Hi friends, Today I am over on Instagram sharing my make for the Enchanted Influencer Tour - where we take turns making something with Valori Wells new fabric Enchanted for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I have always been a fan of Valori’s designs, the beautiful saturated colors and how she is inspired by her travels and life for each collection. Two years ago I participated in Valori’s Murmur fabric tour and made this fun Range quilt - you can find that project here. Since images are a bit small over on Instagram I am sharing those plus some extra shots here for you to enjoy! Does this quilt look familiar? I thought it might be fun to take my latest pattern Increase and scramble it up a bit! I took the 6 fabrics the throw size calls for, and positioned them in more of a mixed up layout instead of what the pattern layout calls for. I love a pattern that lets you make a few different types of quilts depending on the fabric and the look that you want and this one is flexible like that. Another change I made this quilt was creating a square shape instead of the rectangle the pattern calls for - I did this by omitting the solid section that would normally go at the top. Now we have a perfect quilt ready for a picnic or the beach. For the back I used the leftover hot pink fabric they sent me along with the leftover bits from the yardage and made a fun scrappy backing! Gives you a bit more of a look of the overall fabric designs and less waste is always good. I quilted this using a pink Aurifil thread on my Janome using the curvy stitch, creates such a great texture to the quilt. You can find out more about Enchanted here on the FreeSpirit site (see the other color options available in the line) and also over at Valori Well’s website, Increase pattern can be found here. I am also having a giveaway over on the Instagram post - be sure to stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win! Enchanted will be shipping in May, perfect timing for those summer inspired quilts! Nicole

Range quilt pattern from Modern Handcraft Could be a mountain range in the distance or a range of complimentary colors Finished size 64"x78" Smoke free studio, dog not allowed in fabric room

Hi friends! Today I am sharing another option that you have when making an Increase quilt - the 1-color version! I call it the 1-color version because you are choosing 1 color for your plus shapes, then choosing a color for your background. This particular quilt was made using a beautiful Yarn Dyed Essex Linen from Robert Kaufman in the color Aqua with a Kona Snow solid as the background. The backing that you will see in a moment was from a duvet cover I bought from H&M home - they always have fun prints in the kids section, and a duvet gives you 2 quilt backs, jackpot! Fabric Requirements For quilting, similar to the cover quilt in cross stitch fabric that I shared yesterday I used my Janome 6700p and 1/2” spacing on the straight lines. The rainbow print on the cream duvet cover I used for backing has a single line of the aqua shade, so it matches nicely but gives it a fun little pop of color. This would be so fun for a little girl or boys nursery. I did some big stitch binding on this quilt as well. Using a cream colored Aurifil 12 wt thread to match. For those of you on Instagram you might recognize my little basting bunny Spot…. well, he’s not really that helpful but he is our sweet little pet we got back in October who likes to hang out with me when I’m basting quilts. He just turned 6 months yesterday and is a Holland Lop - he loves head scratches but will not let me pick him up…. maybe one of these days! Thanks for visiting friends Happy sewing! Nicole

Our Modern Quilt Along series uses design aspects of modern quilting into our stitching. The theme for October is minimalism in quilting.

Hi friends! Today I am kicking off the Modern Handcraft Palette Picks Bundle for Robert Kaufman parade with one of my favorite makes - Beads quilt! What I love about this particular project is that I used the entire 20 fat quarters in bundle order on the Beads layout - so you not only get to see all of the fabrics in one project, it's a color explosion! The Beads quilt was inspired by a favorite activity between my son Grey and I, making beaded friendship bracelets. This is a fun, modern quilt pattern for advanced beginner to intermediate quilters, or those who enjoy sewing curves. The pattern is fat quarter and fat eighth friendly, or scrappy for a really fun look. Modern Handcraft Palette Picks Fabric Information Like I said earlier I used the entire bundle of fabric for this particular quilt - the pattern usually calls for 10 fat quarters, or 20 fat eighths so you could realistically make 2 of these quilts with this bundle! The Modern Handcraft Palette Picks bundle is a fun mix of Kona cottons and Essex Linens, giving you just a bit of extra texture. My tip for sewing with an Essex linen is to reduce your stitch length when sewing your blocks, I usually use a 1.8 length for all piecing - just so all of my blocks are very secure. Pressing your Essex linen with starch is also great to prep it before cutting. My bundle will be shipping this November 2023, so be sure to ask your local quilt shop to carry it! Background - Kona White Backing + Binding - Essex Yarn Dyed Classic Wovens (the larger black and white stripe Essex) Quilting Details Heather Alexander of HAndmade Longarm Service did the quilting for this quilt and I am so happy with how it turned out. I also highly recommend Heather for any of your quilting needs - she is fast, does an incredible job and is one of the kindest people you will ever meet if you get the chance! She's also a local gal and I love supporting local friends whenever I can. I was looking for something that had a beads look to it and this was a perfect match! Panto name: Hopscotch Beads Quilt Images Thanks for stopping by today to check out one of my Modern Handcraft Palette Picks projects! I am so excited to see what shops will be carrying the fabric bundle - I will share a full list once we get closer to the shipping date of November! If you would like to grab a pattern for the Beads quilt - you can get that here! Happy Sewing! Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am excited to share with you my most recent finished quilt - the Sprout Wovens version of my Beads quilt pattern! I shared a bit of the process making this quilt back in May on the blog - you can see more about it here. Get a copy of the Beads PDF pattern or Printed pattern. The Beads quilt was inspired by a favorite activity between my son Grey and I, making beaded friendship bracelets. This is a fun, modern quilt pattern for advanced beginner to intermediate quilters, or those who enjoy sewing a few curves. The pattern is fat quarter and fat eighth friendly, or scrappy for a really fun look! Sprout Wovens fabric information When choosing a color palette for this particular quilt I knew that I wanted a beautiful soft fall look, in an ombrè type of flow. I used Sprout Wovens by my friends at Fableism - a beautiful yarn-dyed woven fabric in earthy color palettes. You can find all of the colors listed below over at Cottoneer fabrics - fabrics link to the sprouts woven page. Colors used: Oat Pink Sand Cremini Wild Rose Marsala Black Cherry Autumnal Cider Sunglow Chamomile For the blackground of the beads I used a Cream colored Kona solid to really let the colors of the wovens pop. The backing and binding of the quilt was a beautiful fall fabric I found at Joann - it's called: Modern Folk Rust Floral Repeat. Quilting Details Since the fabrics are woven and a bit more delicate than your everyday quilting cotton I decided to do a tighter quilting line on this particular quilt. I kept my straight lines spaced at .5

