Saturday, February 24, 2024

In The Meadow updated pattern now available!

My very first pattern that I published in 2003 has had a facelift. I have learned a lot in the last 20 years and have used that knowledge to improve my In The Meadow pattern. They are small changes but I believe they make my design easier to reproduce. This design had only been available in a small number of quilt shops, local to me, since its publication years ago but I would like to present it to a larger audience. It is a perfect beginner foundation paper pieced pattern. The pieces are large, for the most part, with the smallest pieces being in the house cornerstones. By the way, smaller pieces are not more difficult since the same technique is used either way, they are just smaller! This quilt can be used at Christmas time or throughout winter to add a whimsical touch to your home. The 3 dimensional elements add interesting details to the surface of your quilt. Included in the pattern is my custom made carrot nose button.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Retreat time at Seams Like Home with Jody Sterling of Sew Beachy Quilts

I was invited by a friend to spend 5 days at a retreat with her and her friends at Seams Like Home in Vanderbilt PA. It was nice to sit and sew and visit with old and new friends. I have been to this B & B many times, both as a guest and as a teacher. There is something special in getting together with a group of like minded people and catching up after a time apart. We had amazing weather, especially for southwestern Pennsylvania in February, not that it would have mattered anyway once we were safely there! The only time anyone left was to visit the B & B owner's quilt shop in nearby Untiontown, PA, Sew Special. We had good food that we didn't have to cook and lots of new projects started and older projects finished. There were a lot of meaningful conversations and more than a few laughs. We left exhausted but rejuvenated at the same time. My friend, Jody Sterling, is the designer behind Sew Beachy Quilts. Make sure you check her out! https://sewbeachyquilts.com/

Friday, January 26, 2024

Some new stuff!

 I haven't posted in a minute so just a short post to show some of the things I'm working on!


Angel Blessings Christmas

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Strawberry Shortcake 







All Hearts Come Home

Glue for paper piecing

I recently did a search on what kind of glue is best for foundation paper piecing. I try to use glue sparingly but I always use it to attach my first piece of fabric and also any large pieces that might get folded over and sewn in wrong. I've been paper piecing for almost 25 years and I have always used Elmer's Washable School Glue stick. I thought that maybe a better product had come along in that time but I can absolutely say that I have NOT found one. One of the videos I watched suggested a repositionable glue stick and I thought "What a great idea!". It ended up not being a great idea at all! It was actually a very bad idea. Since this glue doesn't "dry", the back of my block was sticky and because I like to press both sides of my blocks I put my iron down on the glue without even thinking about it. Then I proceeded to press the front of my block and left gray smudges on it in a couple of places. As soon as I noticed that, I cleaned off my iron and used a pressing cloth on the rest of the blocks. I will find another use for the 3 glue sticks that came together in my order and stick to using Elmer's from now on. The thing I like best about Elmer's is that it dries and when it does I can usually get most, if not all, of the paper out of my finished block. Do you have a favorite tool or notion that you can't live without?

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Coming soon--Last pattern designed for 2023

With the increased interest in barn quilts I was inspired to create this small square poinsettia quilt. This single block quilt pattern will contain 2 foundations. One is a simple 4 patch foundation that will be simple enough for the beginner paper piecer. The other foundation will be a skill builder and will have a Y seam construction. There are a couple of advantages to using a Y seam with this design. 1. Less fabric required. 2. Less piecing. 3. Less seam matching. 4. A neater, more polished looking block. Fortunately, Y seams are easy in foundation paper piecing because the 1/4" stopping and starting points are marked on the foundation itself! With that being said, there are also advantages to using the 4 patch foundation, such as being able to create an interesting layout by simply rotating the block segments. Here is one example:
Any questions or comments can be submitted to me directly at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Monday, December 18, 2023

What a year!

2023 started out pretty rocky and had it's share of difficulties but it also had quite a few high points. In an effort to be more positive moving forward I will focus on the high points! I had the opportunity to work with a new line of fabric from Timeless Treasures. It was a batik line called Honeycomb and my design appeared in their sales material that their sales reps used to get orders from quilt shops. This is the first time that I have ever done this so it was definitely a learning experience. One of the things I learned is that scans of fabric that haven't been produced yet may not be as accurate as you would hope. The fabric companies try as hard as they can to give designers what they need to design beautiful projects using their fabric but some things are out of their control. My quilt didn't turn out exactly as planned but I am still happy with the result. The first picture is the computer mockup and the second is how my quilt turned out.
I also found some time to update some of my older designs. I started designing over 20 years ago but it has always been more like a hobby until recently. My older designs have never really been marketed so this year I have been trying to get them to be seen more but I have learned a lot over these years and have made some improvements to these older designs and have republished them. My best selling design has always been my angel.The first angel design was published in 2014 and was used as a fundraiser after a tragic accident in which my friend lost her 7 year old daughter. When my friend no longer needed the donations I published the pattern for sale as Christmas Angel. When I switched to a new design program I went back and updated this design and it is now called Angel Blessings. This is my most recent sew out of this design.
Here are 2 pictures of my older designs that I have also updated this year.
I also had the opportunity to do a few designs for Island Batik but I am not allowed to talk about those yet, but if you go to their website and look at their Fall/Winter catalog, I think you can see one of my designs on page 100. My next 2 designs for them will not be published until sometime in 2024 but I will post about them as soon as I am allowed. I am hoping that whomever reads my blog has had a wonderful year full of love and success and hope that next year brings even more high points for all of us!

Saturday, July 15, 2023

What I've been up to

Obviously not blogging! I don't know if anyone even reads blogs anymore, but if I have a choice between designing, sewing, and teaching or blogging I'm absolutely not going to choose blogging. But because I occasionally get a notice that someone's been here I thought I should do an update. I'm working on a lot of different projects so I think I'll just do a photo dump to show you as much as I can!

Anonymous commentors email me instead

If you comment anonymously I have no way to get in touch with you, I can only respond to your comments here on the blog and hope that you see them. I would love to answer your questions or requests but it is impossible if you comment anonymously. Email me instead of leaving a comment that doesn't give me any way to reach you. larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com

Saturday, April 01, 2023

How to purchase my patterns!!!

I get numerous comments on my blog posts from people who want to purchase my patterns. Unfortunately they comment anonymously and I have no way to get in touch with them. If you are interested in buying one of my patterns I can be found on Facebook as Larkspur Lane Designs or on Instagram as larkspurlanedesigns13. You can also email me at larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com