Prairie Willow in Loominous

Happy June! Last month I released my first quilt pattern and it's been so uplifting hearing the feedback from so many of you. Thanks so much!

Click the image to go to Craftsy to download.

So, I realized lately that I have grown quite an extensive collection of Anna Maria Horner (AMH) fabrics. You see, I love AMH! Her colors are these amazing jewel-tones that make me deliriously happy and as a collection they create this very bohemian vibe that wins me over every time. I buy her collections no matter what but then I sit on them thinking if I use them they will be gone forever. Well, I've finally realized that is the dumbest thing ever! They need to be made into quilts and other lovelies so when I pet them I don't look like a full blown lunatic. You might find it hard to believe that I have a seemingly bottomless pit of AMH by the fact you've seen me share lots of AMH projects, but I do, for example....

HST Pillow

Sew Together Bag

AMH Room

Dining Room

Christmas Tree Skirt

  

And there's actually several more projects but I'm tired of looking for the pictures, but you get the idea. So, why am I sharing this with you? Well, I have challenged myself to sew all of it (yes, ALL of it) before her next collection comes out. You might have noticed on IG that I've been making some dents but I still have the entire Honor Roll collection (1/2 yards) and a ton of Pretty Potent left to devour. Today I am going to share Loominous...

So I recently got her newest collection, Loominous, a few weeks ago and I was totally shocked at how eager I was to cut into them (see hoarding tendencies above). Have you seen Loominous? They are yarn-dyed (fabric dyed while still in yarn form) fabrics with incredible texture and weave and a few fun metallic threads thrown it. It's great for home decor, quilts, and clothing. The first time I petted Loominous, I knew it needed to become a patchwork quilt with little breakage of the design. Then I thought about my Prairie Willow pattern that's part of my Positive Trio pattern booklet and knew it would be perfect. Now, I am going to be honest, I totally fudge the pattern a bit in order to use every last little bit of my FQ bundle in order to not have to order more or include other prints to the top and I'll tell you what I did in a bit, but for now here is the EQ7 version and some pretty pictures of it finished:

I used a print from AMH's Pretty Potent line for the back and another print from the same line for the binding. It was by sheer luck that I had that print for the back and how well it with together. I only had 3 yards instead of the 4 yards required but I made it work and literally had only an inch left on the bottom after I longarmed it. I FMQ'ed it with a fun little snail/flower design all over and quite pleased. I knew I needed a dense quilt design for this one because some of the fabric weaves are a bit looser than typical quilting cotton and didn't want to risk any holes or fraying. I also pieced the top together using a smaller stitch length then normal as well. If you have the patience (I don't) then starch your fabrics before you cut or at least starch each block like I did.

So, I recommend using the amount of fabric stated in my pattern, BUT if you are like me and don't want to order more fabric, you can cut your corner background squares a bit smaller to 2.5" but not any smaller. The pattern has you cut these squares a tad bit bigger in order to keep a little extra space between the points on the adjacent blocks. I would have prefered more space, but like I said, I didn't want to buy more fabric. This is the small throw size (60" x 60"). 

I photographed 6 quilts on my last photoshoot and can't wait to share them so stay tuned! Also, did you happen to notice that I've added a new tab on the top of my page? Check it out here! Thanks so much for visiting today and hope you have a great week!