Hi friends, Today I am sharing a quilt I made way back in 2018 when I had just released the Pivot quilt pattern and Carolyn Friendlander released her beautiful fabric line called Polk. As soon as I saw this fabric I HAD to have it. If I remember correctly the shop I bought it from had a beautiful bundle that included Polk and some coordinating Kona solids that really completed the set. It was also just enough fabric to make a throw size Pivot (14 Fat Quarters). Here’s a throwback pic for you! It was September 2018 when I was working on the Pivot blocks for the quilt. I absolutely loved this color palette, it reminded me of Autumn, and seemed like the perfect quilting line that was both feminine and masculine. For this quilt I chose to do a 1/2” straight line quilting using a natural thread. I like to do a bit denser quilting when I am using a textured linen fabric to really secure any bits that could come undone with washing. I also used a fun printed navy flannel (pre-washed) for the backing of the quilt. All of this with a cotton batting, this will crinkle up in the wash to be a super cozy fall throw quilt. We took photos out at Loyola beach on Lake Michigan in Chicago / Evanston area this past weekend. I would have more photos if it were not for the absolute CRAZY amount of bees that were on the beach that day! One kid got stung, everyone tried escaping to the water but these bees were relentless - so we packed up pretty quickly and went back to our friends house. So happy I was able to bring this particular quilt out to the beach this day - the colors of the sand, blue skies and golden grasses were a perfect match for the textures and colors in this quilt. Nature really can make the best backdrop for photos. When I was taking this image, there was a woman on the walking path where I was standing, walking by. She laughed because she couldn’t see what exactly I was taking a photo of - with of all of the grass in the way. She knew for sure there was a dog sitting on the bench having a photo shoot! Thank you so much for reading the blog today! If you are interested in making your own Pivot quilt - it’s available in both PDF instant access and also printed pattern. If you like to pin inspiration on Pinterest, there is a pinnacle image below - and be sure to sign up for the Modern Handcraft Newsletter below as well. I have some fun new stuff coming up! Happy Sewing! Nicole

Hi friends, I am so excited to share with you my newest quilt pattern - Scallop, here on the blog. This pattern is the fourth quilt in my Solid Series, designs focusing on solid fabrics and negative space. This quilt is perfect for the advanced beginner and those who love a minimalist look. I have included a video link in the PDF pattern that will assist you in learning how to sew curves. Also in the pattern are coloring sheets in every size for you to plan out your fabric choices. The sizes included in this pattern are: Baby 39

Hi friends, Today I am sharing a quilt I made way back in 2018 when I had just released the Pivot quilt pattern and Carolyn Friendlander released her beautiful fabric line called Polk. As soon as I saw this fabric I HAD to have it. If I remember correctly the shop I bought it from had a beautiful bundle that included Polk and some coordinating Kona solids that really completed the set. It was also just enough fabric to make a throw size Pivot (14 Fat Quarters). Here’s a throwback pic for you! It was September 2018 when I was working on the Pivot blocks for the quilt. I absolutely loved this color palette, it reminded me of Autumn, and seemed like the perfect quilting line that was both feminine and masculine. For this quilt I chose to do a 1/2” straight line quilting using a natural thread. I like to do a bit denser quilting when I am using a textured linen fabric to really secure any bits that could come undone with washing. I also used a fun printed navy flannel (pre-washed) for the backing of the quilt. All of this with a cotton batting, this will crinkle up in the wash to be a super cozy fall throw quilt. We took photos out at Loyola beach on Lake Michigan in Chicago / Evanston area this past weekend. I would have more photos if it were not for the absolute CRAZY amount of bees that were on the beach that day! One kid got stung, everyone tried escaping to the water but these bees were relentless - so we packed up pretty quickly and went back to our friends house. So happy I was able to bring this particular quilt out to the beach this day - the colors of the sand, blue skies and golden grasses were a perfect match for the textures and colors in this quilt. Nature really can make the best backdrop for photos. When I was taking this image, there was a woman on the walking path where I was standing, walking by. She laughed because she couldn’t see what exactly I was taking a photo of - with of all of the grass in the way. She knew for sure there was a dog sitting on the bench having a photo shoot! Thank you so much for reading the blog today! If you are interested in making your own Pivot quilt - it’s available in both PDF instant access and also printed pattern. If you like to pin inspiration on Pinterest, there is a pinnacle image below - and be sure to sign up for the Modern Handcraft Newsletter below as well. I have some fun new stuff coming up! Happy Sewing! Nicole

