Double the Chickadees, Double the Love!

If you've fallen in love with Jackie Robinson's two recent chickadee themed collections, we've got two quilts for your to-do list! Both of these quilts use the red, green, and cream colorway of Jackie's collections, but they look completely different! We asked Jackie to tell us the story behind each quilt design. 

"Catch a Chickadee" is featured in the December 2016 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. This large lap quilt features a distinctive red background, fussy-cut chickadees in stars, and Jackie's popular border stripe. 

"Catch a Chickadee" by Jackie Robinson and quilted by Aimee Mahan;
featured in American Patchwork & Quilting December 2016
©2016 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

Why the red background?
The cut-able chickadees are on the cream background, and I liked the idea of a light-colored star surrounding them. That meant I needed a darker background. The red is the same as in the border stripe, so it flowed nicely. 

Tell us about the Christmas-y palette. 
The newer collection, My Little Chickadee, has more red and green prints, where Chickadees & Berries also had a lot of blue. The blues have a more wintry feel, and these reds and greens have a more Christmas feel. 

What do you like best about this quilt?
I like the half-rectangle star points. I like how they appear to curve, even when they don't actually do so. It creates an illusion. I like using tools, like the Tri Recs templates to create these. 

Click here to see the December 2016 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

******************************************

"Chickadee Baskets" is featured in the November/December 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. This lap-size quilt features log cabin blocks combined with nine-patch blocks in a unique on-point setting, and of course, fussy-cut chickadees! 

"Chickadee Baskets" by Jackie Robinson and machine quilted by Little Comfort Quilting;
featured in Love of Quilting November/December 2016
photo: Fons & Porter

Tell us about your design.
This quilt came into being as I was looking for ways to use the cut-able chickadees. The log cabin blocks create the basket and the handle, and there's a chickadee in each basket. 

You have talked before about the need for a variety of shades in your fabric. 
There are four different reds that I used in the log cabin blocks. I definitely like the variety.  

How does the on-point setting create such a distinctive look for this quilt?
The on-point log cabins create the baskets, and the alternating blocks creates the gridded look.. I really like the holly print--it's my favorite of the greens--and I used it in the alternate blocks. 

 What do you like best about this quilt? 
The chickadees in the baskets...as if they'd stay there...they'd be gone! 

Click here to see the November/December 2016 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting.

Click here to see the Chickadees & Berries collection and here to see the My Little Chickadee collection. 
Click here to visit Jackie's website and see more quilts featuring her Chickadee collections. 
Click here to see our original interview with Jackie about her chickadee fabrics. 

********************************************

Looking for more Christmas fun? 

Join us and our friends at American Patchwork & Quilting for 25 days of Quiltmas! Starting today, check in each day leading up to Christmas for a new holiday quilting video featuring great gift ideas, décor items, tips and tricks, and more! The first video is available here: allpeoplequilt.com/quiltmas

Love It? Share It!

Christmas in July: My Little Chickadee

The sun is shining, the temperatures are hot, everyone's wearing flip flops...it must be time for Christmas in July! 

Because we know that you like to get a head start on the holidays (or at least like the idea of getting a head start on the holidays), we're sharing Christmas in July here on the blog over the next few weeks. We'll be featuring our new holiday-themed lines and then hosting a blog hop showing projects made from these collections. 

Grab some mittens and a mug of hot chocolate (just kidding!) and enjoy!

If you were a fan of Jackie Robinson's Chickadees & Berries collection, you'll be thrilled to know she has a new companion collection--My Little Chickadee. Jackie's signature stripe--in blue and in cream-- and chickadees with plenty of space for fussy cutting for blocks, pinecones, scrolls...designed by a quilter for quilters! The panel from Chickadees & Berries is here as well, done in red instead of blue. These fabrics can stand alone or be used with Chickadees & Berries. 

The panel:

The fabrics:

Jackie has designed a free quilt pattern, "Chickadee Gathering," using fussy-cut blocks of chickadees and the stripe, in both red and blue. 

Click here to download the pattern.

Click here to see the entire My Little Chickadee collection.

Click here to learn more about the Chickadees & Berries collection.

Love It? Share It!

Focus on Embroidery: See what coordinates with our fabric!

We're focusing on embroidery here on the blog this week; today we're showing the embroidery collections that coordinate with some of our designers' fabric lines. 

Jackie Robinson has embroidery lines that coordinate with her three most recent fabric collections. 

A Mum for a Mum

Father Frost

Chickadees & Berries

Nancy Halvorsen has an embroidery collection for her Christmas Pure & Simple line, as well as some of her older lines.

Amanda Murphy has embroidery collections for two fabric lines:

Carina

Sparkle (consider this a sneak peek of one our holiday 2016 collections!)

 Susan Rooney has an embroidery collection for her Breezy Blooms line.

Cherry Guidry has embroidery collections for her two most recent lines:

Soul Blossom

Sunday Ride

Click here to see OESD's embroidery collections, including those featured in this post.  

p.s. We're launching an exciting giveaway (a sewing machine!) on Facebook. Be sure to check our Facebook page Wednesday evening for details! 

Love It? Share It!

Chickadees & Berries in action

Yesterday we shared Jackie Robinson's wintry Chickadees & Berries collection, as well as a few quilts she's made using it. Today we're back with three more projects featuring these bird-friendly prints. 

