Prairie Grass Patterns | Clean, fresh quilt designs with modern farmhouse style.

Modern Neutrals: A fabulous new book by Amy Ellis

Published May 19, 2013

Let me tell you about my friend Amy. She blogs over at Amy’s Creative Side, and was my roommate at QuiltCon.

She writes books. Three books so far, and many more to come, I’m sure of it. This is her new book, Modern Neutrals. It’s amazing. Also, if you’re looking for a quilt book that isn’t all flowers and girl stuff–you’re welcome. This is that book.

I was the lucky duck who got to piece this quilt here, called Circuit Board, and though I almost gave Amy a heart attack by finishing it at the last minute, she’s nice enough to still be my friend.

She’s got about a million great ideas, and a whole lot of awesome ahead of her.

You should probably follow her blog, and keep track of what she does, and get a hold of her books, because well, if she’s designing mind-blowing quilts like this?

You definitely want to know what’s she’s got up her sleeve next.

xoxo

April

PS Congrats on the new book, my friend, it’s gorgeous.

Posted in Books, friends | 1 sweet comment

Twelve Words Block of the Month #4: April Inspire

Published April 30, 2013

A couple days late on this one. I swear, every month flies by faster than the last. But here it is, my April 2013 free block of the month pattern, April Inspire. (FYI, I’m backdating it to April 30th, so it’s easier to find for people who are looking. :)

This month has been full of soccer games, and daffodils peeking their heads out of the ground, only to see snow falling on their petals. I’ve been dealing with some personal health (thyroid-related) issues too, so I’ve been all over the place emotionally.

I started my garden seeds inside, and they sprouted beautifully. Just last Saturday, I planted them outside. And then the wind and snow and freezing temperatures came.

Needless to say, this month needed some sunshine.

The month of April? Well, I have a particular affinity for it, for some strange reason. But aside from it being my namesake–I love it because it is so full. Full to bursting. Everything is on the precipice of greatness. I mean, what is more inspiring than watching spring unfold?

April inspires me. Makes me feel like I’m on the cusp of something really awesome. What a lucky month, April, she gets to carry inspiration with her everywhere she goes.

Was your month full to bursting?

xoxo

April

PS Need to catch up? Here are links to the other blocks in this series: January Sparkle, February Adore, and March Believe.

Instructions:

Cut:

(16) 2½” squares from various yellow scrap fabrics

(16) 2½” squares from various orange scrap fabrics

(2) 12½” x 1½” orange strips

(2) 4½” x 1½” orange strips

Make 32 half square triangles from your yellow and orange 2½” squares by marking a diagonal line on the wrong side of all yellow squares. Place one orange square and one yellow square right sides together, and sew ¼” away from each side of the marked line. Cut on the line. Press.

Arrange triangles as shown, and sew together in rows.

Sew two rows together to make a chevron pattern, press seam open. Repeat for second chevron, set aside.

Using yellow scraps and a linen background, and following the paper piecing template provided, paper piece the center of the block, sewing all units first, and then putting letters together to make the word. Square up to 10½” x 4½”.

Sew your two 4½” x 1½” orange strips to each side of your word block. Press toward the strip. Repeat on the top and bottom of the word block with the 12½” x 1½” orange strips.

Sew one chevron unit to the top, and one to the bottom of the word block. Press toward solid orange strips.

Square up to 12½” square.

Download Paper Piecing Template here.

Posted in Free Patterns, Tutorial, Twelve Words Sampler | 4 sweet comments

A Quilt for My Nephew
{the sweetest in the land}

Published April 23, 2013

Posted in Gifts, New Baby, Quilts I've Made | 12 sweet comments

Fabric In My Stash: Volume 1

Published April 16, 2013

Check out the pretty fabrics I got on sale at Pink Castle Fabrics a week or two ago! Brenda was clearing out a bunch of my favorite line EVER, Hope Valley, so I had to scoop up some of that of course. I’m proud of myself for showing restraint. I really wanted to buy it ALL. Don’t they look pretty stacked in color order like that? Seriously, I could just stare all day.

I snagged a couple oldies, but goodies, from Violet Craft, Joel Dewberry, and Anna Maria Horner.

Also this cute strawberry print that is just begging to be made into a darling little blouse for Lily.

I may have purchased a little of one Hope Valley print to back my Farmer’s Wife quilt, when it gets done, someday. Or a lot. Maybe like ten yards-ish.

What was that about restraint?

Heh.

In other news, I have been off refined/processed sugars for 9 days now, and I can honestly say I don’t miss them. Hoping it will help with my weight loss goals. (Can’t hurt, right?) Plus, overall health is a great bonus, too.

