Under The Big Top Nursery Set

I am pleased to announce the release of a pattern for a circus themed nursery set entitled Under The Big Top.

Circles, triangles, squares and diamonds are all used to create this colourful quilt.

  The pattern includes the spiral and star quilting motifs used in this sample.

 The outer border is simply quilted with a curved line dotted with stars.

To give credit where due...we all know I had help with the photo shoot. You may recognize the tail in this one...

The ninja cat was everywhere. You aren't fooling anyone, Polly - we can see those pointy little ears!

Polly would get shooed out of the room and by the time I was back behind the camera, she was back in front of it.  

Sigh...

The pattern also includes instructions for the "big top" canopy to hang over the crib so you can complete your nursery in a circus theme.

 The quilt is a generous 46" x 54".

As always, I owe a big thank you to pattern editor Cheryl Coville for her help (and Polly sends a purr to Cheryl's helper, Cassie).   The pattern is available as an instant download here on Craftsy.

A Useful Self

Self-threading needles:  have you tried them?  They are a great time (not to mention frustration!) saver.  On my latest quilt, I used a 12 weight topstitching thread to do a bit of accent stitching over top of the quilting.  There were a lot of ends to darn in, and I was not looking forward to threading this thick thread into the small eye of the needle over and over again.

This packet of self-threading needles was perfect as it has a variety of sizes in the package and I found one which handled the heavy thread with ease.  These unique needles actually have two eyes, and a slot at the top where you lay the thread and simply pull it down into the bottom eye.  The top eye acts as a buffer in case the thread slips out mid seam.

 I got these at Mrs. Pugsley's.

Buried

I feel like I've been spinning my wheels for the past month or so, getting caught up from Fibre Arts Festival and with yesterday's snow now my wheels are literally spinning!  Our first real snowfall of the season...and it's a pretty one!

Inside, I've been working away on the colourful fabrics from Mrs. P's that I showed you in this post.  I am about half way through the quilting, and have a few more fiddly details to work out on the pièce de résistance (the accompanying canopy) and then it's on to writing the directions.  Barring interruptions, that's a good week's worth of work before it's ready to post.

 There are also a few chores which need doing...like putting the patio furniture away :)