BluePip Designs

Hello!  Happy Thursday!  One of my most popular posts is my temperature quilt finish , but I've never been thrilled about the photos I took of it.  I was headed out to photograph another quilt and decided to bring the temperature quilt along and try again. Much better! When I decided to make this quilt, I spent a lot of time researching what other people did, then combined all my favorite bits.  Each block is a 3" (finished) square in a square block.  The inside is a print representing the high temperature and the outside is a solid representing the low temperature.  The prints are a combination of blenders and novelty prints to commemorate special days.  Both follow the same temperature chart for determining which color to use.  If we were traveling, my print represents where we were that day (see the tiny crabs for our trip to Boston?), but the color always refers to the temperature at home.  The difference between our highest and lowest

What a month!  Springtime is the best time, even if it means a lot of time away from my sewing room enjoying the perfect weather.  I focused on three projects this month and while none of them are done, they are all in really good places and I'm proud of what I finished! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 15 WIP List at end of month: 15 Untouched in 2021: 6 Active QAL Projects: 2 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Cool Mittens (March 2021) Quilts Started Diamonds On the Inside - A pattern test for my friend Angie at Gnome Angel. I actually finished the entire full-sized quilt top, but I'm waiting to let her reveal it first. You'll have to trust me that it's a stunner - I keep looking at it and thinking "I can't believe I made that! Quilt Progress (4 WIPs touched) Sparrow Party - A slight name change for this one.  I decided to switch up the layout a little bit; my sparrows are partying instead of standing in neat, orderly rows

I am not the type of quilter who does a lot of repeat quilts - there's always something new and exciting out there to grab my attention.  But since I finished the original Bernie's Mittens quilt , I couldn't get the idea of a three-color version out of my mind: Just look at how different they look next to each other!  It's obviously the same pattern, but it makes you do a double-take!  Both quilts were quilted by Lauren at Tekstil Crave , but I had her scale down the quilting and I really like the smaller size better. Coincidentally, the back of each quilt is a Libs Elliott print.  I didn't do this on purpose and didn't even realize it until I had the finished quilts side-by-side.  But now that it's here I love that detail! The pattern doesn't include the 3-color variation, but if you'd like help figuring out where the colors go, my inbox is open! What do you think?  Do you like the original or the bold three-color version

 Are you ready for some magic?  Today I am sharing a modern take on the classic London Roads block! My block is made out of Tula Pink fabrics and I chose to emphasize the arrows formed in the outer border.  I love how playing with the fabric placement gives this block a fresh, modern look.  It's just like magic, hence all the unicorns!  I thought about removing the tag from the unicorn Beanie Baby because the colors don't match, but I couldn't do it - what if the market comes back and this guy is worth millions? This London Roads block was made as part of the Fat Quarter Shop's Classic and Vintage series .  Its bright colors fit perfectly into my Gypsy Wife Sloth quilt , and making this block is actually what inspired me to pull that old project out and finish it up!

A month for my own patterns!   Chalk Stars is finally available and I made a colorful version of Bernie's Mittens !  My WIP list looks like it's heading in the wrong direction, but I've been cruising on a lot of old projects and many of them are close to completion - two of them are out at the longarmers and will be easy finishes once I get them back. Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 14 WIP List at end of month: 15 Untouched in 2021: 6 Active QAL Projects: 1 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Morewood Mystery Quilt (September 2020) Quilts Started A three-color version of Bernie's Mittens in a completely different color scheme than the original!  This one was pieced quickly, and is one of the two quilts out for longarming - it's going to have the same Chunky Knit panto as the original. Sparrows Quilt - a brand-new pattern from Pen + Paper Patterns.  These are my test blocks (aka the "I'm so excited I had to start right away" b

It's spring!  That means our weather alternates between "warm" (50s!) and rainy.  The only day this week predicted to be dry was Monday, so I made that my unofficial deadline as "photography day".  Luckily, I finished in time!  Presenting my beautiful, pastel-colored Morewood Mystery Quilt! We ended up at a local historical house and I was delighted to find this white wooden bench behind it - it might be my favorite quilt picture so far this year! This quilt is the Morewood Mystery Quilt , designed by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.  All of the fabrics are from my stash and the colors weren't planned out when I started - I just looked around for something that I had enough yardage of as each clue was released!  I did make one major change to the pattern - I didn't use a single background color, instead opting to use a solid fabric that complimented the print used in each set of instructions.  So Cheryl

At long last, I am proudly sharing my Chalk Stars quilt!  I designed this quilt last July and was so excited that I submitted it to Make Modern  the next very next morning!  I am so thrilled that they loved it too and agreed to publish it.   This is a lovely rainbow quilt that is well-suited to anyone new to curves - they are big and gentle and beginner-friendly.  I have a tutorial coming soon to show you how I sew them up - plenty of time to get your pattern and fabric first! My favorite part of this quilt is all the secondary designs that are formed by the "petals" of each star.  Doesn't it just shine? Chalk Stars is available as part of Issue 39 of Make Modern Magazine (affiliate link) , along with many other lovely projects (I've got an eye on the Lockstep pattern myself but you should make this one first!). Go check it out!