Hi friends, So happy to have you stop by today on my day on the Denim Studio Tour by Art Gallery Fabrics! The quilt I am sharing kind of happened by accident, totally not what I was planning on making - but once I felt the fabrics I knew exactly what to do! I first saw the denim line at Quilt Market this last year, and was seriously impressed with how light it was while still looking just like denim - I was smitten! Quilting with denim in the past (click here for previous project) is a little tricky, the weights are all different and sewing through that bulk let alone quilting is quite a headache. This material is so perfect for quilting I wanted to share a project using the smallest pieces I could imagine - a fun improv quilt! This quilt is composed of several very skinny - just under an inch wide strips, sewn together in a transition from light to dark starting with Snow from Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Elements line - working through some of the Solid Smooth Denims in The Denim Studio ending with Caviar, another Pure Elements solid. I received my backing yesterday afternoon and upon looking at what I chose with the front of the quilt, I laughed....this quilt totally looks like Cruella Deville! Not only is the front half black and half white - like Cruella's hair, but the backing material almost looks like a dalmatian dog print - it was perfect!! The backing material I chose because I loved the black and white print, and am a huge fan of Katarina Roccella's line Avant Garde. The print I used is called Tentative Dot Ink. I love how you can fold this quilt on the dark side or the light side for a totally different look. Thank you so much for stopping by today - hopefully this inspires you to give The Denim Studio line a try! For other great ideas on how to use these amazing fabrics check out #TheDenimStudiobyAGFon Instagram! -Nicole

Hi friends, I am so excited to share with you my newest modern quilt pattern - Pivot. This quilt is a fun mashup up curves, half square triangles and an awesome way to make a statement with your favorite color palette. Click here for an instant PDF Download! There is no official sew along just yet for the Pivot quilt but I recently added a new Modern Handcraft Patterns group on Facebook! This is a place for us to share our progress, ask questions and a fun place to have live videos for sewing together. I am labeling this pattern as intermediate, but don’t let that scare you away. Curves are a bit daunting to some quilters only because it seems like such an odd thing to sew the two curve pieces together and make it come out smooth. I promise you it’s quite a bit of fun and addicting! I had a few of my testers who had never sewn curves in their life and you would NEVER know they had just taken the leap! The video above shares my favorite method of sewing curves using three straight pins. There are some pretty amazing tutorials out there showing how to glue baste along with other tips and tricks. Try them all until you find the method you like best. Featuring fabric by Libs Elliot for Andover fabrics. I love how the black and white creates such a graphic punch. The pattern also compliments the design of the print with curves and sharp lines. Featuring Eclipse by Cotton + Steel. I was excited to try a version using a darker background and vibrant shades. This Halloween fabric with hot pinks, purples and blues compliments the Black Essex linen nicely. For Fall I made a beautiful cream and Carolyn Friedlander version that I am looking forward to quilting up soon. Cottoneer fabrics had this fun Polk collection with coordinating solids that looks great on a creamy white background. The Pivot Quilt comes in five sizes Baby 40” x 50” Throw 60” x 70” Twin 70” x 90” Full 80” x 90” Queen 90” x 90” King 100” x 100” The finished blocks measure 10” x 10” so you can customize your quilt sizing however you like! Pivot Quilt color combinations One of my favorite things is playing with different color combinations with my Kona color chips. This combination on the feature quilt is a mashup of some of my favorite green, aqua and dark teal colors. The throw size quilt takes a total of 14 accent colors( fat quarters), along with a background fabric of your choice. Below is a list of the Kona solids used on the cover quilt along with some of my favorite combinations. Aqua Green Palette(cover quilt) Honeydew / Wasabi / Pond / Cactus / Lime / Pool / Ice Frappe / Pickle / Kiwi / Ultra Marine / Candy Green / Grasshopper / Breakers / Grass Green Rainbow Brights Palette Mulberry / Cerise / Valentine / Lipstick / Flame / Azure / Aqua / Ice Frappe / Titanium / Quicksilver / Dove / Pickle / Peapod / Cactus Lipstick Palette Nectarine / Creamsicle / Carrot / Petal / Salmon / Candy Pink / Bellini / Ballerina / Coral / Pearl Pink / Cantaloupe / Corsage / Peach / Lipstick Autumn Palette Terra Cotta / Cedar / Gold / Yarrow / Ochre / Titanium / Quicksilver / Dove / Avocado / Peridot / Artichoke / Brick Cinnamon / Sienna Pop of Color Palette Titanium / Pewter / Overcast / Steel / Metal / Dove / Coral / Shitake / Shale / Shadow / Quicksilver / Ash / Salmon / Pickle Apricot + Honey Palette Gold / Yarrow / Ochre / Mustard / Butter / Salmon / Oyster / Ice Peach / Creamsicle / Cantaloupe / Peach / Dusty Peach / Canary / Grellow Sweet Tooth Palette Astral / Spa Blue / Baby Pink / Medium Pink / Waterfall / Oyster / Aqua / Azure / Carnation / Candy Pink / Honeysuckle / Blush Pink / Gumdrop / Dahlia Thanks for stopping by today friends! As always I love seeing your work - be sure and tag me on social media using #pivotquilt. - Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am sharing a quilt I made way back in 2018 when I had just released the Pivot quilt pattern and Carolyn Friendlander released her beautiful fabric line called Polk. As soon as I saw this fabric I HAD to have it. If I remember correctly the shop I bought it from had a beautiful bundle that included Polk and some coordinating Kona solids that really completed the set. It was also just enough fabric to make a throw size Pivot (14 Fat Quarters). Here’s a throwback pic for you! It was September 2018 when I was working on the Pivot blocks for the quilt. I absolutely loved this color palette, it reminded me of Autumn, and seemed like the perfect quilting line that was both feminine and masculine. For this quilt I chose to do a 1/2” straight line quilting using a natural thread. I like to do a bit denser quilting when I am using a textured linen fabric to really secure any bits that could come undone with washing. I also used a fun printed navy flannel (pre-washed) for the backing of the quilt. All of this with a cotton batting, this will crinkle up in the wash to be a super cozy fall throw quilt. We took photos out at Loyola beach on Lake Michigan in Chicago / Evanston area this past weekend. I would have more photos if it were not for the absolute CRAZY amount of bees that were on the beach that day! One kid got stung, everyone tried escaping to the water but these bees were relentless - so we packed up pretty quickly and went back to our friends house. So happy I was able to bring this particular quilt out to the beach this day - the colors of the sand, blue skies and golden grasses were a perfect match for the textures and colors in this quilt. Nature really can make the best backdrop for photos. When I was taking this image, there was a woman on the walking path where I was standing, walking by. She laughed because she couldn’t see what exactly I was taking a photo of - with of all of the grass in the way. She knew for sure there was a dog sitting on the bench having a photo shoot! Thank you so much for reading the blog today! If you are interested in making your own Pivot quilt - it’s available in both PDF instant access and also printed pattern. If you like to pin inspiration on Pinterest, there is a pinnacle image below - and be sure to sign up for the Modern Handcraft Newsletter below as well. I have some fun new stuff coming up! Happy Sewing! Nicole

