Thursday, April 26, 2012

Garden Party Blog Hop - My Block

This month Sewhooked has been hosting a blog hop with a new paper pieced pattern each day.  The theme of all of our blocks is "Garden Party."  To me, when I think of a garden party in the spring, the first thing that comes to mind is tulips.  I also picture a beautiful garden with twinkling lights strung across the trees for ambiance.  As a result, i created this great (well, I think it's great - humor me) tulip block.


The thing I love about this block is that the petals form a star in the middle.  The other great thing is that you can use one of the four quarters of the block and you have a great standalone 5" tulip block.  Versatility!  I love it.

I decided to take it one step further and turn this into a mini quilt.

I did a bunch of straight line quilting around the tulips and the border.  I intentionally spaced the straight lines at varying distances for a different look.  I like the way it came out.  

Here's the quilt on my coffee table for Easter. We hosted Easter dinner, and when I showed off the quilt to my parents, my Dad immediately claimed it for their kitchen.  I always take that as a good sign.

This one shows the quilting really well.



Here's the back.  I used an old print from my stash that I knew I wouldn't use for anything else.  I put two triangles in the upper corner to hold a dowel to hang the mini quilt. This is my favorite way of hanging mini quilts.  All you need to do is fold a square in half on the diagonal and when you machine sew the binding, you sew the hanging triangles right onto the quilt. 


Download the pattern here!  You need to print out four of these to make one 10" block. 

I'd love to see pictures if you make something with this pattern.   

27 comments:

  1. Beautiful pattern Jen! I would love to sew the tulips.....Thanks for sharing....Judith, Texas

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  2. Wow, what a lot of lovely quilts you've made! Kate x

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  3. I've loved all of the blocks this month, but I think this is my favorite.

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  4. OH! WOW! This is so beautiful. Love the colors you chose.

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  5. Thank you for your efforts in producing this paper piecing. I enjoy flowers and I will certainly try this one. Great job!

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  6. This one is a beauty and I love the fabric you used for the backing!
    Thanks for sharing with us.

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  7. Wonderful pattern! Thanks and I love the corners on the back idea.

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  8. Awesome pattern.Thanks for sharing it.

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  9. Beautiful pattern, love the tulips! Thank you for the awesome pattern. Happy quilting!

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  10. Thanks for the wonderful interpretation of a lovely flower. At least this lasts longer than just a few weeks like the real thing. I can't wait to make it. Again, I appreciate your talent very much.

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  11. Jen, your pattern is just gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  12. Great block!!! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  13. Love this block! Thank you for creating this for everyone to enjoy.

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  14. Hey - tag you are it - nominated you for Liebster - check it out on my blog :D

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  15. I'm sorry Jen, I missed it yesterday! I love how you put the 4 tulips together to make a star. It's very much your style and graphic. Nicely done!

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  16. Thank you for the charming, charming block! And yeah, your dad claiming the quilt is a great sign!

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  17. I love this block and how you put it together for us. You do amazing work and I want others to know also. I featured you on my blog for the Liebster Blog Award @www.tquiltingdiaries.blogspot.com. It is a way to help promote other bloggers with 200 or fewer followers. Keep sharing with us.

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  18. when i clicked the link it did not take me to a pattern

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  19. The link for the pattern seems to be broken.

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  20. Thank you for a beautiful pattern! Hop over to see my table cloth:
    http://www.mosunbi.blogspot.com/2012/05/tulip-table-cloth.html

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  21. Thanks for the wonderful pattern Jen. I have a really good friend that is moving to Boston next month after 10 years here in the Netherlands. I wanted to make something that would remind her of this country and this was the perfect pattern. I made it into a pillow.

    You should be able to see the finished result here...

    http://flickr.com/gp/67908760@N03/T89QY1

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  22. Thank you for offering this beautiful pattern for free. That is very kind of you. I will make it into a table cover for my sister :)

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  23. I did make this as the centre bit of my sister's table runner. I made the tulips all in a different colour, a red, yellow, pink and purple one. She loved it. Thanks so much again for sharing the pattern. <3

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