King David’s Crown quilt pattern in Cali & Co. fabric, made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for Fat Quarter Shop

King David’s Crown Quilt, a new free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop

March 11, 2025March 14, 20255 Comments

It’s pattern release day for the King David’s Crown quilt, so I can finally show you this beautiful project in its entirety!

The Pattern

Since this pattern is part of Fat Quarter Shop’s “Classic and Vintage” series, the requirement was to make just one of the blocks, but when I saw this pattern I really liked how unique it was compared to the quilt blocks that I normally make, so I decided to make the entire quilt.

TIP: Not gonna lie, I had a hard time with not cutting off my points on this quilt. I realized after a few blocks that you want to prioritize getting the skinny tips to match up and not worry about the wider ends of the tips because those will get trimmed and won’t matter. Prioritze the skinnier tips of the wedges when you’re doing your cutting and piecing on this pattern; it makes a huge difference.

The Fabric

Corey Yoder’s fabric “Cali & Co.” had just come out and I decided to use this quilt as an opportunity to indulge my desire to make something with the beautiful multicolored flower print (SKU# 29190-11) in that collection. Unfortunately, when I tried mocking up the pattern with the multicolored flower print, I just couldn’t come up with a fabric combination that worked for me, so I pivoted to using the cherries print (SKU# 29194-11) as my main background and went with the blues and flamingo “reds” in the hopes for a subtly patriotic color scheme that I could display in the summer months.

ANOTHER TIP: I did figure out a way to sneak in as much of that multicolored flower print as I could, though—I opted to use it as the backing of the quilt. I realized, years ago, that if you use your most favorite print of a fabric collection for a quilt’s backing, you’ll end up with a ton of it leftover for your scrap bins (to then use in future scrap quilts) because you’ll have to trim off the requisite additional four inches on each side that you need to include for quilting. No more ugly fabrics for quilt backings here! I’m looking forward to sneaking in more of this beautiful print into future quilts! It’s just so pretty.

Cali & Co. fabric used in That Crafty Cara's (Cara Brooke) King David's Crown quilt for the Fat Quarter Shop

My plan is to use one of the darker blue fabrics in the Cali & Co. collection for the binding. I just love the light and airy feel of the fabrics in this quilt!

Blue fabrics from the Cali & Co. fabric collection by Corey Yoder for Moda Fabrics.

The Quilting

So, um, the quilting…isn’t finished. I have quilted in my foundational lines and I really thought about doing fast stipple quilting to just get this done on time, but I happened to see a really perfect quilting stencil design and fell in love with the idea of using it for quilting this up. Problem was, it took forever for the stencil to arrive in the mail and then it became apparent, very quickly, that I was going to have to practice a bit before executing my plan.

Quilting stencil atop the King David’s Crown quilt pattern in Cali & Co. fabric, made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for Fat Quarter Shop

I don’t quilt as confidently as I piece, so there’s been a noticeable gap in my skills, and I’ve avoided quilting for a while. Nevertheless, I think it’s time to address this disparity and start legitimately working on upping my quilting skills, so I’m planning to take my time with quilting this beautiful quilt so that I can be proud of it when it’s done.

Final Thoughts

I really, really like this pattern and have already started mocking it up in other color palettes in the hopes that I can make another one. I think it’d look really great in a red-and-green color palette, don’t you?

The pattern is available for free on Fat Quarter Shop’s website, and they’ve also assembled a kit, featuring French General’s “Sacre Bleu” fabric collection, for maximum ease in getting started on this fun little pattern.

Thank you to all the new readers who are popping through to read this post! If you’d like to automatically receive more of my posts about quilty goodness, please subscribe to my blog on WordPress by clicking here, or sign up for my mailing list by clicking on the “Subscribe” button in the sidebar!

Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop, for inviting me to sew along with you on the King David’s Crown quilt! This quilt is going to be a lovely addition to my summer quilt collection! (Quesnel thinks it’s great, too!)