Hi friends! Today I am kicking off the Modern Handcraft Palette Picks Bundle for Robert Kaufman parade with one of my favorite makes - Beads quilt! What I love about this particular project is that I used the entire 20 fat quarters in bundle order on the Beads layout - so you not only get to see all of the fabrics in one project, it's a color explosion! The Beads quilt was inspired by a favorite activity between my son Grey and I, making beaded friendship bracelets. This is a fun, modern quilt pattern for advanced beginner to intermediate quilters, or those who enjoy sewing curves. The pattern is fat quarter and fat eighth friendly, or scrappy for a really fun look. Modern Handcraft Palette Picks Fabric Information Like I said earlier I used the entire bundle of fabric for this particular quilt - the pattern usually calls for 10 fat quarters, or 20 fat eighths so you could realistically make 2 of these quilts with this bundle! The Modern Handcraft Palette Picks bundle is a fun mix of Kona cottons and Essex Linens, giving you just a bit of extra texture. My tip for sewing with an Essex linen is to reduce your stitch length when sewing your blocks, I usually use a 1.8 length for all piecing - just so all of my blocks are very secure. Pressing your Essex linen with starch is also great to prep it before cutting. My bundle will be shipping this November 2023, so be sure to ask your local quilt shop to carry it! Background - Kona White Backing + Binding - Essex Yarn Dyed Classic Wovens (the larger black and white stripe Essex) Quilting Details Heather Alexander of HAndmade Longarm Service did the quilting for this quilt and I am so happy with how it turned out. I also highly recommend Heather for any of your quilting needs - she is fast, does an incredible job and is one of the kindest people you will ever meet if you get the chance! She's also a local gal and I love supporting local friends whenever I can. I was looking for something that had a beads look to it and this was a perfect match! Panto name: Hopscotch Beads Quilt Images Thanks for stopping by today to check out one of my Modern Handcraft Palette Picks projects! I am so excited to see what shops will be carrying the fabric bundle - I will share a full list once we get closer to the shipping date of November! If you would like to grab a pattern for the Beads quilt - you can get that here! Happy Sewing! Nicole

Hi friends! Today I am so excited to share a quilt that I first started working on during the Snowflake Sew Along last year - my Peppermint Asterisks quilt! I made this version of the Asterisks quilt during the Snowflake snowalong because the white asterisks make the perfect snowflakes. This pattern is pretty versatile - it can be snowflakes falling, a mid century modern design, fireworks or party confetti. Asterisks is a fun beginner pattern with a few different layout options. Fabrics used: Background fabric: Stars in black from Peppermint by Dana Willard for FIGO fabrics Asterisks: Solid white Backing: Garland from Peppermint by Dana Willard for FIGO fabrics Binding: Solid black Making the Quilt: If you participated or saw some of the progress during the Snowalong last year you might have seen some of these images. This is the Asterisks quilt I worked on week by week along with the Bufflao Check Snowflake quilt. You can see more about the sew along here. Quilting Info: For this quilt I chose a white thread - I thought it would coordinate well with the white asterisks and also with the white stitching detail along the holly berry leaves on the backing of the quilt. I created a diagonal crosshatch pattern across the quilt using a straight line stitch and passing through the points of the squares. This type of quilting is really easy to accomplish since the quilt is made of half square triangles and squares. Pictures of the Finished Quilt: Thanks for stopping by the blog today! Happy sewing -Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am happy to share with you a 14 color verison of the Illusion quilt - the Bella and Dot Version. Illusion is my newest quilt pattern that plays off of a checkerboard pattern with a twist! A slight change in the block sizes lets the movement of color and pattern trick your eyes. There are multiple sizes and three versions to choose from: 2 color, 8 color and 14 color. The 14 color version in the throw size is the first quilt I designed - and this is actually the first sample I made! This version is great for fat quarter bundles - it just takes 13 for the throw and really has a nice flow of color to it. Fabric Information: For the 14 color version you will need a background fabric of your choice and 13 fabrics to create your Illusion look. This selection of solids has a rainbow feel to it without using traditional rainbow shades that can be a bit bright. Click on fabric names below to shop. Fabrics: Background: Essentially Yours Black on White Essential Dots by Moda Fabrics Moda Bella Solids: Color 1: Peach Color 2: Coral Color 3: Melon Color 4: Golden Wheat Color 5: Saffron Color 6: Maize Color 7: Green Apple Color 8: Aqua Color 9: Bermuda Color 10: Blue Chill Color 11: Little Boy Blue Color 12: Cornflower Color 13: Amelia Blue Backing: Moda Bella - Aqua Binding: Black and white stripe Making the Quilt: Quilting Details: For this quilt I finally had the chance to try a wavy stitch on my new BERNINA 770qe Plus. I used the walking foot (foot#50) and stitch #1317. I tried out several of the available wavy line stitches that come on the machine and decided this was my favorite. For my spacing I used the width of the guide bar against the top of the last wavy line. Finished Cover Quilt Images: I have been adding fun labels on my quilts lately - this date and checkerboard label are by Sarah Hearts, you can find her shop here. My logo labels are by Dutch Label Co - here is a link to their shop. Thanks for stopping by the blog today friends! You can find the PDF pattern here and the printed pattern will be arriving next week. Happy sewing friends, Nicole

