We released a new pattern on our website today featuring Painted Paradise fabric from Timeless Treasures. It is called Snow Cones.
Snow Cones Quilt
Doesn’t it look like those fruity, slushy, ice cold treats you used to get as a kid in the heat of the summer? We had so much fun designing this quilt. It’s a fairly easy pattern that would be suitable for an advanced beginner quilter. Here is what a couple of the individual blocks look like.
SC Block 1SC Block 4
This is the pattern cover.
Snow Cones Cover
Our Testers had fun making this pattern. Sharon Buman really got into the spirit of a snow cone quilt when she chose these bright colors. She cut out all of he pieces using her Accuquilt cutter and said that sewing it together was a breeze.
Tester Sample
Jogi made the quilt in her grand daughter’s school colors and is giving it as a graduation gift. She wanted the quilt to be longer, so she added a piano key border to the top and bottom to turn it into a rectangular quilt. I love how she used white rectangles instead of the navy ones from the original pattern.
Tester Sample
What do you think? Didn’t they do a great job? Please let us know what you think in the comments and please sign up to receive our newsletters in case you are not already signed up. We should be having some giveaways in the near future and you don’t want to miss out.
I hope you like this fun and festive quilt pattern as much as I do.
We have been very busy creating many patterns, which we hope you will enjoy. We’ve done Facebook Lives with other talented designers over the summer. We created a YouTube channel. And, we have our first fabric collection.
We have been busy sewing lots of face masks. We even found a Quilt in a Day scallop ruler which helped cut out the mask shapes. Even the bears got into the act. Silly Reed thought you could wear them on top of your head but Beauregard Bear showed him the correct way.
Reed with masksBear with maskQIAD ruler
Our Quilt Cruise to Alaska did not happen in June due to the pandemic, but it was fun thinking about the possibility and we hope to schedule another quilt cruise in the future when we can all be together.
We have two new fun summer sailing patterns we created for Accuquillt. One is called Ahoy Mate Table Runner.
This quilt brought some joy to my 4th of July this year.
Next was 50’s Diner in the May/June 2020 McCall’s Quilting magazine.
50’s Diner Quiltmay/june mccalls 2020
Can’t you just imagine drinking an ice cream soda at the soda fountain with your date?
Have you ever tried curved piecing like you would find in the Drunkard’s Path block? The Waverly Path quilt was in the July/August 2020 issue of Quiltmaker magazine.
Waverly PathWaverly PathQM July/August 2020
Finally, named after a grand niece, Thoroughly Modern Vivs was in the premier issue of Fons and Porter Quick and Easy Quilts. It was such an honor to be in this magazine with so many esteemed designers.
Modern Vivs QuiltQuick-Easy
We created several patterns for Timeless Treasures new collections. They are There’s a Bear in My Watermelon Patch 2, using their One in a Mellon collection; Patriotic Polka, using their Treats Freedom collection; Adore Him, using the Come Let Us Adore Him collection; Peaceful Valley, using the Winter Blessing collection and Cowboy Claus, which uses the Ho Ho Hoedown collection. These fabric lines are at quilt shops now and you can purchase these quilt patterns on our website.
There’s a Bear in my Watermelon Patch 2Patriotic PolkaAdore HimPeace in the ValleyCowboy Claus
On Facebook, we did four facebook lives covering a virtual trunk show, accurate cutting, fussy cutting tips and our top 20 favorite quilting notions. We also have a video debuting our first ever fabric collection. If you missed any of these, you can catch them all on our YouTube Channel.
Speaking of a new fabric collection, our first fabric collection is with QT Fabrics and it is called Coco Chic.
Coco ChicCoco Chic Collection
It will be available in quilt shops in January 2021. This fabric collection was inspired by authentic 1920’s fabric from deep in the QT Fabrics archives. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a Great Gatsby or Roaring 20’s party using these fabrics from the time period. We see this fabric being used in quilts, bags, lady’s dresses and men’s shirts. We hope you are as excited about this collection as we are.
Be sure to ask you local quilt shop if they will be carrying Coco Chic. We have designed several quilts using the collection and will have demos on Youtube using the fabrics. Stay tuned for much more regarding this exciting fabric collection.
On August 4th, we will be participating in Quilt Block Mania, A blog hop with other designers, where they all will be giving away a free block pattern with the theme of Back to School. Watch for this coming soon! Keep on quilting. Oh, and Beauregard says Hi.
