New Patterns and a few Out Takes

December has been a very low key month for me.  No travel, no retreats, no going out.  Just time at home to rest and recoup from a busy year.  Of course I caught a cold/flu/bronchitis because everyone knows that if you aren't busy you will get sick.  Could have been a gift from the grandkids, but I don't mind, really.  Love those little babies to bits.

I may not have been traveling but I was still working.  Just completed two new patterns for Northcott which will be coming out in a week or two, and one new pattern for Timeless Treasures

Here are two versions of a Quilts of Valor design featuring Northcott's Stonehenge Stars and Stripes VII collection.  Super simple rail fence pattern in 2 versions.

The first one is called Don't Fence Me in.

The second one is called Don't Fence in my Eagles.

These two will be going to the printer next week and will be up on my website in the next few days.

One of the interesting things about designing for fabric companies, is that I supply them with dozens of designs (The same as many other designers), from which they only select one or two to feature with their fabric line.  Totally understandable.  They want a design which makes the most of their fabric and will help sell the fabric to shops.  Knowing that, I design quilts which show off fabric, but they aren't always great designs, and they often do not pick my personal favorites among those sent in.  So here are a few of my Outtakes.

For example, for the Stars and Stripes collection I designed several versions which used the new Eagle and Flag panel.  Here are my favorites, which were not selected.  But I think they would make GREAT Quilts of Valor.  What do you think?

     

I love that they are a little off center and have different borders on two sides.  The asymmetrical design reveals how unstable our current political situation is, but offers hope that the values which have and continue to give us faith in our republic are stronger than the current unsettled times might suggest.  It was a subtle but positive statement filled with hope for our future and gratitude for our past.  I suspect that was more than you wanted to know about these two designs, but I wanted to share that there is always a story behind every design, some more obvious than others.

Another new pattern features Northcott fabric collection Atlantic Shore.  I love, love, love the prints in this collections and plan to do a few more designs with it.  It has lobsters and crabs!  What is not to love about that?  I grew up on the Great Lakes and have a natural love of all things coastal!  Especially love eating all those aforementioned shellfish!  After nearly 3 weeks of camping on the south Texas coast at Rockport, in November, I am on a first name basis with those tasty beasties.

This first one is called Atlantic Compass.  it is 51 x 51 and the compass blocks are paper pieced. I had to get the blue crabs in there.  It was a touch choice between the blue crabs or the red lobsters.

Northcott asked me to do a simpler version which featured one of the panels in this collection.  Aren't these sea critter blocks fabulous?  This second version is super simple and anyone who can use a rotary cutter and ruler can make this one in a day!  But it is still totally fun with this amazing fabric.  Yup, no piecing at all in this version.  The center is one piece of fabric.  Wow I love panels.

Yes, there were a few outtakes from this group of designs as well.  Some were a set of placemats which I thought were pretty fun.  These feature a cut from the panel in the middle and some of the great associated print featuring crabs, lobsters and lighthouses.  Notice how the side panels use background fabrics which start with sand on the bottom, then shells, then birds on the top.  Is that cool or what?

OK, I was feeling patriotic after working on all those Quilts of Valor designs so, just for fun, I designed a flag quilt featuring the red, white, and blue prints in this collection.  Not a great design, but it was fun and I think it looked cool.  I didn't figure they would choose this since they save all their patriotic designs for their Stars and Stripes series, but I just had to use the blue puffins somewhere!  Aren't they cute?

Now for something completely different.  I designed some sweet baby quilts for Timeless Treasures using their Forest Friends collection.  Gotta tell you, these are some adorable little critters.  This collection will be in the stores in March 2019.   My adorable niece Melissa just had twin baby girls, Molly and Nora, so I named the quilts after them, and when the fabric is shipped they will each get their namesake quilt.

Here is "Welcome Molly" with sweet little cake stand blocks.

These prints are so soft and delicate they look washed out next to these bold colors in the earlier quilts.  Here is a close up so you can see these adorable hedgehogs, bunnies and owls.

Here is "Welcome Nora"

I loved the kitty applique and had to do at least one of these playful quilts with a kitty for my new grand niece.  

And the last thing I am working on is a collection of quilt designs for the new Northcott Shimmer collection, which will be featured at Spring Market in Kansas City.  I can't show you the designs they chose, but here are a few of the outtakes.  I don't know if these will get patterned or not.  Depends on the feedback I get from all of you.

My total favorite is called Frog in the Pond.

