Andrea from the Willow Cottage Quilt Company and I are absolutely thrilled to announce our new Block of the Month programme, so without further ado let me introduce the Jardin de Lavande Sampler, a quilt that journeys through the gardens of la belle France to the lavender fields of Provence...
The Jardin de Lavande Block of the Month will run for ten months, from October 2020 until July 2021. In October we will be sending you an exclusive ‘early access’ copy of the Jardin de Lavande pattern book, then each month you will receive a beautifully packaged kit containing everything you need to make one of eight original sampler blocks along with some deliciously pretty border blocks. In month nine we will be making a beautiful monogram block before assembling the quilt and preparing the binding in month ten (you will need to supply your own backing and batting).
I will be sharing my favourite techniques to add special details to each block, including piecing angles, creating bias tape elements & adding simple embroidery. We will be including all the little extras you will need* and a few lovely surprises, just for you. As last year, there will be special password accessed blog pages where I will be sharing my inspiration and guiding you through the techniques we cover. New this year will be a private Facebook group so that we can all cheer each other on as we make our blocks. Andrea and I are really excited about the opportunity this will give us to support you all.
The Jardin de Lavande blocks are conventionally machine pieced and suitable for intermediate sewists. If you are wondering if it's for you, take a look at 2018’s Spellbound Sew-along posts: the piecing methods we will be using are very similar. The quilt will finish at approximately 60" square and this year we will be sewing with Fat Eighth bundles of Tilda’s eagerly awaited twin collections: Maple Farm and Tiny Farm. Andrea and I have been pattern testing with some advance yardage and we are utterly smitten. You’re going to adore sewing with this beautiful fabric.
Please note that there are limited places available for the Block of the Month. There is a £19.50 reservation fee which is non-refundable and commits you to participating in the ten month programme. Reservations are available here. The remaining nine payments will be made by PayPal Subscription and will cost £19.50, plus postage (postage will be £1.50 within the UK, £4 to Europe and £5.25 to Australia/New Zealand). If you are purchasing in North America, please reference the listing in Andrea's shop, here.
Andrea and I have so enjoyed sewing with our Midsummer Sampler block of the month participants over the past nine months and we can’t wait to share this new project with you, we hope you’ll love it as much as we do,
Nicola xx
* Kits will include matching embroidery floss and any speciality tools required. In addition to your sewing machine you will need piecing thread - I recommend Aurifil 50 wt in Off White (2021) - your favourite embroidery needle and a glue pen for basting.