San Francisco Stitch Co.: Charm Quilty Pleasures...

So there's always a bit of guilt when an artist resorts to making a pattern-- or worse yet, a kit! I have learned to accept that after the brain drain of working on embroidery designs all day, there's nothing that helps me recover better than mindlessly chain piecing half square triangles at night!

I am particularly fond of "charm packs"-- these are the little packs of 40 five inch squares of one fabric line you see in the stores. And there are plenty of books with plenty of patterns to show what to do with them. The pattern above is "Dulcinea"-- it's a "Schnibbles Pattern" and I bought it not really knowing what it was initially. The fabric is Brenda Riddle's "Caroline."

I enjoyed making it so much, I inevitably googled "Schnibbles."

The Schnibbles patterns are no longer in print, but you can buy them as singles second-hand on Etsy or Ebay and I was also able to snag two books second-hand off Amazon.

Usually there might be only one pattern I really would make in a book, but these have several.. I highly recommend them. If you want a bigger quilt, you could also buy the 10" layer cakes and the patterns are written for both sizes. Just think-- it's really the same amount of sewing! I haven't tried the larger size ones yet, but I feel it coming.

So this one was the first one I made from the book, called "Picnic," and the fabric was Fig Tree Quilts "Ella and Ollie." Again-- I totally enjoyed it-- the instructions are well written, you can just do it little by little-- they get done! It's on my longarm right now-- yes, the Innova was initially looking like a colossal waste of money initially as it sat, alone, in it's own room-- is now, due to circumstance, looking like the smartest thing I ever did. PLENTY OF TIME FOR IT...

And now I need a new project so I ordered some more charm packs from Fat Quarter Shop! This is "Mackinac Island" fabric from Minick and Simpson-- they always come out with these gorgeous red, white, and blue collections-- so perfect for patriotic pieces. I am hoping to have the "Lincoln" quilt with the stars and bars as a table runner by Fourth of July.

I give away almost everything I make. For a schnibbles pattern, you need mostly TWO charm packs-- they are usually around $10-- and then I already have batting, and I can usually piece together a backing from my stash-- so you have a fabulous gift for $20.

Depending on the pattern, one charm pack and about a yard of matching background fabric is sometimes better-- again, a $20 gift.

But I have a feeling "LINCOLN" may not be leaving this house...

And here's another few charm packs I bought-- I mean, why pay shipping for just one collection!

This is Abby Rose from Robin Pickens and I picked up the Schibble pattern "Clover" from Etsy. I already looked it over, and it is assemble in LONG. ROWS. which is not something I typically enjoy but I love the pattern.

"Catalina" and "Rosewood" I am not sure what I am doing with-- but here's another charm pack book still available...

Again, it has more than one design I like-- my favorite is called Snowflake-- they look more like flowers to me in those colors, so it could be either a summer or winter quilt.