Fun With Soul Blossoms!

I've been in search of a pattern that I could use to really showcase the Soul Blossoms line by Amy Butler. We start our show schedule in March and time is ticking! I need to get these samples finished! I was strolling through Amy Butler's Web site and looking at some of her older patterns when I happened upon her Charm quilt. Now, I've seen this quilt pattern about a hundred times but it just never spoke to me...until now! When I clicked on the pattern to see the details, it was a match made in heaven when the pattern requirements said "33 Fat Quarters". What a co-inky dinky!! Soul Blossoms has exactly 33 prints! Like I said, match made in heaven! And even better was, it's a super easy pattern! Here is a picture of her original quilt from her web site. You can click the link above and follow her site to the free patterns to get a copy of it.

Isn't it pretty!? I don't know why I've never made it before. (Lord knows I'm hoarding enough Charm fabric to make about 5 of them.) Now, I think it was some divine intervention because this pattern was perfect for Soul Blossoms! Take a look!

The background is made up of rows of squares and rectangles...can it be any more simple? Then she gives you a pattern piece to cut out your "footballs". They look more like marquis cut diamonds to me but I suppose"football" was easier to use in the pattern! Her directions have you turning your "footballs" under 1/4" and pressing then either using a blind hem stitch on your machine or hand-appliqueing. I started the hand thing....that lasted about 5 minutes. I quickly realized that I would much rather use my machine so I found some invisible thread and used my blind hem stitch. I just pinned it all down real good. Now, for those of you who like to fuse your applique; You absolutely can do that here. I would recommend the lightest stuff you can find. Just enough sticky to get it flat while you sew around. And why not use some decorative stitching? You could use just about anything in any color thread!

I used every single print in the Soul Blossoms line and had a bunch of fabric left over! I can't wait to get piecing my backing with the leftovers. I'll let you know how much extra fabric I needed to complete the back. The finished quilt is 50" square. You probably have enough leftovers to do a nice border. I was thinking of putting a small solid border around and then using the extra fabric from the fat quarters to piece a scrappy looking outer border. However, I was quickly told "NO" by the booth designer (aka Chief/Hubby). I have exactly 52" left for Soul Blossoms so this will fit perfectly!

Here's a close up of my work. I took the straight stitch as close to the edge of my football as I could get and then every 5 stitches, it takes a zig-zag to the left to catch that edge of the fabric. You can barely see it since I used invisible nylon thread.

When I look at this quilt, I see a treasure chest full of jewels! This might be one of my all time favorite projects! And I got it done in two days which is always a plus! If you are interested in this fabric and pattern, please visit my shop, A Joyful Soul Fabrics. Head to the Soul Blossoms Pre-Cut category. If you purchase one fat quarter set of each color palette (Bliss, Joy and Passion), I will include a free printout of Amy's pattern and you'll be ready to make your own jewel filled treasure chest for your lap!