Hi friends! The new Increase pattern is now available and I am so excited! Increase Quilt takes a traditional plus block quilt and makes it modern. Use the different blocks for color value change or scale of pattern in a printed fabric. For example: light to dark on a shade of blue - or smaller floral prints at the top and a large scale floral at the bottom. There are also fabric requirements for a 1-color quilt if you prefer a more minimalist feel. This quilt is perfect for both confident beginners and those who love a clean and minimalist look. There is a coloring template link in all sizes: Baby, Throw, Twin, Full, Queen and King included in the PDF pattern for you to plan out your project. Printed patterns will be here in a couple of weeks so if you prefer that style or are a shop interested in stocking this pattern I will have a pre-sale up soon. Increase Pattern Specs Baby 42” x 52” Throw 62” x 72” Twin 72” x 90” Full 82” x 90” Queen 92” x 92” King 102” x 102” Fabric Requirements Increase - Cover Quilt in Cross Stitch by Alison Glass Fabrics used on cover quilt: Background fabric: Kona in white Plus fabric: Cross Stitch by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics in Golden, Mustard, Study, Scarlet, Ruby, Tapestry Backing: Sunprint 2019 by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics in Pattern - Day Dream / Color - Sunshine I quilted this on my Janome 6700p using straight line quilting and my dual feed foot as my guide leaving 1/2” spacing between each line. Big stitch binding using Aurifil 12wt thread in Fuchsia 4020. We had a few days of heavy snow here in Indianapolis so it was fun to run out and take some snowy quilt photos! Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the new pattern - keep a lookout for the other versions I created that I will share on the blog throughout the week! To see more Increase quilt inspiration be sure to check out the hashtag #increasequilt on Instagram. Happy sewing friends! Nicole

This listing is for the Snowflake Quilt - Deco Frost and Chenille-it Version by Nicole of Modern Handcraft.  Quilt measures: 60" x 72" Fabric + Materials: Deco Frost by Giucy Giuce for Andover Fabrics, Chenille-it blooming bias detail on Snowflake design, backing is medium gray cotton flannel.  Cotton batting and thread. Quilting: Quilted by myself in a cross hatch pattern  Washed + Crinkled: Yes this quilt has been washed and crinkled. Care for quilt by washing on cold gentle cycle and tumble dry low.  Made in my smoke and pet free studio.  Blog post on quilt here

Hi friends, Today I am sharing some photos of the Kona hexie quilt I made last month as my entry into the Quiltcon Quilt Show for next year. I have shared many progress pictures on Instagram and a few over here on the blog so I am so excited to share the final quilt with you all! The method I use for the application and the quilting can be found in my Hexie Pillow pattern. I would say this is more of an art quilt due to the delicate nature of the hexagons, but would look lovely draped at the end of your bed, or like I intend to use it, as a wall hanging in my house. Here are a few images from this earlier post showing the full range of Robert Kaufman's Kona solid collection. This includes the entire collection of 303 Kona cotton solid colors in hexagon form. These took a little while to create and were mostly made on the airplane when I had some time here and there to make a few. These have become my favorite traveling project just because of the small amount of materials that you need and how easy they are to sew up a few here and there while I am out of town. This was the first time I had tried this method of modern hexies on such a large quilt - this is a throw sized quilt and the previous quilts are all mini's. Thankfully it came together much easier than I expected. I layered my solid white fabric with my cotton batting and then hung it up in my dining room with a few thumbtacks stretching it out flat. Using the crease I made with my iron I just glued in no particular order onto the solid fabric. Once you make a few of these you can just eye ball the pattern and since I had my stack of hexies in color order I tried to keep the flow nice by having the darker solids in the middle getting lighter as I reached the edges. Here are some final shots of the quilt, I so enjoyed sewing this one up and am looking forward to making a new one in a different style. The quilt rack shown in some of these images is actually a fantastic towel stand that was only $20 that I found at Ikea. I have tested it out with over 5 throw quilts and it is so sturdy and quite nice to look at! I discovered when folding up in different ways and placing on the quilt rack that it takes on a whole new look with the different sections of color. You can make it match just about any room in your house if folded correctly! A huge thank you to Robert Kaufman for supplying me with the Kona 303 collection for this project. It has been a dream item on my list to create and am so very thankful to the ladies who assisted me with this! If you would like to make a project using the Modern Hexie method I used - you can find instructions in the Hexie Pillow pattern, the pattern includes a link to download your own hexie templates and video links on how to start your project. Thanks for stopping by today friends! -Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am sharing another updated pattern - this time it's the Big Love Quilt. Big Love is one of my very first quilt patterns that I have been offering as a free tutorial since 2014. It is a fantastic beginner quilt pattern, several of you have shared that it was the first quilt you ever made! It is also a favorite for baby shower presents. The background let's you draw from the baby's nursery colors and the large heart in the middle is the perfect spot for taking month to month photos of your baby. Get the Big Love Quilt PDF here. Big Love now comes in two sizes - Small and Large Throw and is available as a PDF download. I decided to give the pattern a full update - made it Fat Quarter friendly, and have clearer directions. I love seeing the quilts you make with this pattern so be sure to tag me in your social media posts using #biglovequilt, or share over in our Modern Handcraft Patterns group on Facebook! Here are a few photos of the small throw quilt top I made this week using Libs Elliott's upcoming line for Figo Fabrics called Workshop. Workshop will be available later this spring, and it's such a fun line - it looks like a woven or a linen but is just quilting cotton! I will have a post next week sharing more photos of that finished quilt. Another quilt I will be sharing next week is a large throw I made a couple of years ago using Sun Print 2019 by Alison Glass for Andover fabrics. Thanks for stopping by to check out the Big Love Quilt Tutorial today - if you make one I would love to see it! Be sure to tag it on social media #biglovequilt or share some pics in the Modern Handcraft Patterns group on Facebook! Happy Sewing, Nicole

