The last of our Coraline blocks is up for testing, featuring Wyborn "Wybie" Lovat.  Die-hard fans of the book might choose not to include him in your quilt for the sake of staying true to the original story, but for those of us who enjoy both the book and film versions, he makes a nice addition to the set.  You can have some real fun with this piece in the texture of his hair and the way you finish out the skeleton gloves.  There is some embroidery to his face, but it really helps bring the expression to life and I highly recommend making sure to include it even if you aren't an embroidery fan.

Wybie is also a 10 inch block to match the other blocks in the series.  The lines for the skeleton glove bones are listed as embroidery lines in the pattern, but I really don't recommend embroidery for this particular section as it will be hard to get the look you are going for.  Instead, use these lines as guidelines for bone placement.  This is a perfect spot for textile paint or HTV.  Try adding little nubs at the ends of each line to represent the bone shape.

Let me know if you would like to test out Wybie!

No Coraline quilt would be complete without our hero's creepy antagonist, Other Mother (the Beldam).  This pattern comes complete with her button eyes, evil expression, and a bit of embroidery to bring it all together.

Like the accompanying blocks, Other Mother measures in at 10 inches when complete.  This one gets a hair tricky around the eyebrows, but you can also piece those in one color and use textile paint, HTV, or even embroidery to do the work for you.  The pattern includes suggestions for the embroidered Xs on the eyes.

She is still looking for at least one tester before she can officially be released, so let me know if you're the one!

I have a soft spot for black cats, and sarcasm, and children's books, and anything Neil Gaiman, so The Cat is pretty much the epitome of all my favorite things.  He was actually the first character I designed in the Coraline series but I did think Coraline herself should *probably* receive top billing.

The Cat is a 10" block.  There are lots of fiddly bits and sections that need matching up because he is such an angular character, so I would rate him close to the expert but not quite at the insanity level.  :)  As a bonus there is no embroidery, so when you're done, you're done.  Unless you want to add in a few whiskers for flavor, that is, in which case you can freehand them with embroidery thread or fabric paint.

​I do have this pattern listed in our Fandom in Stitches pattern tester group, but as there haven't been any takers yet, I'm opening it up to anyone else who might be interested.  Eventually I do plan on stitching this one for my black cat quilt wall, but that's a long way down the line.

Hit me up if you want to try stitching out this fantastic feline!  As soon as he is tested he can join the rest of our free fandom patterns in the shop.

If you haven't yet discovered Fandom in Stitches, you are in for a real treat.  It's an amazing pattern collection curated by Jennifer Ofenstein, full of nothing but free patterns based on beloved books, movies, TV shows, and more.  Any fandom paper piecer should have it bookmarked because almost anything can be found there and if not, the community of designers will jump in to make it happen.

That was the case for the Coraline block.  Someone mentioned there was no representation for the Coraline franchise and after watching the request go unanswered for a few weeks, I got back into the designing groove and popped out a small series.  I have designed Coraline, The Cat, Other Mother (the Beldam), and Wybie.  I don't anticipate designing more but it's not out of the question so if you have a specific request, please let me know!  While they are up for potential testing in our pattern tester group, I am opening these patterns up to anyone who can help get them tested and listed.

​

Coraline is a 10" block and moderately complicated.

I don't typically like adding embroidery to blocks, which is why mine tend to be a bit more complicated to piece, but some blocks really do call for it.  If you aren't an embroidery fan, you can also add the details with textile paint or heat transfer vinyl.  I left her dragonfly clip as a simple shape to facilitate the piecing, but you can dress it up with wings or even leave it blue and add a dragonfly embellishment instead, like a button.

​Enjoy!

Because we move so often, we have been a cat-only family since our dumb-as-a-rock-but-oh-so-sweet jindo mix passed away 10 years ago.  As we look toward the retirement (and kids' college) years ahead, though, I have been thinking about eventually rescuing a Bernese mountain dog to add to our craziness.  I have wanted one my whole life, but when I realized I had to be a responsible adult and research whether it was a pipe dream or if the breed qualities would be a good match for our family, I was surprised to find out the breed is exactly what we are looking for.  Their biggest flaws are a tendency toward shyness or separation anxiety, and sadly, a high chance of a shorter lifespan due to a number of medical conditions, 

It will be a while before we can start searching for the perfect addition to our family, so in the meantime I have drafted up Rascal to put in the shop as part of the Dog Breeds Collection.

Rascal comes in a 10" block and is of moderate difficulty.

I find this block to be so cheerful, with the giant doggy grin.  Anyone want to adopt this pup and give the block a test run?  Testers receive a free copy of the pattern in exchange for your feedback and comments, as well as a free copy of the revised pattern when it is released.

