings

you joy!

Maybe purple is your neutral....?

FLOURISH QAL: Ready-Set-Stitch!

FLOURISH

BLOOM-CHERISH

GROWTH-HOPE

 I am beyond excited to bring my

FLOURISH quilt pattern to you!

Lots of information in this post

so please read to the end. 

As you can see at the time 

of this posting, I am still quilting it:)

Although I rarely use 

blue in my designs, the fabric

and the design itself both

required it for this layout

to be joyful and balanced.

Now to the QAL:

I am so excited you are here.

The FB group has continued

to grow & since this is a 

smaller project, I am looking forward 

to lively participation!

The FULL pattern is available as a 

PDF digital download HERE at an

introductory price of $12 until 

July 8th, 2021

(Reg price $16)

Etsy offers tips for printing digital patterns.

Please be sure to print ACTUAL SIZE.

All templates have a 1" square for accuracy.

This is a single-copy purchase for a single user!

Copies may NOT be forwarded or copied to 

be shared with others!

The pattern is required for the QAL.

My accompanying posts and videos

will not provide any measurements.

I will be providing technique

tips only.

The QAL will take place in 

my FB Group with blog posts

adding additional information.

FB has been playing again so 

make sure all your notifications

are turned on so you don't miss anything.

Go to the area circled in orange to click the

 3 dots for a drop down menu.

In the menu (purple arrow) Follow group and in 

Manage notifications choose to get all posts.

SCHEDULE

Since most of us be doing

this as a fusible  applique'

project, I will moving at

a faster pace than last QAL.

JULY 1ST: Pattern Available

I may be live too:)

We can talk options.

July 3rd: We will be discussing piecing

July10th: Let's talk LETTERING

Fusible vs. Hand Applique'

July 17th: Embroidery tips

Machine vs. Hand

July 24th: Side borders

I will give extra time for this step

and to allow catching up for 

our hand work quilters.

August 7th: Bottom Border

August 14th: French knots vs. 

Colonial knots vs. beading:)

August 21st: Assembly

August 28th: Quilting Motifs

Extra time for catching up 

for our final reveals! 

September 12th: ZOOM meet up day

to show off your beauties.

Just hearing about all of this?

Follow these links to catch up:)

Introduction

Fabric selection

Supplies

OK, 

Ready ~ Set ~ GO!

See you over on FB

In case you forgot to click over:)

AVAILABLE HERE

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'~

Well-Loved Ladies QAL: Fabric Selection

FABRICS!

Isn't this why we 

really do this quilting thing??

So, let's talk fabrics!
This pic shows the fabrics I chose to work with.

The pattern supply list will give overall yardage.
Example: Red- # yards

I chose to use a 10" layer

 cake of red prints.

The red value is consistent throughout

with different prints. There were 42

squares in this pack from

 Wilmington Prints

and I used most of them.

For my greens, I pulled 6 that were

anywhere from a FQ to a yard.

When you are doing the QAL with us, 

there is no reason you can't choose

as you go and shop your stash.

Choose a color palette and then

proceed to make each block 

as its own entity repeating

a fabric amongst 2-3

blocks for cohesiveness.

Then pull fabrics from the blocks

for the border applique'

for continuity.

So, I obviously went the traditional 

red, white, green, and cheddar route

to pay homage to my collection of 

lovelies but there is NO rule 

that says you have to follow me.

I will end this post with a series of

other color options for you to ponder

using the first block we will discuss, 

Currants.

Above and below are the traditional colors.

I really like my

 black/orange sample.

That sashing fabric made it!

You could always work in pastels

or brights or batiks.

PURPLE?!

How about darker barn reds, grays, & black?

Have fun choosing your palette

and use your background / border

and your sashing fabrics

as your constant.

If you are just coming to the 

conversation, HERE is a post

that starts the story.

You can start sharing your fabric choices

on our FB group:

Robin's Rocking Needles.

NOW AVAILABLE HERE

My New Quilting Stencils

In 2018 I designed a whole line of 

tulip themed quilting stencils.

Here I am with them in the Quilting Creations booth

at Houston Market...So Exciting!

I learned a lot doing these.  I assumed (HA) that I 

could magically transfer my outline applique 

drawings to stencil and I basically did.  

What I didn't take into account, since I love 

hand quilting, is that drawings for 

machine quilters need to be more adaptable to 

continuous line drawing.

Next time I will get it right:)

In the meantime, you can find all my stencils

on the Quilting Creations site.

Mine all start with RK### as you can see in 

the photos.  There are more than what is shown here.

  

 I had so much inspiration from my quilt designs. 

'Tulip Buds' (above) is from my 'Tulip Pinwheels' pattern.

'Tulip Flourish' offered up the sweet border above

and the four way design below.

If you aren't familiar with 'Tulip Flourish', 

you can find the pattern HERE.

 'Nouveau Tulips' came from my sweet, 'Tulip Star'.

 The pattern can be found HERE.

The fun thing about these stencils if you don't do your 

own quilting, is that they make lovely applique' stencils.  

Trace them out and connect the breaks in the line.

Back to work for me!  See you tomorrow~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com for more blogs to follow.

CHRISTMAS SHIMMER

Get a jump on the holidays:)
This fun pattern requires the most minimal of paper piecing in order to get the cool border points that I made by accident and could NOT recreate with piecing no matter how hard I tried!

The wall hanging is only 24" square and additional instructions include a runner and placemats too for complete dining décor:)

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY...

This pattern can be yours when you purchase the summer issue of Our Quilting Journey magazine HERE.