First, Carol Hansen used the panel and a few coordinates to create this seasonal wall hanging featured in McCall's Quick Quilts December/January 2016 issue. The quilt uses fussy-cut panel pieces plus pinwheel blocks and two simple borders for a result that's simply stunning. Then, because she's a "user upper," Carol designed a mini quilt that uses up the remaining fabric (and the pattern for this mini quilt is available for free from the McCall's website). Keep reading to learn more about Carol's projects.

"Chickadees" by Carol Hansen;
featured in McCall's Quick Quilts December/January 2016

What do you like best about the Chickadees fabric?

I like that it looks Christmas-y but it’s not just for Christmas. It’s wintry. It’s not one of those things that you feel like you have to take down the day after Christmas. And I love chickadees. Sometimes in the NW corner of Montana, chickadees are the only bird we see all winter. I’m a photographer and I like to take pictures of them. They’re sweet and cute. 

How did you decide on the patchwork border for the center panel piece?

I wanted to use the small pieces that came with the panel and I incorporated as many as I could because I like using things up. I added some pinwheels in because they can be made any size—so I could make them to fit the size of the little squares. 

How did you machine quilt this piece?

My best free motion quilting tends to be a swirly, design, which worked out really well here. I also outline quilted the birds, just enough to give some dimension. 

What do you like best about the wall hanging?

I love it because it’s got a lot of green in it. My kitchen cupboards are a soft green, so it’s going to fit in really well color-wise. I like things that are woodsy, and it gives me that look, and since it’s wintry, it can stay up longer.

Tell us about the mini quilt.

I made this because of my compulsion to use up the extra fabric—I’m a user upper. It’s a cute little wall hanging or table topper. I love log cabin blocks, so that’s why I chose to use them around the fussy-cut panel pieces. I actually just hung it on the wall next to my Christmas tree. Click here to download the free mini quilt pattern.

Coordinating mini quilt; free pattern available here .

Click here to find the kit for this wall quilt.
Click here to find the December/January 2016 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts magazine.

Next up, Diane Tomlinson used Chickadee & Berries coordinates to create this gorgeous tree skirt. We love the fabric combinations--so different from the other Chickadee quilts we've featured so far--it shows how versatile this collection is! The quilt features a LeMoyne Star design and Deb Tucker's Rapid Fire LeMoyne Star tool. Put this tree skirt on your to-do list for 2016--you'll be glad you did when December rolls around and you have a beautiful new tree skirt ready to use! 

"Under the Tree" by Diane Tomlinson;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting November/December 2015

Click here to purchase and download this pattern.
Click here to find the kit for this tree skirt.
Click here to find the November/December 2015 Love of Quilting magazine.

Click here to see the entire Chickadees & Berries collection by Jackie Robinson.
Click here to read Jackie's interview about this fabric line and see additional quilts featuring it.

Love It? Share It!

Chickadees & Berries

If you've heard Silver Bells and Jingle Bells one too many times recently, Jackie Robinson's Chickadees & Berries line is for you. This soft and soothing collection whispers "winter," rather than shouting "Christmas." That means you can make a project with it and keep it out from late November through February. Such a breath of fresh air in the season of santas! Today we're showing Jackie's collection, as well as a quilt she made using it that was featured in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. We asked Jackie to tell us about her latest line and her quilt. Tomorrow we'll be back with two additional projects featuring these sweet chickadees. 

Why chickadees?

It’s my dearest friend’s favorite thing—her license plate even says chickadee (with fewer letters). She married a rancher and lives 6 hours away from me, and we have trouble getting together sometimes. But she’s extremely fun, and I thought it would be fun to do chickadees.

Is this a holiday line?

It’s planned to not be just Christmas, but seasonal—more winter themed. You can use projects made from these fabrics all winter long.

What makes the palette unique?

What makes it different is the blue. It’s my favorite blue—a robin’s egg blue. It’s very soft and complementary—like a soft, light sky—and it goes well with the more traditional green and red. I sure do like it.

Tell us about the panel.

I didn’t want it to be a typical panel. I drew up the various shapes and wanted to fill them with a variety of motifs. I think it’s very useable. I used the panel in the block of the month quilt I designed (available on my website). It features the panel pieces chopped up (like in this quilt). There are just so many different ways to use the panel.

What’s your favorite fabric in the collection?

Of course I like all the blues, but I think it has to be the panel because of the bird in flight—it’s just fabulous. And the blue background makes me happy.

Anything else to share?
We are expanding the Chickadee collection for next year with My Little Chickadee! The add-on collection will include a split stripe, cut-able chickadees, a scroll and pinecones, and some more Christmas-y color options. Get a sneak peek here.

Here is the free quilt pattern, Chickadee Stars, using Jackie's collection:

Click here to find the Chickadee Stars free pattern on our website.

Jackie also designed Bird's Eye View using Chickadees & Berries, which was featured in the December 2015 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. 

As seen In American Patchwork & Quilting, Dec 2015 
Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2015 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

The panel pieces really stand out on the checked background.

I think the blue has such a sweet little country feel to it. I don’t do country much, but the checkerboard look was such a sweet, fun thing to do. It just translates into the quilt nicely.

How did the quilt come together?

I framed all the panel pieces and designed the quilt on a 1.5” grid, so the pieces fit together easily without a lot of math. It was part of my original thinking on the panel, to have pieces that worked together size-wise.

What do you like best about the quilt?

Besides all the blue, of course?! I do like the blue and white checked background. It really seems to be striking a chord with people.

Click here to see the entire Chickadees & Berries collection.
Click here to find the kit for Bird's-Eye View.
Click here to find American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.

Love It? Share It!