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

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!

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

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

Timeless Treasures new line of fabric! Honeycomb

My most favorite thing to do is to play around with Electric Quilt and try to come up with unique and beautiful designs. I could do this all day long if I didn't need to earn a living! I recently had the opportunity to design a quilt using a new line of fabric from Timeless Treasures. It is a batik line called Honeycomb. When I started playing in my design program, this fabric didn't exist except as scans that were sent to me by Timeless Treasures. I started working out my design and I knew I wanted it to have a 3 dimensional look.

This is what I sent the fabric company and what was approved for publication. Once the design was accepted, I then requested the fabric I needed to make a sample. I received the beautiful fabric but immediately realized that I wasn't going to get the look that I wanted using it exactly as I had it placed in my mockup. Unfortunately, it was too late to change it in the company's sales materials so I needed to make it using the fabric where I had originally planned. Don't get me wrong, I still love the quilt! It just doesn't have the 3 dimensional quality that my mockup had. Luckily, all it needs to get that 3 dimensional look is to move the fabrics around a little bit. This is a picture of the way the quilt turned out. As you can see, not exactly as planned but still very interesting, at least in my opinion!

When the pattern is published I hope to be able to show both versions and give the maker the option to choose which version they want to make. I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you'd like to reach me directly my email is larkspurlanedesigns@yahoo.com