What’s new in your stash?? Purchased any fabric lately? Are you a recovering sugar addict like me? Anything else you want to chat about?

I’ve been talking to five-year-olds all day, and as fun as that is, I wouldn’t say no to some good old grownup talk. Plus, my legs are SO SORE from the workout my friend had us do yesterday at the gym, that I might just be in this chair all afternoon–or at least until a kiddie soccer game comes-a-callin’. Deep Blue, here I come.
xoxo

April

PS I’m updating my blog look soon, so don’t be startled if it looks different the next time you visit. I’m working on making some things easier to find :)

Posted in Fabric | 2 sweet comments

Kortney’s Quilt: Purple, Kate Spain, and Good Fortune

Published April 15, 2013

Last week, I finished this pretty little quilt for Kortney, my super awesome sister-in-law. She’s a big fan of purple, in case you couldn’t tell.

When I saw “Good Fortune” by the one and only Kate Spain, well, obviously I had to use it for Kortney’s quilt.

I mean, her wedding colors were purple and yellow, for pete’s sake.

Also obviously, I’m loving that there’s some orange in there too.

I backed it with Moda Bella Solid in aqua. The binding is some old purple Kona I had in my stash. No idea what color.

I let Kort choose how she wanted it quilted, and she was loving on the bubbles, so that’s what I did–along with a few wishbones, just for fun. Bubbles and Wishbones. Sounds like a band name.

This is a remake of a quilt I did last year for Nyah, remember? Only a little bigger and without borders.

Just a single layer cake, 1/4 yardish of white solid, some backing, binding, and batting, and BAM.

It has a little bit of machine applique on it, which I know you are all experts at now.

If you happen to only be only super-proficient at machine applique and want to become expert, of course go to my machine applique tutorial.

What did you work on last week? Or if you didn’t get a chance last week, what are you up to this week? I’ve got a bunch of longarming to do–ruler work and such. It’s going to be FUN!

xoxo

April

PS Thanks, little brother (little? hah!) for being my quilt holder. You rock. Also, nice shoes.

Posted in Gifts, Quilts I've Made | 4 sweet comments

Virtual Quilting Bee
Block #3 Tutorial

Published April 5, 2013

Welcome friends!

I’m happy you’re here at my blog! If you’re visiting for the Virtual Quilt Bee, hello! Let me introduce myself really quick: My name is April Rosenthal, I’m a quilt pattern designer and blogger, a mom to 5 year old twins, and a wife to my high school sweetheart (awwwww). I have a sweet little pattern company called Prairie Grass Patterns, which I absolutely adore. I also adore fabric, herbal tea, the color orange, helping my family be healthy, and above all, I’m an obsessive learner. I would love it if you’d stick around and introduce yourself so I can get to know you, too! I’m naturally pretty introverted, but I truly love my friends {<–that’s you}–and I love helping others learn.

I’ve known Amy for a couple years now, and darnit, she’s one of the coolest people I know–and hey, when one of the coolest people you know asks you to be a part of their virtual quilting bee, well, the answer is quick and obvious. So here I am, with my block pattern!

Let’s get to it, shall we?

First, cut the following, being careful not to stretch your triangles:

Orange polka dot: (4) 2½” squares

White and red floral: (4) 2 7/8″ squares, subcut once on the diagonal to make (8) small triangles.

Aqua check: (2) 4 7/8″ squares, subcut once on the diagonal to make (4) large triangles.

Sew the short side of a small triangle to one side of each orange square. Press seam toward the square. Repeat with another triangle on adjacent side. Press toward square.

Right sides together, sew one pieced unit to each large triangle, along the long edge. Press toward large triangle.

Lay out the block. Sew top two blocks together, and bottom two blocks together. Press toward large triangle.

Sew rows together. Press to one side.

There you have it! This one is quick and easy, you’ll have it put together in a flash. When I finished putting mine together, I was shocked at how different they look. There is so much less contrast in the solid orange block, but the darkest fabric stands out so much more. The Happy Go Lucky block is fun and balanced, and has a more traditional feel. They look like totally different blocks! Which do you like better?

I seriously can’t wait for the rest of this quilt to come together, the finished quilt is going to be so fun!

Thanks again for stopping by, let’s talk really soon!

xoxo

April

PS Stay tuned this weekend for some pretty pictures of some works in progress…

PPS, If you missed the first two blocks, click on the “Virtual Quilting Bee” button in my sidebar. Amy is listing them all there, just for you.