Hi friends, This might just be the longest WIP ever....well, one of the longest quilts for me to complete - The Denim Triangle Quilt. It all began in the summer of 2011 when I was pregnant with my son Grey. Growing rapidly I decided in haste or was it my nesting instinct, to cut up all of my pre-pregnancy jeans. I believe it was a total of 21 pairs, throw in a couple of my husbands which were beyond repair and I had my work cut out for me, literally. It took a while standing at the kitchen counter of our old apartment cutting the legs off, then the side seams and using my straight acrylic ruler cutting into 6

Charley Harper Pivot Quilt Kits Photo by: Modern HandcraftStart a new quilt!Pivot Quilt PatternThe newest quilt pattern from Modern Handcraft, Pivot, is now available for purchase. We've also stocked

Hi friends, I am so excited to share with you my newest modern quilt pattern - Pivot. This quilt is a fun mashup up curves, half square triangles and an awesome way to make a statement with your favorite color palette. Click here for an instant PDF Download! There is no official sew along just yet for the Pivot quilt but I recently added a new Modern Handcraft Patterns group on Facebook! This is a place for us to share our progress, ask questions and a fun place to have live videos for sewing together. I am labeling this pattern as intermediate, but don’t let that scare you away. Curves are a bit daunting to some quilters only because it seems like such an odd thing to sew the two curve pieces together and make it come out smooth. I promise you it’s quite a bit of fun and addicting! I had a few of my testers who had never sewn curves in their life and you would NEVER know they had just taken the leap! The video above shares my favorite method of sewing curves using three straight pins. There are some pretty amazing tutorials out there showing how to glue baste along with other tips and tricks. Try them all until you find the method you like best. Featuring fabric by Libs Elliot for Andover fabrics. I love how the black and white creates such a graphic punch. The pattern also compliments the design of the print with curves and sharp lines. Featuring Eclipse by Cotton + Steel. I was excited to try a version using a darker background and vibrant shades. This Halloween fabric with hot pinks, purples and blues compliments the Black Essex linen nicely. For Fall I made a beautiful cream and Carolyn Friedlander version that I am looking forward to quilting up soon. Cottoneer fabrics had this fun Polk collection with coordinating solids that looks great on a creamy white background. The Pivot Quilt comes in five sizes Baby 40” x 50” Throw 60” x 70” Twin 70” x 90” Full 80” x 90” Queen 90” x 90” King 100” x 100” The finished blocks measure 10” x 10” so you can customize your quilt sizing however you like! Pivot Quilt color combinations One of my favorite things is playing with different color combinations with my Kona color chips. This combination on the feature quilt is a mashup of some of my favorite green, aqua and dark teal colors. The throw size quilt takes a total of 14 accent colors( fat quarters), along with a background fabric of your choice. Below is a list of the Kona solids used on the cover quilt along with some of my favorite combinations. Aqua Green Palette(cover quilt) Honeydew / Wasabi / Pond / Cactus / Lime / Pool / Ice Frappe / Pickle / Kiwi / Ultra Marine / Candy Green / Grasshopper / Breakers / Grass Green Rainbow Brights Palette Mulberry / Cerise / Valentine / Lipstick / Flame / Azure / Aqua / Ice Frappe / Titanium / Quicksilver / Dove / Pickle / Peapod / Cactus Lipstick Palette Nectarine / Creamsicle / Carrot / Petal / Salmon / Candy Pink / Bellini / Ballerina / Coral / Pearl Pink / Cantaloupe / Corsage / Peach / Lipstick Autumn Palette Terra Cotta / Cedar / Gold / Yarrow / Ochre / Titanium / Quicksilver / Dove / Avocado / Peridot / Artichoke / Brick Cinnamon / Sienna Pop of Color Palette Titanium / Pewter / Overcast / Steel / Metal / Dove / Coral / Shitake / Shale / Shadow / Quicksilver / Ash / Salmon / Pickle Apricot + Honey Palette Gold / Yarrow / Ochre / Mustard / Butter / Salmon / Oyster / Ice Peach / Creamsicle / Cantaloupe / Peach / Dusty Peach / Canary / Grellow Sweet Tooth Palette Astral / Spa Blue / Baby Pink / Medium Pink / Waterfall / Oyster / Aqua / Azure / Carnation / Candy Pink / Honeysuckle / Blush Pink / Gumdrop / Dahlia Thanks for stopping by today friends! As always I love seeing your work - be sure and tag me on social media using #pivotquilt. - Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am sharing another quilt created using my Modern Handcraft Palette Picks bundle for Robert Kaufman! This Dot + Dash quilt was such a fun way to use 19 of the 20 fabrics included in my fat quarter bundle - 18 of the fat quarters and one of the colors as the background. The Dot + Dash quilt is a beginner friendly modern quilt pattern, that works with fat quarters, jelly rolls and is even scrap friendly. Sizes available in the pattern are: Baby 38

