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On the packing table, a few days ago ...

One of the first Day in Paris pre-orders heading to it's new home.  

This gorgeous collection by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic has been longed for, and dreamt of, for such a while, and to have them in store now, is so lovely! 

From the moment the Moda rep shown me these gorgeous prints by Zen Chic I loved the pops of fresh colour and little touches of metallic so much - they spoke to me of things which shimmer and shine. I just knew there and then they were meant for something special. 

Day in Paris is made up of 32 prints in total (the pre-cuts -Layer cakes, jelly rolls, charm packs and mini-charms contain the entire collection!)

From fresh pretty teals, soft pink and chalk, to lime, charcoal and deep inky blues. 

So to the "something special" which I've been bursting to share..... a year of quilting and inspiration begins today. Inspired by little things which fetch a little bit of sparkle to our everyday lives. Whether it's the twinkly morning dew, sunshine glinting through the trees, moonlight, or the steady beam of a lighthouse guiding us home. 

When I showed the Day in Paris fabrics to Michelle from CreativeBlonde blog, and chatted over the theme of things which shine, she loved it as much as I. So I'm utterly thrilled that Michelle's tutorials at CreativeBlonde will take us through this coming year, using the Day in Paris collection from Honeybee Cloths.

If you joined in our Sweetest Things Sampler quilt-along, then you'll already have met Michelle my co-host on the 2018 quilt-along. Michelle's blocks were a real joy to make, using her step by step, easy to follow tutorials - it's very exciting to be teaming up again.

There will be Giveaways, and several blocks and tutorials from myself (at Honeybee Cloths), and lots of inspiration on the way. We are bursting to begin - it's going to be a really gorgeous project, and we'd really love to have you along too.

Image: Honeybee Cloths for the Quilt and Shine quilt-along with CreativeBlonde

To join in follow Michelle's CreativeBlonde blog and our Honeybee Cloths Blog.

Preparations are just getting underway on Michelle's blog, so hop over to CreativeBlonde for more information.

Materials used in our Quilt and Shine quilts are available in the Zen Chic section of Honeybee Cloths. There's 5% off these and everything else in Honeybee Cloths till Sun 16th June, when you quote discount code SHINE at checkout x

The first of Michelle's tutorial is on the 15th June - and having seen a peek of the first block I can't wait - it's really gorgeous, there is lots to look forward to! 

Hope you have a bright and happy weekend. 

Dawn x X

Honeybee Cloths

www.honeybeecloths.co.uk

It's very nearly complete, just quilting on the border, the binding and label to sew on :)  - I have really loved making this quilt, so many lovely stories bound up in it, both in terms of the things which inspired it, and the lovely friendships formed throughout the course of our year long quilt-along. I've especially loved seeing your Sweetest Things Sampler quilts grow  and how sweet this past year has been! So many stories come to mind - where to begin? 

Community

Key to this quilts story is the lovely sewing community which has grown round it, as without you, and you're being part of it, there would't be a quilt-along.

Over the past year my heart has skipped several beats seeing the stunning Sweetest Things Sampler blocks and quilts online friends have been making in places I can only dream of visiting one day - Australia to Alaska, and lots of places in between!

Our shared #SweetestThingsSampler page fetches together the beautiful quilts we've been busy making - it's a real pleasure to see your quilts growing, and friendships forming on the way - doesn't the internet make the whole wide world a much more reachable place! 

As well as our lovely online friends, four legged and feathered friends are very much part of our Samplers too. Block 4 - Nest  is inspired by our little feathered friends’ who put so much care and effort into nest building, weaving twigs, moss, and feathers together, just like the loving care which goes into making our quilts....

While the little hedgehog in Block 8 - Prairie Point Hedgehog is actually inspired by a lovely Instagram friends @JenthePiecemaker, and the beautiful photos of her visiting hedgehog. 

Helping, inspiring, encouraging

One of the most precious parts of the Samplers story is how much makers have helped, inspired and encouraged each other. It's been a very strong thread running throughout our year long quilt-along.

Both myself and Michelle at CreativeBlonde designed six Sampler blocks each, for the Sweetest Things Sampler. Having Michelle along to co-host, as well as design and prepare tutorials for six beautiful blocks made the world of difference to me, and our quilt-along - a huge, huge thanks to Michelle from CreativeBlonde blog  

I thoroughly enjoyed each of the blocks and Michelle's January block, the 12th Sampler in our sew-along with it's lovely little sewing machine, and cotton reels (that seem to me, to be doing a joyful jig) really is the essence of "sewing a little happiness." :)

Block 12 - Sew Happy

Little moments of wonder

Another theme which pops up time and time again throughout the Sampler blocks, is finding happiness in the simple things, those little moments of wonder, which happen when you're least expecting them. 