There is going to be a Quilter’s Eye Candy Trunk Show Event on Facebook from April 1st through April 10th. Since you can’t come to the designers, they are going to come to you. Many quilt pattern designers will be holding a trunk show on their Facebook page. These will be Facebook Live presentations that will be 15 minutes long and will occur throughout the day, on the hour, from 12-8 pm. EST. Blue Bear Quilts will be doing our trunk show on April 5th at 4 p.m.EST. We hope you will join us and also check out many of the other fabulous designers that will also being doing Facebook Live trunk shows. If you would like to become familiar with the different designers before their trunk shows, click on the links to go to their Facebook page. This should be a lot of fun! The schedule is listed below. Â #quilterseyecandytrunkshow #fblivetrunkshow #quilterscandytrunkshow
Over the years, we have created a number of patterns for Accuquilt. I thought it would be fun to share them all in a post. They are all available on their website as a free download. The patterns on their website may be found here: https://www.accuquilt.com/patterns.html
With that same die, we also created Storm at Sea Life Medley.
Storm at Sea Life Medley Quilt
Antique Americana was made using the very versatile Hattie’s Choice die. This patriotic quilt is perfect for the 4th of July, Veteran’s Day or a Quilt of Valor.
Antique Americana
A perfect quilt for a hot summer day would be Orange Cream Soda. It features the Studio Setting Triangles dies.
Orange Cream Soda
A modern take on the Glorified Nine Patch block resulted in Sherbet Dreams.
Sherbet Dreams
Fall is Coming is a great quilt for fall which uses Kimberly Einmo’s Solidish Fabrics from Timeless Treasures Fabrics.
Fall is Coming
Love Letters also used Kimberly Einmo’s Solidish Fabrics from Timeless Treasures Fabrics. This would be a great Valentines quilt.
Love Letters
In the mood to create something scary? Then you might want to make the Boo! Halloween Medley Table Runner.
Boo! Halloween Table Runner
Ahoy Mate and Let’s Go Sailing were created using the GO! Nautical Medley die and is the perfect pattern and die for all of you water lovers.
Ahoy Mate Table Runner
Let’s Go Sailing
The Retro Twist Wall Hanging was made with the Starry Path die. This is the perfect wall hanging for your mid century modern home.
Retro Twist Wall Hanging
The Go! Yuletide Gnome Wall Hanging is a great decoration to make for the holidays. Who doesn’t love a little gnome?
GnomeYuletide Gnome Wall Hanging
Your kids will love the Deco Dino Table Runner.
Deco Dino Table Runner
Stay tuned for more fun and inspiring designs we create for Accuquilt.
It has been a busy summer at Blue Bear Quilts. We taught our Pixie Party Quilt and Quilt in a Day’s Autumn Leaves table runner, in August, at Affinity For Quilts in White Bear Lake Minnesota. Everyone had a great time and some beautiful quilts are in the making.
Pixie Party ClassAutumn Leaves Table Runner
While we were in Minnesota, we ran into the editors from one of our favorite magazines. Quilt Folk. They were kind enough to pose for a photo. If you have not discovered this magazine, you need to. It has gorgeous pictures of quilts on premium matte paper and really interesting articles about everything Quilt Folk might be involved in. We also went to the Great Minnesota Stae Fair and I had to have photo with my favorite lumberjack, Paul Bunyan.
Quilt Folk magazinePaul Bunyan
We had a couple more of our quilt designs show up in magazines. Canoe Junction made the cover of the September/ October issue of Love of Quilting magazine. It uses Flower Garden Gatherings Fabrics from Moda. Winter Visitor is featured in the November/ December issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. It uses the Cardinal Woods flannel collection from Northcott Fabrics.
Canoe JunctionCanoe Junction in Love of QuiltingWinter Visitor
Last, but certainly not least, we have two new patterns making their debut with QT Fabrics at Quilt Market, In Houston, October 2019. They are Fit For a King, which utilizes the Accuquilt Hattie’s Choice die and Kings and Queens. You will be able to purchase these patterns from QT Fabrics, if you are a quilt shop and also from our website, very soon. Fit for a King uses QT Fabrics basic lines, Quilting Illusions and Color Blends. Kings and Queens uses a fat quarter bundle from QT Fabrics Illuminations collection, which will be arriving in shops around April 2020. Kings and Queens pattern is perfect for those fat quarter bundles you would love to turn into a beautiful quilt.
Fit For a KingKings and Queens
Well, that’s it for now. Happy Quilting till we come back and share more of what’s happening at Blue Bear Quilts.
Here are the two Blue Bear Quilt patterns that use these Accuquilt dies: Dancing with Bears and Where R Ewe?, which are available on our website.
Dancing Bears Quilt PatternWhere R Ewe Quilt Pattern
We have had several of our quilts appear in magazines recently. The first was Grandmother’s Garden, made with McKenna Ryan’s batiks in her Seed to Blossom line for Hoffman. This quilt appeared in the May/June 2019 issue of Love of Quilting magazine. The beautiful quilting was done at the Florida Quilting Center and I have included a close up photo of the quilting.