Yes, they are all 4" tumbler blocks cut with the AccuQuilt tumbler die.  Here is another of the tumbler outtakes.

I love trying to take a single shape and make it do things that disguise it.  Not entirely disguised, but the fish make you look twice.  Hehe

Here are a few more designs featuring the new Shimmer collections.

Sparkle

Picnic on the Sand

Wait till you see the ones they picked!  I'll be making them as soon as the fabric ships, and they will hang in their booth at market.  All I can say is dust off your AccuQuilt cutter!!!!

Speaking of market, I just sent in my contract to have a booth at the Kansas City Spring Quilt Market in May 2019.  I hope you can come and take a look.  I will also be vending and teaching at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in June 2019 so definitely mark your calendar to come hang out at this amazing show.

Ok, after all this, I am ready for my  nap.

Oh, and did I forget?  I am working on a new block of the month for next year.  Whew!  I hope you will like it as well as the last few.  It is tough to keep coming up with good designs to give away each year.  But this is year 11, and as you know, I try to do something really different each year, and this next design is really different from what I have done in the past.  Curious???  Good.  Stay psyched for the big reveal January  February 1, 2019.

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year.

New Patterns for August

I have been designing patterns for Northcott Fabrics for the past 2 years and love getting to see the new fabric lines as they come out.  This month I have completed three new patterns for their beautiful new line of Poppy themed fabric called In Full Bloom by Deborah Edwards.

The first pattern uses running yardage of poppy flower blocks surrounded by a funky border.  I call it Poppy Picture Window.

This is a smaller throw or lap size quilt, 38" x 44". It is an easy pattern for a confident beginner since the only pieced part is the border. You could put any panel or large scale print inside the border.  The In Full Bloom fabric will be shipping to your local quilt shop this fall.  Ask for the fabric and pattern at your LQS, or buy the pattern on my website.

Starlight Poppies is a larger lap quilt, 52" x 52" which is appropriate for an intermediate quilter, although I think a confident beginner could do it if they can do set-in seams.

Yup, there a few set-in seams in this pattern, so you may want to brush up on that technique before you tackle this one.  But the vivid colors and poppy prints make it worth the effort.

The last one is called Amazing Poppies and is an intermediate level pattern, although it is all just squares and rectangles with quick corners. The challenge is making sure you have the fabric oriented with the stripe in the correct direction.  The pattern provides complete instructions and illustrations for assembling the quilt.

This pattern uses just two fabrics in the quilt center.  A poppy flower strip and solid white.  It was fun to design and make.  At 48" x 56" it is a bit too big for a wall quilt but great for a throw or sofa.  All three patterns are on my website, or ask for them at your local quilt shop.

Thanks for taking a look!

Deco Garden Bonus Block Half Price Sale - only in November

I know everyone loves a sale, and here is one just for those of you who love the Deco Garden Bonus Blocks I have been offering all year.  A one-time opportunity to get them for Half Price during the month of November.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SALE

Many of you have already taken advantage of this sale. Thank you!  I so appreciate your continued support and good wishes.  Here are a few more new blocks to tempt you.  I hope you enjoy the blocks, and the savings.

As always, if you send me a picture of a project you have made with one of these blocks, I will send you a free pattern for one of the new blocks of your choice.

Block 38 - Grapes. 

I grew up on a fruit farm in Northern Ohio and we had acres of concord grapes which we sold to Welches.  In addition, my dad also grew a few acres of wine grapes and made his own wine.  He supplied the wine for my wedding 33 years ago, a memory which always makes me smile when I think of my dad.

Block 39 - Gooseberries

I am not sure I have ever eaten a gooseberry, but I know they are really bitter and require quite a bit of sugar to make them palatable.  But they do make great jam and pie!

Click HERE to purchase these, and any of  the other 36 Deco Garden Bonus Blocks.

They are on sale only for the month of November!

Coming Soon!

Block 40 - Hyacinth

Coming soon!  Watch for this pattern coming next week. 

This is one of my favorite spring blooming bulbs.  I always planted a few in my yard.  Last year when they replaced my front porch and sidewalk all my bulbs were dug up in the process and my gentle hyacinths were one of the victims.  I am going to buy some more to replant this fall.  My favorite is actually a bright pink hyacinth which bears my real name:  Anne Marie.  Yup, the secret is revealed!  Reeze is a nickname I have used most of my life.  Now I have to scour the bulb catalogs to see if I can find another Anne Marie Hyacinth.  Anyone know where I can get one????

And just for fun, here is a pink hyacinth.