More Free Quilt Patterns from the Fat Quarter Shop:

This post contains affiliate links. Fat Quarter Shop also provided me with some of the fabrics and the Creative Grids Starburst ruler in exchange for me sewing up the pattern.

Patriotic Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt

August 2, 2023March 14, 20253 Comments

My first true venture back into a crafty lifestyle after working on my Masters degree is finished! It’s interesting how much of quilt-making was still just there in my bones, and how some of it was like, “I know I’ve done this before, why can I not remember how to do this part?” Completely random, but then I’d figure it out after a couple seconds and be off and away. Remember, kids…repetition builds learning!

This baby quilt is for a dear friend back in Utah who just had her fourth baby after a bit of break after her third…eleven years, actually. But this friend of mine ADORES having babies and she was THRILLED at the news, so it was such a happy pregnancy to watch unfold. Everyone is happy for her and her husband!

This family names all their kids after American Presidents, so I figured I’d go with a patriotic fabric collection. As luck would have it (or not…?) Baby Hayes was born on the 4th of July, so it will be perfect for him.

Details:

Pattern: Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt, a FREE pattern by Fat Quarter Shop. (If this looks familiar, it’s because I was one of the pattern debut sewists when it came out. My first go at this pattern can be found here.)

Fabric: “Stateside” by Sweetwater for Moda. I used one charm pack cut into fourths, and the background fabric is the Vanilla Stars print. I used the Sky Bandana print for the binding.

Backing: Mammoth Flannel Americana Lindsay by Robert Kaufman fabrics. SKU: SRKF-19667-202 AMERICANA

Batting: A scrap from the stash. It felt like an unbleached cotton.

Thread: Piecing: 50 weight Aurifil, some white color. Quilting: 40 weight Aurifil in needle, 50 weight in bobbin: Color #2000.

Quilting: I quilted a basic stipple pattern because that’s what I do.

I love sewing up baby quilts so much! Hopefully this one gets a lot of good use!

Scrappy Thursday: Clementine Quilt Month #3

February 10, 2022February 8, 2022Leave a comment

It only occurred to me now, as I sat down to write this blog post, that this isn’t actually a scrap project. BUT…it was in my scrappy project bins for some reason; I’m thinking I threw the blocks into whatever bin was handy as I packed up my craft room three years ago, and I didn’t think beyond “What’s in the scrappy project bins?” when deciding what projects to put into the Scrappy Thursday rotation. Oh well. It’s been a long time that this has been waiting, and this is the way I’ll be able to get it done the fastest, so I’ll just go forward with it.

Of course, just because I put some of the fabrics into the project bin didn’t mean I put all of the fabrics into the bin, so I spent a large portion of my sewing time trying to locate the background fabric for this quilt. It was tucked away with a completely different quilt I was working on when we had to pack up, and those two quilts were jammed into the back of a Christmas drawer, despite not being Christmas-related quilts whatsoever. (I never want to move again.)

Alright, Month #3 is the Peaches & Plenty block, and geez…these blocks took forever to make! I don’t know if I’ve gotten extremely slow or what, but I think I put at least six hours into these. Not my favorite pattern, but it doesn’t matter anymore because they’re DONE and now I’ll move on with my life. Woo hoo!

It was nice to revisit this project and look through it again and start getting excited. It’s an interesting-looking finished quilt that is different from anything else I’ve ever made, and I’m looking forward to the completed project…which should hopefully happen in May. Slow and steady…

Month 3 blocks are the ones on the right. Building up a collection!

I was supposed to get these done last month, but it didn’t work out that way. I’m hoping to get onto the Month 4 blocks this month as well, but we’ll see how well that pans out.