Like, in winter, when trees have shed their leaves, there’s something kind of wonderful in the big bunches of mistletoe, hugging the tree branches...

Block 10 - Mistletoe and Mittens

And how, even in the depths of winter, you can still find those little moments of wonder. It might be the bright winter sunshine, shimmering snow, the shy doe in the woods, or perhaps the little snow globe which shimmers when shaken....

Block 11 - Deer in the Snow

While Michelle's blocks "Basket of Strawberry Sweetness"  and "Quench your thirst" reminds me of the nice warm, sunny days to look forward to....

Basket of Strawberry sweetness, designed by Michelle. Made by Dawn

Busy little bees

Going back to the very beginning, when the quilt-along was just a twinkle in the eye - a certain day in the height of summer, sitting quietly and listening to the little bees busily buzzing and thinking how lovely it would be to make a quilt, have a quilt-along.

Block 6 - From our little hive to yours

It's over a year and a half since that light-bulb moment - seeing the quilts makers have made, is for me the sweetest thing, seeing them pop up online is an absolute joy, brightening up the days. Thank you so much for following, it's really truly lovely to have you along. 

Sending a quilted hug to each and everyone.

From our little hive to yours

Happy sewing

Dawn x X

Honeybee Cloths

Sweetest Things Sampler

ps. You can still find our free templates and tutorials for each block on the Sweetest Things Sampler page of Honeybee Cloths. 

Oh my, the past 12 months have flown by, haven't they? 12 months on and just one more Sampler Block to go in Sweetest Things Sampler Block of the Month, before joining the blocks together next month.

Hope you've enjoyed it as much as both myself and Michelle have, it's been so lovely to have you along too.

This month's block, could really only be about one thing, something which makes our lives a whole lot happier :)

So let's sew a little happiness together. Enjoy Michelle's gorgeous pattern :) x X

Block 12 - Sew Happy.... by Michelle of CreativeBlonde

Tutorial by Michelle Roberts from Creativeblonde

Designed for Honeybee Cloths - ‘Sweetest Things Sampler’

Sampler Block Twelve measures 10 1/2” square before joining to other blocks.

Please read through all the instructions, before starting on your block x

Materials (available from Honeybee Cloths)

11” square Ivory fabric

11” square for the backing (if doing QAYG)

9” square of peachy pink fabric for the sewing machine applique

Scraps of pink and brown fabrics

4” square of pink fabric for the fabric applique piece

11” square of cotton wadding (if doing QAYG)

10” square of Vlieseline F220 interfacing (or Bondaweb)

Gutermann threads colours: grey, pink, brown, purple, green, dark pink and yellow

Pink Sulky Gutermann thread for quilting

Cutting – from the templates

1 Peach sewing machine

3 threads (centre of cotton reel) in pink

3 cotton reel tops in brown

3 cotton reel bases in brown

Haberdashery items

Template sheets

Erasable marker pen

Iron

Basic sewing supplies

505 basting spray or pins

Quilting ruler, rotary cutter/scissors, cutting mat

Temporary fabric glue

So let’s begin:

Print out the Sew Happy templates [2 page PDF]

or the full Sew Happy tutorial and templates [9 page PDF]

Assembly

Trace all the templates onto the soft side of F220 interfacing (or paper side of Bondaweb). The templates have been reversed ready for you.

Cut them out roughly, fuse to the chosen fabrics, and cut out accurately.

Take your 11” Ivory fabric, and begin placing the applique, using a small dab of glue or pins to hold all the applique pieces in place.

Using a light grey Gutermann thread, and your FMQ foot, sew around the sewing machine.

Repeat this process for the cotton reels, using pink for the centre part of the reel, stitching around the outside of the applique and then extra details across the reel and with some stitches on to the cream background, to give the impression of loose threads.

Use brown thread for thetop and bottom of the reels.

Using grey thread, sew on the details for the needle, and turning wheel.

Take the 4” piece of pink fabric, and fold in half with RST, sew 1/8” all the way around, leaving a small gap for turning. Turn and press. Fold over the corner which has been left un sewn and pin in place on sewing machine block, fold the loose fabric to make a crease, and sew in place 1/8” along edge. The bottom piece can be left loose to give a 3D effect.

Hand sewing

Using a circle with a 1 ½” diameter (I used a cotton reel) draw around it onto the sewing machine.

Using a green thread, sew a circle of leaves using a detached chain stitch.

The heart in the centre can be hand sewn using a pink/red thread and a satin stitch.