I have had more fun designing these blocks.  I thought you might enjoy a picture of all of them, well actually, this is most of them, not all, as they all wouldn't fit into 6 x 7 setting.  But it is most of them. 

Want to be a quilt tester?

My project for 2017 is to write a book featuring these and more Deco Garden blocks and a series of projects I am designing to go with them  If you are interested in helping with this project by making a project which will be featured in the book, send me an email. 

I am lining up projects for the book this winter.  You will receive a free pattern for the project.  You will use your own fabric and keep the resulting project.  All I ask is that you send it to me for photographing.  You will receive credit for the project in the book, and a free copy when it is published.

Sound like fun?  I would love a variety of techniques used: fusible web, needle turn, back basting,  freezer paper, wool applique, machine embroidery*

. . . . .

Interested?  Contact me at reeze at morningglorydesigns.com

Happy Quilting

*Do you digitize?  I would like to hire someone to digitize the files for me.  If you are interested please contact me to work out details.

BOM Block 1 is Ready

The first block of the new FREE 2015 BOM Deco Gardens is posted on the 2015 BOM page. Click on the tab at the top, right to go to the download link.

Block 1 Columbine

This quilt is designed with a black background to make the colors glow like stained glass.

I am so excited and pleased to announce that I have partnered with Peggy at ConnectTheBlocks.com to offer fabric kits for each block!  See the 2015 BOM page for more info or you can sign up for fabric kits here.

Click Here To Order Fabric kits

 If you prefer a white background, here is what it would look like.

Yardage information for the whole quilt is available HERE.

New Pattern!! April Sweat Pea Table Runner

Finally, I have finished the sample for my next Charming Botanical quilt: April Sweet Peas!

I have had the design complete and the fabric picked out for some time. I even had the runner background done last Spring (at a retreat). Well it seams the only time I get things done anymore is at retreats, and last week I completed the quilt at my Fall retreat. At last. I am working on writing up the pattern now and should have it out to my publisher and distributor as soon as my pattern tester is done with it.This quilt was so fun to make! I just love the 1930’s reproductions, and if you have a stash of 30’s scraps you could make this quilt from stash! Of course there are so many adorable new 30’s prints out this season that you could have fun shopping for this one also. Since you need very small quantities of LOTS of different fabrics, you might want to look for charm packs or trade charms or scraps with friends or small group members to get all the different colors you need.

• There are 95 different fabrics in the center.
• There are 24 flowers, each consisting of 2 or 3 different shades of one color in each flower. I repeated some of the fabrics from the center in the flowers, but tried not to repeat any colors from flower to flower.
• There are 32 small leaves made from 3 different fabrics
• There is 130” of bias vine, which is the same fabric as the inner border and the binding.
• There is 120” of pink piping, and 84” of white/pink print piping.

I stitched in the ditch in the center of the quilt, then micro-stippled on one side of the vine and cross-hatched on the other side of the vine in the border – just for fun!

I just love the little piping in the borders and around the binding. I think it adds a sweet framing element that keeps all the chaos of fabrics contained! hehe

The pattern will be available on my Etsy site and my web site in the next week or two.

If anyone is interested in being a pattern tester for this patter, I could use one more person (with experience as a pattern tester) to make the pattern and provide feedback on the instructions before I release the pattern. Let me know if you are interested at reezehanson (at) hotmail.com. Thanks!!!

Midnight Posies BOM Block 2 Ready

I am so excited to be able to offer the next block in this Block of the Month Series: Midnight Posies. This second block is "Rosey Posey Churn Dash." Again the block is simple but the colors are dramatic. Bright colors against the black background really make this pieced flower block glow.

Download PDF File.

Please let me know what you think of this block, and the super simple directions for this quilt. After the BOM is over I plan to publish this pattern and your feedback will be very helpful. I wanted to make an easy quilt that a beginner would enjoy, that doesn't look like a beginner quilt. The bold fabric, floral theme, and simple border with fusible applique makes this quilt look so much more challenging than it actually is. That is the concept that drives all my patterns. I hope you enjoy making this quilt as much as I enjoyed designing and teaching it.

February Violets Pattern Published

My newest pattern in my Charming Botanicals line is now published and will be available shortly. I am so pleased to be able to share my patterns with the quilting community. It has truly been a labor of love. To celebrate this, my 8th pattern in the Flower of the Month series, I want to share some of my patterns with you to thank all the folks who have inspired and encouraged me. Watch for free table runner patterns coming soon.