For this year's Row by Row Experience (an annual quilt shop hop where store visitors can pick up a free pattern to create a quilt row based on that summer's theme), I was tasked with creating the row for Pintuck & Purl, the fabric and yarn shop based in Exeter, NH, where I occasionally teach.
This year's theme is "Home Sweet Home." I spent quite a bit of time with my sketchbook while designing this row, trying out different ideas which involved flying geese, front doors, and inspiration from local architecture. I eventually began playing around with the basic shapes that form a house---triangle roof and square body---sketching out ways to nest the shapes together in a simple, repeating pattern. The idea I eventually settled on was to alternate hourglass blocks with squares, and use mostly low-volume fabrics for the pieces. The houses would emerge by switching to bold colors in only a few select places.
The final pattern is minimal, yet striking, and was a very fun experiment for me. I love that the resulting row is reminiscent of an aerial view of a neighborhood, with the dense straight-line quilting referencing roads or even plowed fields.
The free, printed pattern for this row will be available only at Pintuck & Purl, today through September 6, 2016, so be sure to stop in and grab one when you're in the area this summer!
Home Sweet Home Block for the 2016 Row by Row Experience
For this year's Row by Row Experience (an annual quilt shop hop where store visitors can pick up a free pattern to create a quilt row based on that summer's theme), I was tasked with creating the row for Pintuck & Purl, the fabric and yarn shop based in Exeter, NH, where I occasionally teach.
This year's theme is "Home Sweet Home." I spent quite a bit of time with my sketchbook while designing this row, trying out different ideas which involved flying geese, front doors, and inspiration from local architecture. I eventually began playing around with the basic shapes that form a house---triangle roof and square body---sketching out ways to nest the shapes together in a simple, repeating pattern. The idea I eventually settled on was to alternate hourglass blocks with squares, and use mostly low-volume fabrics for the pieces. The houses would emerge by switching to bold colors in only a few select places.
The final pattern is minimal, yet striking, and was a very fun experiment for me. I love that the resulting row is reminiscent of an aerial view of a neighborhood, with the dense straight-line quilting referencing roads or even plowed fields.
The free, printed pattern for this row will be available only at Pintuck & Purl, today through September 6, 2016, so be sure to stop in and grab one when you're in the area this summer!