Hi friends, Coming home from QuiltCon really inspired me to try out hand quilting - something I have been scared to do, but in awe of forever. So many quilts in the show had the most amazing hand work - the texture - the imperfectness, I was definitely hooked. I came home searching for thread and a needle that would work - determined to start right away. I asked my friends at the Aurifil booth at the show what they recommended for hand quilting and they said 12wt would be perfect. I knew I had some of this weight at home - because I received some in some sample packs a couple of years ago and had no idea what to do with it besides maybe embroidery. I found a fun orange red shade and a needle that had a large enough hole to thread and went to work - blindly - wanting to just get a feel for it before I made a commitment to buying proper needles. I shared what I was working on with you all on Instagram last week - and you had SO much great advice for needles - thread - and how to videos that would give me some advice on how to go about this properly. The pillow top consists of 1” wide to 2” wide strips of left over solids. I try and keep my scrap bin separated into two bins - solids and prints, to make it easy for quick little projects like this. I started in the middle where the seams of both halves match up. Knotted my thread and started about an inch from where I wanted my first stitch to show popping my knot through to hide it and then started sewing at the beginning of the seam. Looking back at this now I am happy with my stitches but might mark my lines with a hera marker next time to make my lines a bit straighter. My friend Nydia recommended something called Tiger tape to me - will add a link below - this is skinny tape with lines marking where you should stitch. You can remove it and place it on your next section. I feel like this might be a good addition to my hand quilting stash to help get my rhythm figured out. I also heard from many of you that drawing a couple of lines on your thumb or finger that lies next to your work helps as a guide for stitching as well! Genius! I wonder how many people out there have actually had this tattooed on their fingers! Many of you also recommended hand quilting videos / tips from Suzy Quilts and Sarah Fielke. Suzy has an awesome series on how to hand quilt - that includes videos, tips and even how to choose a needle. This will be my next step - finding out which needle I enjoy using. Sarah Fielke has a great video on hand quilting techniques for beginners. Before I dive into quilting an actual quilt I am going to educate myself - will make the process and end result so much better. Until then, here are some images of my first hand quilted project! I love the texture - I love how imperfect it is - and how I have a fun reminder of the beginning of my hand quilting journey. Hope you can get past your sewing fears this week and try something new! I was so afraid to try this method thinking I wouldn’t enjoy it but I was so wrong, it’s now one of my favorite things! If you are interested in some of my favorite tools for hand sewing - check out the link below for my Amazon favorites! This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for stopping by friends, have a great week! Nicole

Hi friends! Today I am sharing another option that you have with the Increase pattern - using more fat quarters than required and making a fun rainbow or scrappy version! This particular quilt was made using an upcoming line from Vanessa Christenson ( V and Co. for Moda Fabrics) that is a part of her Ombrè lineup. This is an ombrè woven and the ombrè effect is made using varying thicknesses of lines - what a perfect match for the Increase pattern! As soon as I saw her sneek peek I had to figure out a way to make a sample and I am so thankful I was able to! Shops are currently ordering this line now and it will be shipping out this June 2021! I wasn’t sure exactly how I would layout the fabric when it first arrived - I just knew that I am a big fan of the colors Vanessa uses in her previous lines and that a rainbow would be so fun! I planned the layout using a solid white background (what I tend to turn to for most of my colorful quilts) but later on saw that Moda had sent me enough fabric in the cream/tan color of Ombrè woven to use instead. I was a bit torn halfway through, wondering if the colors would still pop against the tan and how the lines going all different directions on the background made me a bit crazy. I decided to just give in to the pattern and let it do its thing - and you know what, it worked! I kept it super scrappy with the backing and love the look it gave the overall quilt. My advice when using a fabric with subtle lines like this is to just go with it and let it do its own thing - it all worked out so well and I am so happy with the quilt. Colors used in Increase Quilt Background / then colors going from dark purple at top left diagonally to bottom right. Background: Ivory Aubergine Violet Magenta Hot Pink Cherry Tangerine Honey Lime Green Teal Aqua Turquoise For the quilting on this version I used my Janome 6700p and a cream thread. I kept my spacing at 3/4” for the straight line quilting and the woven fabric paired with a cotton batting made for a nice feel. For the binding I used the same fabric as the background and let the stripe pattern run around the edges - it blended in nicely with the background. A big stitch binding again with Aurifil 12 wt thread in cream. The one part of the quilt that I kept in an orderly fashion was the direction of the stripes on the plus shapes - I love how you can see the different line sizes compared with the different thicknesses of the plus shapes. For the backing Moda sent me some of Vanessa’s ombre metallic confetti fabric and it was the perfect match! We also had some serious snow this past week so the quilts had to come out to play! Thank you for checking out today’s Increase quilt! I have a couple more to share over the rest of the week. If you would like to make one of your own there is a link to purchase the pattern here. Nicole

Hi friends! Today I am sharing another option that you have with the Increase pattern - using more fat quarters than required and making a fun rainbow or scrappy version! This particular quilt was made using an upcoming line from Vanessa Christenson ( V and Co. for Moda Fabrics) that is a part of her Ombrè lineup. This is an ombrè woven and the ombrè effect is made using varying thicknesses of lines - what a perfect match for the Increase pattern! As soon as I saw her sneek peek I had to figure out a way to make a sample and I am so thankful I was able to! Shops are currently ordering this line now and it will be shipping out this June 2021! I wasn’t sure exactly how I would layout the fabric when it first arrived - I just knew that I am a big fan of the colors Vanessa uses in her previous lines and that a rainbow would be so fun! I planned the layout using a solid white background (what I tend to turn to for most of my colorful quilts) but later on saw that Moda had sent me enough fabric in the cream/tan color of Ombrè woven to use instead. I was a bit torn halfway through, wondering if the colors would still pop against the tan and how the lines going all different directions on the background made me a bit crazy. I decided to just give in to the pattern and let it do its thing - and you know what, it worked! I kept it super scrappy with the backing and love the look it gave the overall quilt. My advice when using a fabric with subtle lines like this is to just go with it and let it do its own thing - it all worked out so well and I am so happy with the quilt. Colors used in Increase Quilt Background / then colors going from dark purple at top left diagonally to bottom right. Background: Ivory Aubergine Violet Magenta Hot Pink Cherry Tangerine Honey Lime Green Teal Aqua Turquoise For the quilting on this version I used my Janome 6700p and a cream thread. I kept my spacing at 3/4” for the straight line quilting and the woven fabric paired with a cotton batting made for a nice feel. For the binding I used the same fabric as the background and let the stripe pattern run around the edges - it blended in nicely with the background. A big stitch binding again with Aurifil 12 wt thread in cream. The one part of the quilt that I kept in an orderly fashion was the direction of the stripes on the plus shapes - I love how you can see the different line sizes compared with the different thicknesses of the plus shapes. For the backing Moda sent me some of Vanessa’s ombre metallic confetti fabric and it was the perfect match! We also had some serious snow this past week so the quilts had to come out to play! Thank you for checking out today’s Increase quilt! I have a couple more to share over the rest of the week. If you would like to make one of your own there is a link to purchase the pattern here. Nicole