FINISHED: Cat Lady Quilt (Em will have to fight Quesnel for it, though…)

January 21, 2022March 14, 20255 Comments

This quilt has been a long time comin’…

I think Em asked for this Cotton + Steel Cat Lady fabric for their…twelfth birthday? They were into quilting at the time, but the interest waned soon after. So it sat on my fabric shelf for years upon years until I decided to make it up into a quilt for Em’s sixteenth birthday two years ago. I only got the top finished and presented that to the birthday kid with the promise to get it completely finished soon after. BUT…it was 2020, I had just started my Blank Quilting ambassadorship and…it was 2020.

So the Cat Lady quilt went into the hibernation pile and did not come back out until this month. Em will turn eighteen next month (!) and it just started bugging me that this quilt wasn’t done, so I made a goal to finish it before their birthday. Ta da!

Details:

Pattern: Layers of Charm, by Fat Quarter Shop. I’ve made this pattern before and really love it for those prints you just don’t want to cut up too much. C+S prints are generally super cute and I like to keep them as intact as possible, so this was a good pattern for that.

Modifications: I went with a 6×8 layout for a bigger throw quilt ~57 x 76″.

Fabric: “Cat Lady” collection, by Sarah Watts for Cotton + Steel, ca. 2015. I also added in various other Cotton + Steel scraps I had in my stash that I thought Em would like.

Backing: “Cuddly Kittens Flannel Sorbet Kitten Faces #18119” by Wendy Kendall for Robert Kaufman Fabrics, 4.75 yards, pieced vertically.

Quilting: Aurifil 40 wt. in top and bobbin, #2021. I asked Em what they wanted for the quilting and they said, “That wavy line quilting,” so I stipple-stitched it. It’s been a long time since I’ve done free-motion quilting of any kind, and I think this is the biggest project I’ve ever free-motion quilted.

Binding: Scraps of the C+S Bluebird print I had from my friend making a dress from it.

Dates: Pieced January 27-30, 2020; Quilted January 4-7, 2022

Cat Lady Quilt in-progress, January 2020

I was so excited to get this done, and asked Em to do a photoshoot with it, but when it came time to do it, they were taking a nap. Undaunted, I decided to just do a one-woman shoot with the couch to help me out because…want to be done. But, weirdly, our cat Quesnel became OBSESSED with getting in my face while I tried to take pictures of this quilt, and the resulting photos are…well:

Mercifully, Em stumbled into the room after hearing me asking Quesnel to please stop getting in my shots, and Quesnel was momentarily distracted.

I asked Em if they’d help me out with some more photos, and they were less than enthusiastic about the task.

So I made it work.

All while being supervised by the true overlord of this house:

I’m surrounded by crazy children and cats all the time, and I’m loving the photographic evidence that I acquire when they’re being especially difficult.

Scrappy Thursday: Brickhouse Quilt: Blocks 1-4

January 6, 2022March 14, 20253 Comments

It’s always a good thing when you make a goal and you complete the first part of it! I’ve completed the first occurrence of my new “Scrappy Thursdays” goal to work on getting the scrap bins down to a more manageable level each Thursday. This week’s scrappy project in the rotation was the first four blocks of my Brickhouse quilt.

I am really liking this pattern. It uses slightly bigger than I normally use pieces, so it eats up fabric a little better, and the construction is super easy. I’ve decided to use aquas and turquoises for the roofs of my houses, and pinks and reds for the bricks. And then I’m pairing all that with scrappy low-volume prints for the background. It turns out that I was pretty low on skinny red scraps, so I’m actually having to dive into my next-larger bin of scraps for the reds.

I’m thinking I might make multiple Brickhouse quilts this year because I like this pattern so much. House quilts are adorable anyway, so having lots of them would be so cute.

Alright, one Scrappy Thursday down, fifty-one more to go! Anyone else have scrappy goals for this year?

Inspired by this scrappy pattern? Wanna make one of your own? You can download the free pattern here.

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block 4: Broken Dishes Star Block

June 19, 2020June 18, 20201 Comment

Block 4, using a Broken Dishes block for the center of the star is now available!