May/June 2019 Love of QuiltingMother’s Garden Quiltquilting on Mother’s Garden
The next quilt was Addie’s Garden, named after my great niece, appearing in the July/August 2019 issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. It was made with gorgeous fabrics from the QT Fabrics Adeline line.
Addie’s Garden. July/August issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine
The third quilt was called Grandmother’s Garden, appearing in the July/ August 2019 issue of Love of Quilting. It featured fabric from Moda’s Morris Garden line.
Grandmother’s Garden. July/August issue of Love of Quilting
We have been very busy creating new quilt designs for Accuquilt and these patterns are available as free downloads on their website. They have a die for making the Cleopatra’s Fan and our quilt pattern is called Cleo’s Garden Gate.
Cleo’s Garden Gate
We also created cute mug rug rugs called Spring Medley Mug Rugs.
Spring Medley Mug Rugs
Finally, for Accuquilt, we created the packaging pattern for their Sea Life Medley die. The pattern included on the package is Fun at Sea Life Medley. We created a second pattern for that die called Storm at Sea Life Medley.
Fun at Sea Life Medley QuiltStorm at Sea Life Medley Quilt
We have some beautiful wooden and acrylic seam rippers for sale on our website. These were created by the husband of one of our students and they are a delight to look at and hold. They take the drudgery out of ripping.
We have lots of news to share with you. We were the runner up in the Accuquilt Block Design Contest this year with our Sea Glass block. Here are pictures of the block that won this year, me saying goodbye to last year’s winning block and a pic of where my block will be displayed in the Accuquilt headquarters for the next year. Going to Nebraska for the unveiling event is always a good time and a great opportunity to explore the midwest. I met Kaye England, who brought a trunk show, and she was fabulous. I wrote a guest blog article about my trip on the QT Fabrics blog and here is a link to that article so that you can read all about my trip. https://qtfabrics.blog/2018/09/26/guest-reed-johnson-of-blue-bear-quilts/  While there, we saw the most amazing statue, called Dignity.
We designed several new patterns for Accuquilt, which are available as free downloads from their website. They are Lilac Table Topper and Fall Frolic Table Runner. We will have two new ones coming out soon called Spring Medley Mug Rugs and Cleopatra’s Garden Gate.
Lilac Table TopperFall Frolic Table Runner
We designed four quilt patterns using QT Fabrics fabric. Two of the quilts, Seahorses in the Reeds and Pixie Party, were featured in the QT Fabric’s booth at Quilt Market 2018 in Houston. The other two are called Kaleidoscope, and Rhythm of the Stars. All patterns are sold through QT Fabrics and should be available at your local quilt shop soon. We will have them for sale on our website soon as well.
QT Fabrics PatternsQuilts at Quilt Market 2018Seahorses in the Reeds
Pixie Party
We taught several fun classes this fall and several of my favorites were the Triaxial Weave Pillow, the Snapshots quilt and the Jinny Beyer Sew Along Mystery Quilt. When Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably were giving their workshops at Happy Apple Quilts, I was able to be their assistant for a day and had a blast.
Student’s Triaxial Weave pillowSnapshots Quilt classJinny Beyer Mystery Quilt almost finishedKaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably
Several of our quilts are about to have their patterns published in the May/ June and July/ August issues of Love of Quilting and the July/ August issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. I can’t show you the quilts yet, but here is a pic of a block from Momma’s Garden, which is in the May/June issue of Love of Quilting. This quilt uses a new line of batiks from McKenna Ryan called “Seed to Blossom” from Hoffman Fabrics. I love her fabric designs.
Momma’s Garden block
Quilt Cruise to Alaska
We will be hosting a quilting cruise in 2020 going to the Inside Passage of Alaska, where there will be quilt shops at every port. The cruise will depart Seattle on June 6, 2020. So if you have ever wanted to quilt while on a cruise, or travel to Alaska, or do both at the same time, this is the cruise for you. We will have lots of fun. Start saving now. Stay tune for details on how to sign up and what the quilting project will be for the cruise. It is not on their website yet, but in the meantime, if you can’t wait, the travel company is call Quilt Retreat at Sea and their number is 210-858-6399. Call Michelle and tell her that you would like to sign up for this cruise.
Whew! That was a lot of information! Thanks for reading to the bottom. We wish you a very Happy Holiday season and look forward to sharing many exciting adventures with you in 2019. Happy New Year!
