What's Under the Needle?

What's New for Us in September 2021

Posted by on 14 September 2021 | 0 Comments

Sitting in the pandemic is certainly not new - it seems to be going on and on and on... as is this current lockdown I find myself in. I'm finding it's a matter of juggling things - who knew I'd be good at that! For the last month or more, part of the juggling involved upgrading and updating my website at Arbee Designs. It's launched but still needs a lot more work - even in a few years since the last upgrade the online world has evolved tremendously so there is a lot of images and text that needs work. Even though it doesn't look much different on the front, there is a whole lot of new things going on in the background that you won't see at first glance and it is a whole lot better equipped for mobile devices too. I hope you'll check it out, and please let me know if you find a missing page, there are bound to be some links that have gone awry... Visit Arbee Designs

Our main topic of things new is Anita's Christmas quilt. We now have this available as a BOM with parts being released weekly so you can have it made before Christmas.  The full instructions in this BOM pattern include details for a Feathered Star block and various blocks to make either a one border quilt or two border quilt.

We have a huge list of blocks available for this project. There will be two in each part and they will include variations and alternative options so you can have a whole array of blocks. 

So what about fabrics? Of course, I always suggest using good patchwork fabrics for a quilt as you want your quilt to last many years, but you are not just limited to Christmas fabrics. Any colors to go with your theme fabrics (in this case, Christmas) will work too. In fact, including plain, mottled, and tone-on-tone fabrics will enhance the print fabrics. Here's what I mean...

See how when you use various prints together in a block - they blend together and look very busy.

busy prints in Ohio Star block

However, if you mix your print fabrics with plainer fabrics you end up with a much more striking block. 

prints with plain or tone-on-tone fabrics in Ohio Star block

The same goes with tones and contrast.... and auditioning the fabrics before you start will save you a great deal of time.

Auditioning fabrics will help you decide which fabrics to use in a block

So gather your scraps... and a bit of yardage where needed, and join us as we create this beautiful Christmas quilt with the Feathered Star feature.

Happy Quilting!

Get this pattern FREE