March BOM blocks and New Deco Garden Blocks

This was a busy week!

First, my week began with my cat running off when a neighbor's dog attacked my dog Max -- IN MY YARD!  I know, some nerve, eh?  Max recovered with a few bites to his neck which healed quickly.

 But Buster, my long-haired Siamese got freaked and ran off.  He came home 2 days later, like nothing ever happened.  I was so worried, thinking that dog would have turned Buster into a light snack.

So now Buster is grounded for a month and not allowed outside.  He is none too pleased with this turn of events.  He is a pretty independent cat, and I worry that dog could be back!

Along with all the critter drama, I have been shipping patterns and writing more patterns, working on my 2017 BOM and trying to overcome 2 weeks with bronchitis!  I am drained!

But here is the good news.  Two new deco blocks are available.  #48 is Rosey Posey and #49 is Cyclamen.  I am so close to having 50 of these done, which was my initial goal.  Now I am not sure if I should keep going or just say enough!

They are available for sale on my website: morningglorydesigns.com

This week I also released another free block:  The crossing block for the Fair Isles BOM.  You can pick up this block for free on the 2017 BOM Tab on my Blog.  You can also still get the February block for free for a few more days.

The Crossing Block is used between each of the monthly blocks.  There are 13 of these in the setting I am showing on my BOM page.

This block will be available for free for a few months so everyone who wants to do this setting will have access to this block.  Remember, these blocks are all paper pieced this year.

I am almost ready to post the March Fair Isles blocks also.  If you are a subscriber you will get links to both of these blocks in my newsletter that comes out March 1.

Here is Block 3: Breath of Spring

And here is the Bonus Block for March (available only to subscribers)

Bonus Block 3

I couldn't decide which way I liked it better.  I drew it with the white background and the dark blue corner leaves.  But the reverse is kinda growing on me.  Which way do you like best?

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.

April Seminole Sampler Row Available free all month

Have you been collecting the free Seminole Sampler Rows?  It's not too late to start if you want to begin.  This month is the Woven Star Row.  Isn't it gorgeous?! Think how pretty it would be in your own colors.  If you like these colors you can still get the fabric kit from Connect The Blocks.com for just $15 a month. And yes, Catch-up kits are available for Jan-March if you missed them.

There is still time to get the Seminole Sampler Bonus Block too!  I resend the newsletter on the 15th of April.  It has the link to the free row and the free bonus blocks.  (The free bonus blocks are only available to subscribers.)

Subscribe Here

Look at the rows my fabulous niece Krista made. She is my #1 pattern tester!

April is such a wonderful month!  Spring flowers, tree blossoms, and warm weather starting up.  I love it.  To celebrate April I designed a dandelion block for the continuing series of Deco Garden bonus blocks.

The applique is all raw edge machine applique done with fusible web.  There are a few more templates than usual in this block, but I just thought these dandelions needed a bit more fun.  You have to admit they are easier than the Thistle block!

The Dandelion Block 20 is available for purchase at Morning Glory Designs.

I have been traveling during March and April.

The end of March was the Annual Spring Retreat of the Quilting Beauties in Winslow AR.  What a fun and productive week with tons of sewing time and some great eye candy.  Here are a few of the show and tell quilts from the participants.

Wish I could post pictures of all the quilts because they were wonderful.

My thanks to all the incredible ladies I met in my travels to Denver CO, Liberal KS, Payson, Coolidge, Globe and Sedona AZ.  You really are great and I learn so much from each of you.  Thanks for allowing me to visit, teach, and lecture to your groups.  It was a blast.

New Block of the Month for 2016

Well, now, that's different!

That is what I heard when I showed this year's new BOM to some friends.  Yup, it is different!  After 4 years of doing applique BOMs I promised my readers I would do a pieced one this year and here it is.

The Seminole Sampler

I have been teaching Seminole Patchwork for several years and thought it was time I designed an original sampler I could use as a teaching piece.  So this does double duty!  I will be offering a free row every month on my blog and in my newsletter.  Subscribers will receive a bonus block, as always.

Peggy from ConnectTheBlocks.com will be providing FABRIC KITS for this project, and I am thrilled to be able to offer these incredible kits to my readers. Last year's Deco Gardens kits were a huge success, so I am hoping that you will enjoy these fabulous batik beauties.  Watch for the link coming January 8.

In the meantime check out Peggy's amazing batiks and kits.  Her yard cuts are 40" and shipping is free.

Go to the new 2106 BOM tab at the top of this block to access the link for row 1, the Harlequin row.

BIG NEWS, I am doing a monthly give-away on my blog for those who enter each month's contest.  Each month will be something different to enter.  This month all you have to do is leave a comment on the 2016 BOM Tab. WOW!