It has been a very busy summer, designing new quilt patterns, teaching classes, attending a Niece’s wedding, designing quilt patterns for magazine submissions and entering a contest.
We entered the Accuquilt Block Design contest again this year. They should be announcing the winners very soon. Here are a few of the blocks that I entered this year. Thank you to everyone that voted for my blocks. I appreciate it very much!
X Marks the SpotSnow ConesSea GlassBlue DiamondBig Star Grid.
Before attending a wedding, we went to a family farm, in Northern Minnesota, and I was able to walk across the Mississippi River, in Itasca State Park. This is where the great river originates and it is very narrow and shallow, enabling you to walk across. I would not try that in New Orleans where it is deep and wide. I also saw amazing sunflower fields and llamas.
Reed at start of MississippiCrossing MississippiLlamasSunflower Field
My Niece got married this August in Stillwater, Minnesota. It was beautiful wedding at a flower farm and the rehearsal dinner was on a riverboat. Â I also went to the Como Park Conservatory, which has amazing floral displays.
Niece and husbandStillwater RiverboatLights at WeddingWedding BouquetHot Air BalloonComo Park ConservatoryVery large hibiscus
Butterfly at flower farm
I taught a Quilt-in-a-Day class on Kylee’s Kite at Bear Patch Quilting Company in White Bear Lake Minnesota. Everyone had a great time. Several students brought in their completed tops from this year and last year.
Kylee’s KiteKylee’s Kite classStudent’s Kylee’s KiteStudent’s Bear in My Watermelon Patch
I can’t reveal the quilt designs for the magazines yet, or several new patterns I developed with QT Fabrics. However, I can show you the Northwoods Holiday Medley Placemats that were designed for Accuquilt and the pattern is available as a free download on their website https://www.accuquilt.com/go-northwoods-medley-holiday-placemats.htmlÂ
Northwoods Holiday Medley Placemats
I can also show you our latest pattern, Kaleidoscope, that was designed with QT Fabrics. This pattern is available on our website, Craftsy, and coming to a quilt shop near you soon.
Kaleidoscope Quilt
It is going to be a busy fall writing patterns and making a sample quilt for QT Fabrics that will be displayed at quilt market this November, utilizing a new line of fabrics for them.
Also, Blue Bear will be teaching on a cruise in 2020. We are very excited about this and hope to be able to provide you with details soon. When it is this far out, it will give you lots of time to plan and save for a quilting cruise. We are so excited to have the opportunity to quilt and cruise with you! Stay tuned.
At Blue Bear Quilts, we have been very busy getting ready for the summer 2018 classes. We also have been working on some secret sewing projects for Accuquilt that we can’t wait to share with you. We also have been designing patterns with QT Fabrics. Hopefully, we will be able to share these projects with you very soon.
Triaxial Weave Pillow
Here are some of the exciting classes that we have coming up this summer. We will be offering a Triaxial Weave Pillow at Keep Me in Stitches on May 22& 29 in Tampa and July 12 & 19 in Largo. This is a weaving project that has little sewing and offers many creative ideas to incorporate into your sewing projects like garments, bags, and quilts.
We have an exciting Electric Quilt 8/ Accuquilt Event coming up at Keep Me in Stitches on May 25 & 26 in Tampa, and June 22 &23 in Largo. In this two-day event, you will learn the basic functions of EQ8 and learn how to create the “In the Jungle” quilt in EQ8 incorporating Accuquilt die shapes. The second day, we will cut out the quilt pieces using an Accuquilt cutter and die and sew the quilt together.
In the Jungle Quilt
Finally, at Keep Me in Stitches, we have an Accuquilt party called “Patriotic Windings Ways,” perfect for the 4th of July, on June 8 & 9, in Largo, and June 15 & 16 in Tampa; Â a 3D Pinwheel Serger Blanket for the Baby Lock Serger Club, and the Bright Hope Quilt, in Tampa, Â on June 7 & 14th, and, in Largo, on August 20 & 27th.
Country Quilts and Bears in Clearwater will have two offerings this summer. The first is our Accuquilt block contest fan favorite, “Not Your Grandmother’s Flower Garden” Â on May 23 & 30 and then “Water Wheel,” on July 14th, A Quilt in a Day Pattern.
Water Wheel
At Bear Patch Quilting Company in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on August 8th, we will be teaching a Quilt in a Day pattern called “Kylee’s Kite,” which we have put a modern spin on it with black and white fabrics and lots of geometric quilting.
Kylee’s Kite
Finally here are some photos from classes that we held this last session: Zippered serger pouch, Wonky Heart Pillow, Hawaiian Stars, and Snapshots Quilt.
Here I am in a catoonish image with my new look. Going for a more artsy.