Download the instructions here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 4 Broken Dishes Star

Block 5 will be available on July 3rd, and then we’ll go to one block a month. (Whew!)\

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy sewing!

Crystal Quilters Block of the Month: Sew Many Stars! Block #3: Variable Star

June 8, 2020June 3, 20201 Comment

It’s time for our third block, the Variable Star block.

PLEASE NOTE: Because these blocks will be set on-point in the finished quilt, any fussy-cut center fabric will rotate. I’ve pointed it out in the cutting directions in the pattern, but thought it’d be a good idea to wave a red flag in front of your faces from the beginning: You have to cut the original fussy-cut square on-point.

Download the block pattern here: Sew Many Stars BOM Pattern_Block 3 Variable Star

If you’re posting your block to Instagram, please make sure to tag it with the #crystalquiltersbom (If you’re a member of the guild) and #sewmanystarsquilt hashtags so we can find your blocks!

Happy Sewing!

Unicorn Star Party Quilt

February 15, 2019February 15, 20191 Comment

My first big finish to come out of the new craft room is this Star Party quilt for my Rachel-girl for her eleventh birthday. I started it last year, and it only needed its binding, but binding is hard to do when you’re being yanked back and forth between “Yay, he got a job and we need to get packing!” and “Well, shoot, the job offer fell through at the last possible second…should I unpack the craft room?” Ugh. 2018 was rough, folks.

But I digress. We are where we need to be now, and the craft room is unpacked, and I’m never moving again (she said as she chuckled anxiously), and so we can get back to our regularly-scheduled crafting program ’round these parts. Boo-yah!

Excuse the dark/blue lighting–it’s winter…

When I saw the “Happy Little Unicorns” fabric collection pop up on the “Coming Soon” page over at Fat Quarter Shop, I immediately subscribed to be notified when it became available because I KNEW it was perfect for my unicorn/glitter/rainbows-loving girl. I had a completely different pattern picked out to use it with, but found myself browsing the Robert Kaufman website last year to look at the free quilt patterns that they released for their Kona Color of the Year announcement, and lo and behold, they have patterns listed for almost everything they release, INCLUDING a quilt pattern for the Happy Little Unicorns fat quarter bundle, appropriately named “Star Party.”

It’s nine big blocks, which was fantastic and fast; and the only modification I made to it was to substitute some polka dot lavender fabric in for some of the solid lavender (I think it was Corsage) around the middle block because I…probably cut something wrong? I don’t remember, actually. (Never did I insinuate that I was perfect. NEVER.) I used Robert Kaufman flannel in lilac for the quilt backing.

The quilting was done by Utah Valley Quilting, and Kerri found a unicorn motif and we used lavender thread on the front and RAINBOW VARIEGATED on the back. I mean, could it be anymore perfect than that?

But then we finally got a job offer that actually stuck, and moving sucks and unpacking sucks even more, which brings us to this year, and me frantically attaching the binding earlier this week so that I could give it to her for her birthday.

I really thought she’d figured it out that I was working on finishing the quilt for her birthday, but she hadn’t, so she was pleasantly surprised when she opened it. Win!

The Details:

Fabric: “Happy Little Unicorns” fat quarter bundle by Sea Urchin Studio for Robert Kaufman.
2.25 yards of white solid for background
0.5 yards of Kona Cotton “Surf” for binding
3.5 yards Robert Kaufman flannel “Lilac” for backing

Pattern: Star Party

Quilting: I can’t find it on the Utah Valley Quilting site, but it definitely was in one of the design books at the shop. It’s been so long since I had it done that I can’t remember what the design was called, sorry. But I’m sure Kerri could help you figure it out if you wanted to use it.

I might actually end up using this pattern again because I really liked making it. And I rarely use a pattern twice, so that’s a big compliment. Love the big blocks, and super loved the adorable fabric collection.