Hi friends, Today I am over on Instagram sharing my make for the Enchanted Influencer Tour - where we take turns making something with Valori Wells new fabric Enchanted for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I have always been a fan of Valori’s designs, the beautiful saturated colors and how she is inspired by her travels and life for each collection. Two years ago I participated in Valori’s Murmur fabric tour and made this fun Range quilt - you can find that project here. Since images are a bit small over on Instagram I am sharing those plus some extra shots here for you to enjoy! Does this quilt look familiar? I thought it might be fun to take my latest pattern Increase and scramble it up a bit! I took the 6 fabrics the throw size calls for, and positioned them in more of a mixed up layout instead of what the pattern layout calls for. I love a pattern that lets you make a few different types of quilts depending on the fabric and the look that you want and this one is flexible like that. Another change I made this quilt was creating a square shape instead of the rectangle the pattern calls for - I did this by omitting the solid section that would normally go at the top. Now we have a perfect quilt ready for a picnic or the beach. For the back I used the leftover hot pink fabric they sent me along with the leftover bits from the yardage and made a fun scrappy backing! Gives you a bit more of a look of the overall fabric designs and less waste is always good. I quilted this using a pink Aurifil thread on my Janome using the curvy stitch, creates such a great texture to the quilt. You can find out more about Enchanted here on the FreeSpirit site (see the other color options available in the line) and also over at Valori Well’s website, Increase pattern can be found here. I am also having a giveaway over on the Instagram post - be sure to stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win! Enchanted will be shipping in May, perfect timing for those summer inspired quilts! Nicole

Our Modern Quilt Along series uses design aspects of modern quilting into our stitching. The theme for October is minimalism in quilting.

Item: MH-003 Type: Quilt Patterns Designer: Modern Handcraft Collection: Camellia Nicole Daksiewicz Project Size: Multiple

Hi friends, This might just be the longest WIP ever....well, one of the longest quilts for me to complete - The Denim Triangle Quilt. It all began in the summer of 2011 when I was pregnant with my son Grey. Growing rapidly I decided in haste or was it my nesting instinct, to cut up all of my pre-pregnancy jeans. I believe it was a total of 21 pairs, throw in a couple of my husbands which were beyond repair and I had my work cut out for me, literally. It took a while standing at the kitchen counter of our old apartment cutting the legs off, then the side seams and using my straight acrylic ruler cutting into 6

Hi friends, TGIF, or as I like to say Thank Goodness It's Finished! I am SO happy to share with you a quilt that is officially done, poor thing was waiting on binding forever. This is one of my favorite Increase quilts to date: The Essex Linen version. If you have been following me for a while you know that the two fabrics I use the most in quilting are solid white and black essex linen by Robert Kaufman fabrics. These are my favorite basics - the minimalist look - the texture of the linen - it's just the best. I knew when making this particular quilt that I wanted a very minimalist version and one that would fit in well with our home decor. Get a copy of the Increase pdf pattern or printed pattern. The Increase Quilt takes a traditional plus block quilt and makes it modern. You can use different blocks for color value change or scale of a pattern in a printed fabric. This is a fun one for both confident beginners and those who love a clean and minimalist look. Increase Quilt Essex Linen Fabric Information For the background of the quilt I used an Essex yarn dyed black linen by Robert Kaufman - the one thing I will recommend when using this particular fabric is to make sure that you definitely have enough for the project that you are working on. The dye lots are hit and miss and there is a big chance you will order more fabric and it not match perfectly. For the plus shapes I used a Kona white solid and the background a fun print by Carolyn Friedlander that I thought would be a perfect match! You can find all of these fabrics below: Black yarn dyed Essex Linen Kona Cotton Solid in White Carolyn Friedlander Green Wall in Black Quilting Details For this quilt I wanted to keep it pretty simple but give the linen a bit of extra texture with my quilting. I started with a horizontal straight line stitched at 2

Hi friends, Today I am over on Instagram sharing my make for the Enchanted Influencer Tour - where we take turns making something with Valori Wells new fabric Enchanted for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I have always been a fan of Valori’s designs, the beautiful saturated colors and how she is inspired by her travels and life for each collection. Two years ago I participated in Valori’s Murmur fabric tour and made this fun Range quilt - you can find that project here. Since images are a bit small over on Instagram I am sharing those plus some extra shots here for you to enjoy! Does this quilt look familiar? I thought it might be fun to take my latest pattern Increase and scramble it up a bit! I took the 6 fabrics the throw size calls for, and positioned them in more of a mixed up layout instead of what the pattern layout calls for. I love a pattern that lets you make a few different types of quilts depending on the fabric and the look that you want and this one is flexible like that. Another change I made this quilt was creating a square shape instead of the rectangle the pattern calls for - I did this by omitting the solid section that would normally go at the top. Now we have a perfect quilt ready for a picnic or the beach. For the back I used the leftover hot pink fabric they sent me along with the leftover bits from the yardage and made a fun scrappy backing! Gives you a bit more of a look of the overall fabric designs and less waste is always good. I quilted this using a pink Aurifil thread on my Janome using the curvy stitch, creates such a great texture to the quilt. You can find out more about Enchanted here on the FreeSpirit site (see the other color options available in the line) and also over at Valori Well’s website, Increase pattern can be found here. I am also having a giveaway over on the Instagram post - be sure to stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win! Enchanted will be shipping in May, perfect timing for those summer inspired quilts! Nicole