Category Archives: Features

Riley Blake Cotton Poplin

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Let’s take a minute to talk about sewing clothing. It is something I NEVER, ever said I would do. Yet I think back on 2020 and then realize I have made literally hundreds of masks, which use pleats and different techniques than I’ve used in my quilting thus far. I’ve made ties, which are essentially clothing and also use techniques that are different than quilting.

When Riley Blake announced they were releasing cotton poplin as a basic, I jumped on the idea of making myself a shirt. Well, not just one shirt, but two. 🙂 I had heard a lot of people talk about how easy a Scout Shirt by Fancy Tiger Crafts were to make. I made myself a test shirt out of a different fabric, then heard about the updated Cordyline Shirt by Fancy Tiger Crafts. It fixed some of the fit issues I didn’t love about the Scout Shirt.

I used Riley Blake Cotton Poplin in Riley Coral and Riley Navy to make both of these Cordyline Shirts. Cotton Poplin has long been used as a fabric in garment sewing and a lot of the clothes you may already own and have purchased from stores without realizing it. It has a really lovely feel and drape and works perfectly in garment sewing.

If you are feeling up for some garment sewing, you can find the cotton poplin in your favorite LQS or online shop. RBD cotton poplin will also work beautifully in quilts. I cannot even wait to try it as a background fabric, or even in an entire quilt top. It would be just dreamy.

Liberty Winterbourne Gingham Pillow

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Is there anyone out there who doesn’t just love Liberty of London fabric? Their florals are classic and so amazing. Within the last year or so, Riley Blake Designs has been printing some of their classic florals on quilting cotton! Normally Liberty is printed on Tana lawn, which is oh-so-soft, but also oh-so-expensive. It has been so fun to finally add some Liberty into my quilting life at a fraction of the cost and in a quilting cotton weight with which I am confident sewing.

I used 3 prints from their latest collection, Winterbourne, to make this fun Gingham Pillow (free pattern by Meg of Monograms for Makers). Meg has written a clever way to use strip piecing and very little yardage to come up with a modern spin on a classic gingham pattern. The Liberty florals are allowed to shine in this configuration and pattern.

Are you a Liberty fan? Look for the Winterbourne collection in your favorite local and online quilt shops!

Confetti Cotton Half Dash Quilt

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When I designed my Half Dash pattern, I knew I wanted to make it in a variety of ways to showcase how versatile the pattern really is. No matter your personal quilting style, this pattern works. I promise! Today I am so excited to share a version I made using Riley Blake Confetti Cottons.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE making quilts using solids. They are one of the best fabrics to use, in my opinion. They can be the star, or they can be a supporting role. You can add in a fun basic (like Swiss Dots, Blossom, Pin Drop) or just go for all solids. You can use solids with a funky print and add a different dimension. If you haven’t been using solids much in your quilts, start and I promise it’ll change your quilting life.

Confetti Cottons by Riley Blake Designs are among the softest solids out there. They are so soft, yet they have a wonderful feel to them and they provide a heft that other solids don’t. I’ve used almost every single brand of solid that is out there and Confetti Cottons are among my very, very favorites.

Riley Blake has been really smart as they’ve introduced different basics. Often you can find a basic that is the exact same color and has the same color name as one of their Confetti Cottons. This makes pairing a basic with a solid really foolproof.

This particular version of Half Dash uses 1/3 yard cuts of a confetti cotton plus a coordinating swiss dot in 10 different pairings. I loved this quilt so much that my good friend Jessica of Simply Love Fabrics is offering kits! You can find her kit HERE.

The colors of confetti cottons are as follows:

Riley Raspberry, Peony, Sunshine, Vintage Crayola Melon, Clover, Sweet Pea, Scuba, Riley Teal, Denim, and Riley Lilac

The colors of swiss dots are as follows:

Raspberry, Lipstick, Orange, Yellow, Clover, Lime, Scuba, Teal, Denim, and Lavender

As always, the Riley Blake 1/4″ black + white stripe is a perfect binding choice for this quilt. (Is it ever NOT the perfect binding choice? I don’t honestly think so!) I hand quilted this quilt using Aurifil 12 wt thread in color 2024 and it added the perfect softness I was going for.

If you are interested in purchasing my pattern, you can find it HERE and once again, Jessica’s kits for this quilt are available HERE.