Did you love all those Art Nouveau flower blocks?  Well I did too, so I am still designing more of them.  Click here to get this month's new block, the Daffodil.

December Free Project

Sometimes I get carried away when I am designing with EQ7.

I wanted to do something special for all my readers and subscribers to thank you for hanging out with me this year.  So I designed a special block just for you.

Click here to download the free pattern for this 12" block.

So here is where I start getting carried away.  I wanted to add a border so that when I put four of the blocks together I would get a square designs.  So I added a vine to the flower block.

Click here to download the bordered block.

So  here is what it looks like with the four blocks together.

I love this 24 x 24 pillow look and thought about some other arrangements for other Christmas decorating.  Here is my idea for a table runner.

Two squares of four block. 24 x 48 Pretty simple, but still fun. However, if you are not an applique girl then you might break out in a sweat trying to do 8 blocks. Then I thought of something simpler and less square.

I really like this one.  Three 12" blocks on point and the little deco garden border blocks festooning the sides in reds and greens.  I might even make this one.  At 20 x 45 it is a great size for a holiday table.

So here is a table cloth sized quilt.  I liked the offset squares of flowers when I started rotating the blocks.  But the next one is simpler and leaves room for some pretty quilting.

So you can use these two free blocks to make any of these settings or just use the four in a square to make a pillow, candle mat, table topper, or wall hanging.

"It amazes me that a little bit of moving around changes the look of the block so much.  But wait till you see what happens when you start changing the color!"

So now I am starting to get really carried away in EQ7 and go back to the four block poinsettia arrangement and start playing with color.  I always see blue poinsettia fabric in the stores so I did a blue variation.

Wow, I loved that one, and the bit of purple really contrasted nicely with the blue.  Of course poinsettias don't really come in blue, but they do come in white and pink so I thought I would try a variation in first white, and then pink.

What do you think of the white one?  I loved this one too because it reminded me of those years as a teenager when I worked in the florist shop with my mom and sister.  There were so many gorgeous white poinsettias in the shop.  OK, so here is the pink version.

OK, so it's not really pink, but I loved the combination.  I started playing with my favorite EQ7 tool - random recolor - and it looked sorta pink, ok more red than pink. But I liked it anyway, and it was a bit less traditional for all you non traditionalists.

This is more like it.  I loved this pink version.  So romantic and victorian.  I picture it in a Country Home article on "A Victorian Christmas!"  It would fit just right in my pink and green bedroom.

Then I inverted the colors just for fun.  Peggy (www.connecttheblocks.com) this one is for you, the bling girl!  I would put crystals all over this for you.  It also matches my Easy Binding Winder!  Hohoho.

Doesn't that make you want to run for the pepto bismol?  Hahahaha  So I kept hitting the random recolor button and here is what I came up with.  Well actually this is only a small sample of what I came up with because once I started I couldn't stop.  But these were some of my faves.  Perhaps they will give you an idea about how you would like to color your blocks.

These colors looked Asian to me.  The gold behind the deep blues and purples looked so rich.  Not sure about the light blue border, but it does make a soft contrast (complement of orange is blue!) to the bold colors in the design.  Remember, these combinations are totally random!  Those of you who are especially anal and #don't do random may want to look away at this point.

This looked like ice to me.  If you are a "Frozen" fan you might like this. It  would go great in a little girl's bedroom filled with "Frozen" stuff.  The stonehenge fabrics in the background are such a cool texture, also.  Even the purple border provides a nice counterpoint.

This is another one of those warm variations with the blue violet and red against the gold.   Whooo doggy, that would light up someone's ugly brown sofa!

This one with the blues, grays and turquoise is much more "me".  I love these cool colors against a silver background.  I would so totally make this for my back porch wicker chairs and sofa.

While these muted greens and tans are not my colors I could see this in the cabin with rustic furniture and hunting decor.  My husband would call this the "camo" version.

This has a more modern look to me, especially those cool black and white print flower centers and lime green (the new neutral!) haha.  But I gotta tell you it is growing on me and I am more open to these colors than I once was.

This is for all of you K-State fans.  You know who you are and I didn't want to leave you out so when this variation popped up I save it just for you.

This one is for my friend Cara Gulati, cuz it is in her colors and style.  I think this would appeal to her.  Warm, rich, kinda kinky, but fun - always fun.

I can see you start to yawn so the show is over.  Hope you enjoyed playing along with me while I shared this project with you.  Download the free blocks (available only for 30 days) and share with me what you would do with them.

Thanks for hanging out with me in 2015.  I love each and every one of you.

PS.  Watch for my NEW block of the month coming in 2016!