Katie Bock, editor, has put together a fun online magazine that features something for everyone so you will receive multiple patterns for the cost of one.

Enjoy and keep quilting.

CHRISTMAS Gift Giving!

This holiday tends to frenzy us all in different ways.  For those who love to make with their hands, we tend to find ourselves making long lists of all the lovelies we will make for loved ones across the land.  Not sure about you but I always fell a bit short getting it all done.  I do make some items for select loved ones and for friends along the way but not every year. 

Luckily if you have quilting friends, you can gift them with the gift of making something of their own for other loved ones in their life!  Win ~ Win!!

 

Sweetened Holly

Buy Here

One year a couple of candy canes spilled onto the table in this shape and Ta-Da:))

 

Poinsettia 

Buy Here
 

Who doesn't love the brilliant red that these festive flowers add to any space!
When I moved to Florida, I had some growing outside my house and was absolutely delighted!

COASTAL CHRISTMAS

 

After living in the tropics for many years, this is not as atypical as you might think!  Coastal Christmas was such a success that I resized it for embroidery workers.  Such a fun size!

Buy Here

Buy Here

 




Christmas Shimmer

This fun pattern requires the most minimal of paper

Buy Here


piecing in order to get the cool border points that I made by accident and could NOT recreate with piecing no matter how hard I tried!

The wall hang is only 24" square with instructions for a runner and placemats too for complete dining décor:)

 

 Blossom Swirls
My love of paper piecing revolves around all the variations you can achieve by changing the colors and the rotation of the blocks.  In Blossom Swirls I show you just 3 of the variations that are possible with this fun block.  Large pieces make it easy to follow.


 

Buy Here


Whatever you decide to this year, have fun and give with love in your heart!

Make sure to pop over and see who else is blogging!

http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2016-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

#31dayblogchallenge- DAY THREE

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect an adorable little penguin to take me on such a wild adventure!  Jingle Penguin was one of my first original designs that people noticed and thought I should run with.  He gave me hopes and dreams about hitting it big as a quilt designer.  He jingled his way into the hearts of many quilters becoming my first #1 Seller and my longest running #1 Seller.

 

Thank you Mr. Jingle Penguin! It has been a wild ride:)

 

Don't forget to pop over and see who else is posting this week!
http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2016-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

The winner of the magazine is Mary who wrote about spending more time in mixed techniques thanks to the blog tour:)  That is the fun of this- Inspiring quilters to try something new!

The winner of a free pattern is Dana who chose Coastal Christmas.  I love pictures of finished quilts-HINT, HINT, HINT:)

Now for a sneak peek to see how many of you come back to visit me:)



Pumpkin Star

This is one of my new patterns going to Market in less than 2 weeks.  I am pretty excited about this little cutie.

Have a great weekend.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What a year 2010 was in many ways. As I reviewed what I had accomplished it didn't seem all that impressive compared to 2009 and then I realized I made huge strides in confidence....and though the list may appear a bit shorter in length, it was in no way smaller in the depth of the accomplishments.

Last year my word was Diligence. I was diligent in rewriting my book proposal even though it has been rejected for a second time. I was diligent in not letting opportunities pass me by and that enabled me to be published twice along with having a design be included in the Quilter's Club of America promotional CD. When the gallery that had been representing me closed, I found a new gallery. I know I could have done much better but I also see how much forward progress I made.

My word for 2011 is Transition. Transition number one:

Meet Junie (short for Juniper)

Our beloved little Schmoopy died last February and we were completely heartbroken. She was the sweetest little beagle ever and the only dog I have truly loved! Just saying her name, Schmoopy, made me mushy inside.
We swore that we wouldn't get another dog for years so that we could travel, get settled, blah blah blah:) A couple of weeks before Christmas my husband stated that he missed having a dog--I agreed. After a couple of other beagle opportunities fell through, we found an ad for a pure breed beagle female, 3-4 months old, $50-family couldn't keep her.
We got there and she is so NOT a pure breed but she was also so malnurished and unwanted (wanted a hunting dog and she was too skittish) that I couldn't leave her there. She came to us the Sunday before Christmas and everyone loves her.

How could you not? Look at that face:) Having said that, I had forgotten how much work a dog---especially a puppy is! My nice quiet work days are gone for awhile as we all take turns on puppy watch.

Transition number 2: We received our official transfer orders 3 days before Christmas. We will be moving to Clearwater, FL in June. This will be our first move without our daughters and feels very strange to be considering what items will stay here with them, getting the younger settled into an apartment, and making sure they are prepared to be on their own. It feels against nature to me that the parents should move away from the children. So far I have been great at stuffing the feelings but June will be miserable for me....so bittersweet! I am so proud of them moving forward in their lives and I don't want to miss any of it. The military will not allow for that I am afraid. We have always done everything as a family and this will be a major transition for us all.

Transition number 3: This will take place in my work although I am not 100% sure of just how yet. I have been sitting on the fence for the past 2 years about how to balance my time between the artwork and the quilt patterns. I love them both and at times one is progressing further than the other. Sometimes I feel that I should choose one over the other and I am getting closer to a decision. Moving will also put a crimp in what I can get accomplished this year due to the lost time from packing up and then unpacking.

Transition this year will involve my work, my friendships, my living environment, my schedule, my family. I have some wonderful goals set up to guide me so that I don't get too off course with everything else that will demand my time.

Setting the goals is a great opportunity for me to always feel that I am moving forward since although it doesn't all get done, more gets done than if I didn't have it:)

What will you make happen for yourself this year?