Seafarers quilt + pattern release!
Hello, friends! Ok are you ready to see the whole quilt? Today is big finish day. Yippee! I’m so glad to bring you my completed Seafarers quilt and the pattern too.
Today my family helped me photograph Seafarers at a nearby park. It’s 80” square of glowing patchwork and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the outcome.
When I started designing the 2020 Penny Sampler Club, I was re-energized by the idea of making Dutch-inspired blocks for my original Penny Sampler. It’s only fitting, since my family moved to The Netherlands last year and hopes to stay here longterm. We are learning the Dutch language and customs and feeling so welcome by this new home.
I got the idea to add value to the club by creating alternative layouts for our sampler blocks. That’s the think about sampler blocks - there are so many ways to use them. A quilt like Penny Sampler has the potential to become many, many quilts for sure. Anyways, the Seafarers layout is one of those alternatives, but I had no idea how special it would become to me.
Last year I wanted to make a quilt that would reflect our move to The Netherlands. I tried to make one improv-style, but it just wouldn’t come out. As Seafarers came together, I realized that it IS that quilt.
It has the big, brave colors of our move and the exploding energy too. Yet, the color and motion is carefully organized and meticulously balanced, just as coming to The Netherlands was a totally intentional and rational plan for us, not some blind leap of faith. I love how the mariner’s compass block stands at center, pulling things all together with direction and confidence.
I am well-aware that many big, beautiful ideas and many well-laid plans don’t come to fruition. Sometimes it all goes awry in a terribly disappointing way.
The thing is - this didn’t. This move has gone so very much according to plan. I often think to myself, “Wow, this is working!” I often look around in amazement that this dream came true. Some of the things we worried about, like the cost of living or the ability of our older children to learn a new language, have been easier than we thought possible.
So for us, it is tulips dancing in the sky. The neighborhoods are beautiful and the people are extending us friendship, almost as easy as a childhood friendship bracelet exchange. That’s what the Tulip Crown (fireworks!) blocks and the Neighborhoods and the Friendship Braid blocks mean to me.
In this land of historically seafaring people, known for their lovely bridges and canals, we are making a new life for ourselves.
Well, it may be that I’m biased, but I decided that Seafarers quilt is too special to be tucked away in 2020 Penny Sampler Club. I’m offering a stand-alone version of this pattern, which includes 5 foundation paper piecing patterns, fabric-selection advice and assembly instructions.
All together it is a 38 page pattern! Yikes. So, to protect the value of the Penny Sampler pattern club and my work, it is at a higher price point than my other digital patterns.
I hope it allows many others to cast off on a pleasant journey of beauty and discovery!