Tangled Webs

A few weeks ago, I learned the mixed-emotioned news that Karen Gray was closing her store and, in her place, The Little General Fabric Boutique would be opening. I loved Karen's store and had full plans of teaching there later this fall, but was very excited to hear the news about the new store.

In true Karen style, she had set up a fabulous celebration for the Little General's opening, inviting none other than the fabulous Tula Pink to come speak about fabric design and autograph books. Tula will be here tomorrow - and in the store, waiting for her, is my new quilt...Tangled Webs.

As soon as Karen announced that Tula was coming, I offered to make a Nightshade quilt.  With the line being Halloween-inspired, my immediate thought was a spiderweb quilt.  So with fabric in hand, I immediately started paper-piecing webs.  I even took off a day of work to make the top...and ended up with about 4 webs.  Four.  Out of 36.  Hmmm.

So while complaining to a friend over lunch, I tried to figure out a way to incorporate the webs into a quicker design.  Having been inspired by the panels in Quilt Dad's quilt the week before, I started drawing on scratch paper and quickly had a mock up of a top that incorporated two different sized webs into large blocks of fabric.  I used the webs I had already finished, made a couple more and, bam... here it is.

The back is pieced as well, with a small strip highlighting two of the sisters and a web...mostly because I made one too many webs.  *cough* 

My friend Gina quilted the quilt and did a fabulous job.  I gave her free reign over the quilt design and the finished piece came back with gorgeous webs, swirls, and cross-hatching.  It's so beautiful!  She had just recently decided to go into the quilting business, so if you're looking for a wonderful quilter, I highly recommend her.

In all the flurry and chaos, this quilt has opened several opportunities for me.  Remember my plans for teaching at Karen's?  I'll be teaching at The Little G in the fall, instead... teaching this quilt!  Classes will start in August, so if you're local and interested, let me know.  Gina has also talked about putting together kits for the top, too, so watch for that as well.

For those not local, but still interested in the quilt, I'm in process of finishing up the pattern.  That's right... I'll soon have a pattern out!  This will be the first pattern I've ever offered, so I'm very excited and I'm trying to get things done just right.  I had hoped to have it ready by today, but no go.  I had no idea how time consuming quilt patterns could be.  And your reward for reading this far?  I need pattern testers! 

Even though the pattern was designed with Nightshade in mind, I think it lends itself to many different fabrics, especially Halloween ones.  If you are interested in pattern testing, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.   You should be comfortable with paper-piecing, and able to manage a quick-turnaround of no more than two weeks for a pieced top.  **Edited to add: Thanks for all the pattern testing offers! I have my testers and will be in touch soon.**


I hope you like the quilt!  I'll be back in a couple days to highlight Tula's visit.  I'm looking forward to meeting her and hanging out.  Should be lots of fun!