April is National Poetry Month, inspiring this set of patterns related to one of my favorite poets and literary genius: Edgar Allan Poe.  (Although no one holds a candle to Neil Gaiman; sorry, Edgar!)

One of my most cherished "poor young couple" dates with my husband was a spring afternoon walking through the small but fascinating Poe Museum in Richmond, VA.  We loved the bust that sits in the yard and I took many pictures of it.  The Poe profile block was drafted from one of the photos of the bust.

The block is sized at 10" and is moderately complicated.  Nothing too crazy, but quite a few sections to line up.  To go along with the Poe profile block, I drafted an inkwell with feather quill.  This one is a much simpler block to piece and a beginner with some experience under their belt could put it together.  These two blocks were developed to be a pair (a 2x2 block mini quilt would look really good with patterns reversed in opposite corners), but this companion block is very versatile and would go along with a number of fandom, fantasy, or literary quilts.

Both patterns will be released to the shop once they are tested.  If you are interested in testing, let me know!

As part of the US States collection, I am introducing patterns for Texas, Virginia, and South Carolina.  When included with my Washington and Germany blocks, these states represent our duty stations as we have moved throughout my husband's military career.  Many of our friends have signs, canvases, or other types of wall hangings showing their various duty stations, and my plan is to create a small quilt to commemorate all of our surrogate states to display in our final house.  I plan to use the larger Germany block as a center block and the rest of the states as cornerstones, although I'm not yet sure what I am going to do with the sashing.  And I definitely want to make sure we won't be adding Washington, DC to the list before assembling the quilt, LOL!

It will be a while before I get to these myself, so in the meantime I am looking for testers.  The blocks are sized at 10" and fall on the slightly more complicated side to make sure I could capture as many details as possible.  Let me know if you are interested!

April is the national month for many things, but the first one that always comes to mind in our family is Autism Acceptance Month.  We have several people on the spectrum in our immediate and extended family, and their unique perspectives have opened up our worldview.  It is our hope that society will eventually adapt to reduce the number of challenges that neurodiverse people face when navigating the world.

Since there is some controversy surrounding the puzzle piece symbol for autism, I wanted to focus on a slightly more modern symbol.  For those on the spectrum who find meaning in and identify with the the puzzle piece, there are a number of patterns available from different sources that I am happy to help you track down.  The rainbow infinity loop represents the diverse spectrum of neurological differences, including autism.  You can also piece the pattern entirely in gold to represent autism specifically.  This could be used to brighten up your own space or that of someone on the spectrum, or would make a great end of year gift for SPED teachers and therapists.

The block is 10" finished and is very easy to piece.  The biggest problem you will run into is lining up the sections properly.  What I like to do when sections must match up is clip them together with Wonder Clips before sewing to gauge the position visually.  I then sew about 7 stitches over each seam (without backstitching) where the design is supposed to match up, leaving the threads on each side a couple inches long.  I open up the sections and finger-press the seam to check my positioning.  If it is off, the minimal stitching is easily pulled out to try again, and if it is correct, I sew the whole length of the seam and then remove those stitches using the long tails.  These methods usually mean my patterns end up matching up almost seamlessly, although it does sometimes take a time or two to get it right.

You can find this pattern in the Holiday Freebies section of the shop.

In honor of my favorite person with autism, I also designed a gentoo penguin block that will be available for purchase as soon as it is tested.  Our son is the world's biggest fan of the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins (I'm pretty sure we have watched it literally more times than we can count), adores penguins in general, and loves gentoos best of all.  Santa even adopted him one for Christmas and he keeps a picture of his penguin "Captain" in his room.  He has named the penguin in this pattern Captain as well, and Captain is in need of a tester so she can be listed in the shop.  Ultimately I hope to stitch up all the penguins: Captain, Loudy, Bitey, Stinky, Lovey and Nimrod.  I will probably have them all face one direction in a quilt but reverse Nimrod just for fun.  You may even see a quilt block of Mr. Popper at some point; if I do add him to the quilt he will be added to the shop as a fandom freebie.

This pattern is very close to my heart because my husband and I are both Washingtonians born and bred.  As much as I am enjoying our travels around the US and now around Europe thanks to the military family life, I always ache for my beloved PNW and its oceans, mountains, and green forests.

​Part of the US States collection, this block stitches up at 10" and is a relatively simple block for any experienced piecer.  A huge apology to all the islands that weren't represented here; they would have made the block nearly impossible to stitch!

I ultimately plan to stitch this one up so if I get to it before a tester is found, it will be up in the shop then.  If you are interested in speeding up the process by testing for me, let me know.  I'm also happy to take suggestions for other states that you would like to see join Washington in the lineup.  I am tentatively thinking of combining the Germany block with our other duty stations to create a quilt symbolizing our military life, which would put Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina on the docket first.  But if there is something special you are looking for I'm happy to draft it up!