Add a purple flower to the top left and bottom right of your sewing machine, using satin stitch and a few French knots in the centre of each flower using yellow thread.

The flowers on the turning wheel, can be added using red thread and either a back stitch or detached chain stitch. Use yellow thread to add a few French knots to the centre of each flower. A simple green back stitch can be sewn to join the flowers together.

Congratulations block 12 is complete.

If you want to go ahead with the QAYG method....

Layer your block, using an 11” square of cotton wadding. If doing the 3 layer sandwich method, you’ll also need an 11” square of backing fabric, and remember to leave a small margin un-quilted inside the 10” design window, to make it easier to peel back the layers when joining blocks together.

Spray baste the 11” backing fabric or use pins to hold the backing in place.

Using an erasable marker pen, write the words ‘sew’ in the space to the left and above the sewing machine, using a pink sulky Gutermann thread and your Free Motion Quilting foot to sew over these lines. This could be hand sewn if you prefer.

Congratulations you’ve finished Block 12 – Sew Happy

Please share your gorgeous blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #sweetestthingssampler, both myself (Michelle) and Dawn are so excited to see your blocks.

You can find me on Instagram @creativeblonde66 and on Facebook @creativeblonde66

Come on over and visit my blog for more sewing tutorials at www.creativeblonde.co.uk

Thanks for joining in with this exciting quilt-a-long.

Happy sewing

x creativeblonde x

Don’t forget to keep sewing those Irish Chain blocks together, every time you get a few spare minutes…

A heartfelt welcome to our Sweetest Things Sampler Block of the Month, both myself (Dawn) and Michelle from CreativeBlonde are truly delighted to have you along. We've been taking turns designing the blocks, and this months' beautiful block and tutorial is by Michelle, inspired by a special birthday tea, to which you're invited too, we are in for a real treat :)

Block 9 - Birthday Treats by Michelle, is the prettiest block, a birthday cake filled with the loveliest little details - truly comfort sewing. So make yourself a cuppa, and enjoy a slice of Michelle's beautiful birthday cake. (Also," a very happy birthday to Michelle, from all of us busy little sewing bees xx!")

Enjoy x X

Block 9 - Birthday treat by Michelle of CreativeBlonde

Tutorial and templates by Michelle Roberts from CreativeBlonde

Designed for the Sweetest Things Sampler

10 ½” Finished appliqued block, before joining to other blocks

Downloadable PDF including templates [9 pages] - or Template only [2 pages]

Please read through all the instructions, before starting on your block x

Materials (available from Honeybee Cloths - www.honeybeecloths.co.uk)

11” square Off-white or Low volume fabric (Moda Bella Solids 9900 200)

11” square for the backing (if doing QAYG)

Scraps of Caroline pink, green, floral, and brown

11” square of wadding (if doing QAYG)

10” square of Vlieseline Bondaweb

Gutermann threads colours: 1001,336,650 and 624

Cutting – from the templates

1 Brown cupcake wrapper – Caroline 18652-16

3 pink hearts – Caroline 18654-14

1 small florals on cream for icing Caroline 18653-11

1 large floral – fussy cut for cup Caroline 18650-11

1 green for plate and saucer Caroline 18655 73

Haberdashery items

Template sheets - download here

16” pretty ribbon

Erasable marker pen

Iron

Basic sewing supplies

505 basting spray or pins

Quilting ruler, rotary cutter/scissors, cutting mat

Assembly

Apart from the bunting triangle, trace all the templates, from both sheets onto Bondaweb (templates have been reversed already for you) using a pencil. Cut them out roughly, and fuse to the chosen fabrics, and cut out accurately.

Take your 11” Ivory fabric, and begin by fusing all the applique pieces in place. When you add the icing to the cupcake wrapper, overlap it slightly when fusing to the main block.

Using the erasable marker pen, draw on the cupcake wrapper details.

Use the brown thread to sew over the cupcake wrapper markings.

Add detail to the icing using the same method, use a metallic pink thread to sew over the icing marks and pink hearts.

Using a cream thread, sew around the outline of the icing (1/8” from raw edge), continue with cream thread to sew around the cup.

Cut a 5” piece from the ribbon, and pin in place in the cupcake wrapper, sew 1/8” all the way around, you could add a little bit of anti-fray glue to the ends of the ribbon at this point.

Create a small bow, and sew a few stitches in the centre to hold in place. Add to the centre of the piece of ribbon on the cupcake wrapper, and sew a few stitches in the centre to hold, this can be done by hand if you find it easier.

Sew a few small stitches on each of the four pieces of the bow to hold in place on your block.

Your block is now complete.

If you want to go ahead with the QAYG method….

