Hand Maker

One of my favorite things about my job is sometimes I get to see brand new fabric before it comes out. On the flip side, I have to keep it a secret. I can keep my mouth shut, but I sure don’t like to!

Today, I finally get to share a project that I worked on almost a year ago! (That’s a long time for me to keep my mouth shut!)

hand maker by natalie barnes

About this time last year, a dear friend, Natalie Barnes, told me that she had designed her first fabric collection, Hand Maker.

Hand Maker at Quilting Is My Therapy

Hand Maker at Quilting Is My Therapy

Natalie is a pattern designer, teacher and most of all, a source of encouragement for me. She invited me to use her fabric to make a small quilt to hang in her booth at quilt market. Talk about a no-brainer!

hand maker quilt fabric

Using the fabric she sent, I set to making a strip quilt to show off her beautiful prints. I rarely piece quilts, usually I prefer the machine quilting (big surprise, right?). But, working on a small, quick project was too much fun.

machine quilting strip quilts

And since the quilt was for me, I decided to use shiny gold thread for the quilting. It was so fun! What can I say? I am so easily amused!

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A funny story about this mini quilt…..she wanted it to be 36” x 36”. But, after I quilted it, I realized that I had mismeasured…..it was only 33” square. Ugh! Of course, I had waited until last-minute to make it so I was out of time. So I just sent it to her with my fingers crossed and hoped it would work.

She called me when it arrived and told me how much she loved it! Then, she said I had made it too big. What? Turns out, it was only supposed to be 30” x 30”. Geez……sometimes I am such a scatterbrain!

natalie barnes quilt market booth

Photo by Natalie Barnes

Here are the rest of the beautiful quilts that she hung in her booth, made by Cheri Leffler, Amy Ellis, Jenny Pedigo, Latifah Saafir, Julie Herman, John Q. Adams, Rose Hughes, and Natalie Barnes. It was so fun to see them all together!

[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”quilting-is-my-therapy.myshopify.com” product_handle=”hand-maker-fat-quarter-bundle” show=”all”]

Starcrossed

About 2 seconds after seeing the fabrics, I knew that it would be perfect for a new quilt pattern that I had just designed. Crossing my fingers, I pulled the “friend card” on her and asked if I could have more of the fabric to make a bigger quilt.

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Thankfully, she’s a sweetie and she sent some more! Starcrossed is the perfect quilt pattern for showcasing such beautiful fabrics.
Starcrossed quilt pattern

It’s fast and easy to piece, with no Y seams! I also designed it so that there is no waste, all the “cut off” pieces are used in the quilt.

You can pick up the kit for yourself here:
[shopify embed_type=”product” shop=”quilting-is-my-therapy.myshopify.com” product_handle=”starcrossed-quilt-kit” show=”all”]
I am so thankful for good friends and great quilting fabric!

The Midnight Quilt Show

While I have you here, I am beyond ecstatic to tell you about another secret project I have been working on…..I am hosting a new YouTube quilting channel for Craftsy, called the Midnight Quilt Show. It’s free and really allows me to show off my silly, quirky side!

Here is a trailer video that give you a preview of the the first episode which airs December 7th. Each episode includes a free quilt pattern and lots of entertainment.

If it goes over well, I will get to film more episodes. So if it’s looks interesting be sure to subscribe and tell all your friends!!

Thanks so much for your support!! Happy Quilting!