Posted in Free Patterns, Tutorial | 15 sweet comments

Sublime Stitching Embroidery Floss
Product Review

Published April 2, 2013

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m a little bit into embroidery lately. Or, more specifically, I’m into incorporating embroidery and hand stitching into my quilty projects. The Twelve Words sampler has embroidery in each block, I just submitted a quilt to a magazine (out in July-ish?) that has some darling embroidery on it (if I do say so myself). I’ve done two Sweetie Pie quilts with hand stitching around the leaves…I might be a little obsessed.

So, as I was looking into doing this block-of-the-month thing, I wanted to find an embroidery floss that wouldn’t tangle, that had vibrant, on-trend colors, and that wouldn’t bleed or pill when it gets wet. I mean, I’m using this floss in quilts, and around here we use our quilts.

The cool people over at Sublime Stitching sent me this sweet package, and you should have seen me when I opened it. I was over the moon!

The colors are gorgeous.

The branding is fun, cool, and snarky. Just what I like in my embroidery floss.

Also, I’ve used it for all my blocks for the Twelve Words sampler, and for the magazine quilt, and I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ve sprayed it down, ironed it, washed it in the washing machine–it looks just as lovely as the day it came in the package. Absolutely no bleeding or pilling.

I’m a fan.

If you want to get a hold of your own Sublime Floss, head on over to their website and grab some. And when you get your awesome floss in the mail, make sure you read the text on wrappers and stuff. There’s some funny stuff there. That, or it was two in the morning when I was doing some embroidery. I’ll let you decide.

xoxo

April

PS Nobody paid me for this post. Sublime Stitching was gracious enough to provide me with some floss to sample, but didn’t ask that I review it. I just did because hey, it’s a great product and I thought you should know.

PPS Have you all been following Amy’s Virtual Quilting Bee? It’s super fun, and you totally should. I get to post my block on Friday! Be sure and come back to see.

Posted in Products I Use | 1 sweet comment

Twelve Words Block of the Month #3:
March Believe

Published March 30, 2013

The month of March was a doozy for me. You know the times where you have plans, and then things just come out of left field all over the place to mess with you? Yeah, that kind of month. Some of the stuff was super cool, like my brother coming home after being away for two years in Russia and Kazakhstan. That was awesome. Other things, not so cool, like hey, strep.

So of course, I thought it pretty darn ironic that the word for this month’s block (which I planned back in September) is “believe”…because hey. This month? It was all I could do to believe that I could handle even one more minute of the insanity. (Turns out I could, no matter how it felt.)

And then, of course, when I went to actually make the block, I ended up having to do it twice. Apparently my math was all over the place the first time, and I didn’t notice until I got to the part where I’m sewing all the rows together. Hooray for do-overs.

So. Believe.

If I were trying to be inspirational, I would say “Believe in yourself! Believe in your dreams! Believe in the goodness of humanity! Believe in love, and grace, and kindness! Believe in creativity, and passion, and luck! Believe in beauty! Believe in your own worth, and in a loving Heavenly Father who’s looking out for you!”

But that’s not the month I had, so I’m going to say this instead:

Believe, that no matter how crazy today is, and no matter how crazy tomorrow is, that you’ll get through it. You will. Even if there are a couple do-overs.

And all that inspirational stuff? Believe that too. :)

How was your March?

xoxo

April

PS Check out Amy’s Virtual Quilting Bee! She’s having quilty bloggers post a block tutorial every other Friday. I get to post my block this Friday! Come follow along!

Instructions:

Cut:

(12) 2 5/8″ dark green squares.

(24) 2 3/8″ squares from various green fabrics. Subcut diagonally once to make (48) triangles.

(1) 7″ linen square.

Make the green diamond square-in-a-square blocks by sewing a triangle to opposite sides of each green square. Align centers for correct seam allowance. Usually, I fold pieces in half and finger press as I sew to align the middles. Be sure your seam is hitting right where the two pieces intersect.

Press toward the green square.

Using the same method as described above, sew two more triangles to the remaining sides of your green square. Press toward the triangles. Trim little triangles off.

Trace the embroidery onto the linen, and stitch the word and stem using 3 strands of Sublime Thread #778 in Leaf.

Trace the shamrock for the applique using your desired method (please note, the template does NOT include seam allowance). I chose to pin my piece to some minky and cut it out without fuseable web. I pinned the shape to the linen and adhered it using a zig zag stitch.

Trim the linen down to 6½” square.

Lay out the block as shown, piece together by rows, pressing seams between square-in-a-square blocks open, and blocks surrounding the linen, toward the linen.