Layer your block, using an 11” square of cotton wadding, and an 11” square of backing fabric, if following the 3 layer sandwich method 2.

• For the 3 layer sandwich, also leave a small margin un-quilted inside the 10” design window, to make it easier to peel back the layers when joining blocks.

* (For information on QAYG methods, please see Quilt Construction notes.)

Cut out the triangle and draw around it, using your fabric marker to give the appearance of bunting, in the top right-hand corner, and underneath the cup and saucer – see photo below for placement. With the metallic pink thread, quilt the bunting. Remove all markings.

In preparation for joining Sampler block to Irish Chain blocks, trim a sliver of each side of the Sampler square, till it measures 10.5” square, to match the other blocks.

Congratulations you’ve finished Block 9 – Birthday Treat

Please share your gorgeous blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #sweetestthingssampler, both myself (Michelle) and Dawn (Honeybee Cloths) are so excited to see your blocks.

You can find me on Instagram @creativeblonde66 and on Facebook @creativeblonde66 .

Come on over and visit my blog for more sewing tutorials at www.creativeblonde.co.uk

Thanks for joining in with exciting quilt-a-long.

Happy sewing

x creativeblonde x

A heartfelt welcome to our Block of the Month, if you're joining us for the first time you can find all the patterns for earlier blocks on the Sweetest Things Sampler page. (Plus Kits containing the materials used throughout the tutorials also available in store.)

Both myself and Michelle from CreativeBlonde are delighted to have you along. We've been taking turns designing the blocks, and this months' beautiful block and tutorial is by Michelle, it's absolutely gorgeous!

Michelle's beautiful block features lovely cool refreshing drinks, an icecream, and the prettiest finishing touches, just the thing on a hot summer's day.

Enjoy x X

Block 7 - Quench your thirst

Tutorial and templates by Michelle Roberts from CreativeBlonde

Designed for the Sweetest Things Sampler

10 ½” Finished appliqued block, before joining to other blocks

Downloadable PDF including templates [8 pages] - or Template only [1 page]

Please read through all the instructions, before starting on your block x

Materials – Scrap buster

11” square Ivory fabric

11” square for the backing (if doing QAYG)

Scraps of pink, green, blue, floral, red and brown (Caroline fabric from Honeybee Cloths)

11” square of wadding (if doing QAYG)

10 ½” piece of Vlieseline H250 stabilizer

10” square of Vlieseline Bondaweb

Gutermann threads colours: 1295 and 7009

Cutting – from the templates

1 Brown Ice cream cone and wafer curl

2 cherries

1 floral long glass juice

1 small green juice

1 small lime

1 blue umbrella

2 pink straws

Haberdashery items

Template sheet

Friction erasable marker pen

Washable marker pencil

Iron

Basic sewing supplies: 505 basting spray or pins; Quilting ruler, rotary cutter/scissors, cutting mat

Assembly

Trace the ‘templates for fabric’ shapes onto the Bondaweb, using a pencil. (templates have been reversed already for you).

Cut them out roughly, and fuse to the chosen fabrics, cut out accurately.

Take your 11” Ivory fabric, and pin the main template underneath, use a light box or hold up to a window, use a Friction erasable pen to transfer the design onto the fabric.

Once your happy with your design, go over it with a washable fabric marker pen, and fuse fabric applique pieces in place, using the template as a positioning guide. Fuse the Vlieseline H250 stabilizer to the reverse of the block.

Using the Friction erasable marker pen, add back in the details, this will help when you begin the free motion embroidery.

Using a grey thread, sew around each applique, using your free motion foot (don’t forget to drop the feed dogs on your machine) and add the details to the lime, ice cream cone, umbrella and straws

Gentle wash to remove the marks, dry and press.

Your block is now complete.

If you want to go ahead with the QAYG* method, place wadding on the reverse of your block. For the 3 layer QAYG method, spray baste the 11” backing fabric and place on top of wadding, or use pins to hold the backing in place.

( *For more information on QAYG, please refer to the Quilt Construction section, and layer your quilt as required.)

Using a metallic thread, free motion quilt around the ice cubes, add details to the ice-cream whip and add a sparkler to the centre cocktail. Press to remove all markings.

Congratulations you’ve finished Block 7 – quench your thirst

Please share your gorgeous blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #sweetestthingssampler, both myself (Michelle) and Dawn are so excited to see your blocks.

You can find me on Instagram @creativeblonde66 and on Facebook @creativeblonde66.

Come on over and visit my blog for more sewing tutorials at www.creativeblonde.co.uk

Thanks for joining in with this exciting quilt-a-long

Happy sewing

x creativeblonde x