A few months ago I got a message from Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter asking if I’d be interested in testing a new English paper piecing pattern she was working on in cooperation with Karen Tripp of The DIY Addict. I’ve admired Kitty’s work for several years now, so despite always having more on my to-do list than I can reasonably accomplish, it only took me about 2 seconds to respond with an enthusiastic yes!
It’s called Pollinate, and as of last week, it’s available for preorder as a kit that will include the pattern booklet, a full set of acrylic cutting templates, and a zillion (ok, more like 1,500) papers.
It took a little while for the templates and papers to arrive, but once they did I was excited to dive in and start playing with this pattern, along with a really fun group of testers. You can see a lot more inspiration at the #pollinatequilt hashtag on Instagram — I definitely recommend taking a spin through the ~100 posts so far because it’s really fun to see all the different possibilities the group members have found in this pattern.
I’m just getting started on mine — what you see in the image at the top is pretty much the extent of what I’ve gotten sewn together so far — but I’m envisioning an aerial view of a field of colorful flowers with busy bees buzzing all around, and have been pulling different fabrics from my stash to make that happen.
If you’re not familiar with English paper piecing, it’s a technique that allows you to make really intricate shapes by wrapping fabric around paper templates, hand stitching the pieces together, and then removing all the papers when you’re done. It’s not a fast way to make a quilt (ahem, understatement of the year) but it leads to some pretty spectacular results. One big benefit is that it’s very portable, so I’ve been having fun stitching bits and pieces together while Emma is at gymnastics, while both girls are at swimming lessons, or while watching the Astros on TV in the evenings at home.
One of my goals for the year was to take on another “epic” quilt project and this certainly fits that bill. (My just-finished 100 day project and my current #100days100blocks2018 sewing are arguably epic quilt projects as well…but who’s counting, right?) For now, I hope to continue making slow but steady progress on Pollinate and with any luck, I’ll end up with a finished quilt top sometime early next year!
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl says
It’s really fun to see your version of Pollinate and the different ways the pattern can be interpreted and sewn together.
Sarah says
Thanks! Yes I’ve been amazed to see what the other testers are doing — some are so creative it’s crazy!