Coco Chic fabric – Blue Bear Quilts

We thought we would celebrate Labor Day by offering 20% off of our digital download Sparklers on Liberty Square and Patriotic Polka Patterns. You can find the links to those patterns here: downloadable-patterns/

Sparklers on Liberty Square Quilt at barber shop

Sparklers on Liberty Square Quilt Pattern Cover

Quilt Block Mania is happening again in September and 29 quilt designers are at it again with this month’s theme of Halloween. Here is a picture of the theme colors.

Very fallish don’t you think? So the block Blue Bear created is a take on the classic Sunbonnet Sue block. Sue is proudly holding up the pumpkin she just finished carving.

Sunbonnet Sue is one of those appliqué blocks that people either love or hate. We think she is adorable in this Halloween themed block. The fabrics that we used to create this fun block are called Coco Chic and they are part of a fabric collaboration we are doing with QT fabrics. The fabrics were inspired from 1920’s fabric prints which QT Fabrics has in their archives.

Coco Chic will be available in fabric shops in January 2021. Fabric shops are ordering this fabric now and if you would like for your local shop to carry it, we have a letter we prepared that you can snail mail, email or bring into the shop telling them all about this Art Deco fabric collection. The letter is available on our website under the heading ” Coco Chic Letter.”

Here is a photo of the block with Coco Chic fabrics after the shapes have been fused to the background.

There are a few things I did to make creating this black a success. I cut out fabric squares the same size as the paper template squares I cut.

The squares of fusible web were cut slightly smaller than the fabric squares.

I fused the fusible webbing to the wrong side of the fabric. Then with regular washable school glue, I put the slightest amount of glue on the paper side of the fusible and glued the paper templates onto the fusible webbing.

Now I was able to cut out the appliqué shapes on the solid line. When ready to fuse in place, using the placement diagram for guidance, I carefully pulled off both the paper template and the paper side of the fusible. If you need to score the paper side of the fusible webbing, you can lift the paper template up to do so.

Here I am getting reading to machine appliqué the pieces down after I had fused them to the background.

The block looks very finished with the blanket stitch and this embroidery holds the pieces to the background and prevents them from fraying over time.

When doing machine embroidery, it is important that you use a piece of tearaway stabilizer on the back of your background piece and sew nice and slowly so that you are able to pivot your piece with the needle down when you need to.

If you would like to turn this cute block into a pillow cover, please head over to our YouTube channel, after September 3, 2020, where we will have a video showing how we turned this block into a pillow cover. Here is the link to our YouTube channel: Blue Bear Quilts YouTube. We also have a pattern for making a pillow cover out of a 12″ finished block here: pillow cover pattern

If you would like to download a free PDF pattern of our block for September, all you have to do is look for the box on our blog, on the right hand side, that says “Like this content? Sign up for free updates” and sign up to receive our newsletter. When you have done that, you will receive a welcoming email from us that will contain a coupon code and a link back to the free pattern. You will act as though you are purchasing the pattern and in the cart, you will apply the coupon code, which will make the pattern free. You will need to fill out contact information, but no payment method will be necessary. Don’t worry, we do not send out newsletters very often and we never sell email addresses or contact information. Here is what the pattern looks like. It is in a format very similar to most Blue Bear Quilt patterns, so if you see what you like in this free pattern, you will like our other patterns as well. Please note: This pattern will only be free during the month of September 2020.

Current newsletter subscribers, don’t despair! You will be able to download the free pattern as well as you have already been sent a newsletter on September 1st which gave you the coupon code.

We are so happy that you stopped by to visit us in the Quilt Block Mania hop and we hope that you like our block. Please stop by to see all of the other designer’s wonderful blocks.