Spring is in the air! And, lucky me, I have a spring quilt that is just about finished.   This is a mystery quilt and I didn't pick the colors with Easter or spring in mind, so it's a happy surprise that it fits the season so well now that I'm almost finished with it. The backing fabric is scheduled to arrive today and I'm planning on quilting and binding this one myself. I'm actually hoping that this is a big month for finishes - Plaidish and a new version of Bernie's Mittens are being quilted up by my favorite long-armer, so I'm going to be binding until my fingers fall off.  Wouldn't it be a dream to have a WIP list with less than 10 quilts on it? My official March goal is to finish the Morewood Mystery quilt completely!  I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts .

This was a great quilting month for me!  It started with the release of my  Bernie's Mittens quilt pattern, followed by the completion of one of my oldest WIPs.  It ended with a pair of mini quilts from my own pattern, as well as a couple of finished flimsies! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 14 WIP List at end of month: 14 Untouched in 2021: 7 Active QAL Projects: 2 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Gypsy Wife (August 2017) - One of my oldest WIPs! Twin Mug Rugs (February 2021) Quilts Started Mother - I was sad when I got the last set of instructions for the Morewood Mystery Quilt, but thrilled when Instagram suggested this quilt pattern to me.  A mystery quilt with curves?  There's no way I could say no to that!  It actually started in January so I was able to make the first two blocks, Health and Plant Life. I took this photo indoors during the extreme cold snap we had at the beginning of February.  The blood drop background is navy an

 Today I have not only one, but two finished projects to show you!  Identical Mug Rugs! One of these mini quilts has a new home in Vermont, where my partner in a mug rug swap resides.  She told me she likes hiking and being outdoors, but hates floral fabrics.  From that, I decided a little outdoor scene of a place that looked fun to hike in was appropriate and I sketched up an outline of a tree and some mountains in EQ8. Enter my tween, who told me it was "a little boring".  So I saved my draft and handed him the computer and told him to make it better.  He got rid of my blue sky and added the sunset instead.  I have to say, it is a definite improvement.  I might have to collaborate with him more often! He was so excited about the design that he actually went down to my sewing room and pulled all the fabric for the pattern as well.  Then he asked if I would make him one too.  How could I say no?  I decided to make both of them at the same time so that his didn't get lost

I'm doing a happy dance this morning: one of my oldest projects is finally done! I started this quilt when I started the blog, so I feel like it's almost full circle to have finished this! (Don't worry, I'm not planning on abandoning the blog!).  One of my first blog posts talks about the inspiration behind it: I joined a quilt along for the Gypsy Wife pattern , but really wanted to make another Elizabeth Hartman sloth after I made one for a swap .  So I made the giant sloth and just started slotting blocks from the Gypsy Wife pattern in around it. I wish I could take credit for the black and white stripes, but that was based on someone else's idea around the time of the swap.  Unfortunately, four years later I have no idea who that was.  And I have to say, doing the print black stripes was not my best decision - it was a lot of work lining up all those ice cream flavor names!  In fact, I'm pretty sure the

Remember Bernie Sanders walking into Joe Biden's inauguration? I've discovered what was in his mysterious manila envelope: the pattern for a quilt that matches his now-distinctive mittens! What a seat!  Right next to it!  Though with all that cold and snow, maybe he'd feel a little cozier snuggled up underneath it.  That could put a smile on his grumpy face!  In all seriousness, I fell in love with the Bernie picture from the very first tweet I saw.  Who hasn't felt this way about a meeting? And now I laugh everytime I see him inserted anywhere else. The Bob Ross, Jurassic Park , and Blue's Clues memes really cracked me up, but they are all hilarious. The Bernie's Mittens quilt pattern plays on this iconic photo, but in a fun, easy sort of way (yes, I can design a quilt without curves!).  Bernie's mittens are knit, so my pattern is assembled in vertical stripes, much like a swatch of knitted fabric.  I wa

After a very busy January, I am back with a new set of plans for February.  I have a million ideas floating around in my head right now and not nearly enough time to sew them all!  I'm very excited about the Bernie's Mittens pattern I'm about to release and FINALLY having a full Chalk Stars reveal next month! On top of all that, I do have another goal for this month: finishing up my Gypsy Wife quilt !  For anyone who has been around for a long time, this is the quilt I was working on when I first launched this blog.  I put the quilt on hiatus in November of 2017 and it stayed there until two weeks ago when I finally pulled it out again. I'm actually pretty impressed with myself.  Not only are all the loose strips numbered for ease of assembly, but the coloring sheet (not shown) was actually colored in to match the blocks I made so I could figure out where all the loose blocks needed to go.  I also remember why I put the quilt on hiatus - the

Cold, snow, and a solid school routine meant plenty of time for sewing this month!  I took full advantage and not only created two quilts from start-to-finish but also pulled out some old friends to work on.  Maybe there is hope for my WIP list in 2021! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 14 WIP List at end of month: 14 Untouched in 2021: 8 Active QAL Projects: 1 Kid Projects: 2 Quilts Finished Giraffe Love (January 2021) Bernie's Mittens (January 2021) - I don't have a finished picture of the top yet, but here's a sneak peek at the flimsy and the fabulous long arm quilting that was done on it.  This is my newest pattern and will be released later this week! Quilts Started Nothing I didn't finish! Quilt Progress (6 WIPs touched) Rainbow Blossom - This block actually will go on the back of my Rainbow Blossom quilt as part of the quilt label, but I had all the fabric and just really wanted t