Heading North Pattern Release

I am excited to release another pattern today, Heading North. This is one that should have been released a year ago, but ahem, here we are. How can patterns be UFOs? Well, I stand here telling you yes, they sure can. Do not ask me how many I have that are UFOs... Okay, enough confessing, here's to celebrating!

This was published in Make Modern #39 in spring 2021. (affiliate link) The design originated as one of the 30 Quilt Design Challenge quilts I did a few years ago. It uses one block from EQ8! It was my first published quilt Make Modern, and I went to town on the quilting, filling up the negative space with lots of texture. It is a super-simple block, and the quilt top comes together in a day or two max. There is a second design option in the pattern, one that is not in the magazine: a baby quilt with a completely different look, using the same block!

By rotating and changing the colour a bit in a few blocks, I came up with this eye-catching baby quilt.

It measures 36.5" square, wonderful for using the width of 42-43" yardage for the back! I mocked it up in Amanda Murphy's Christmas line in the reds and greens:

So then I tried recolouring the original design in her Christmas line, but it evolved as they tend to do, and this happened:

I see cardinals!

Don't let the negative space intimidate you. I think straight line quilting would be super-cool, or even the flowing organic ones Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts does. I give quilting suggestions within the pattern.

The best part? Well, besides it being 30% off through Sunday night, is that I asked five of my quilty friends if they'd be interested in sewing one of the two designs, and they all flew (see what I did there) at the chance. They got the already tech-edited pattern, so they were just playing.

However. Full confession here. 

The pattern was printed in Make Modern, as I said. I went through it super-carefully; their tech editor would have too, I would assume. Yvonne tech-edited it. And the five wonderful quilters sewed away happily. 

Except...

One (thank you Wendy) found a mistake in the layout of one row of the throw, which had got past me, MM, and Yvonne😖. Like how? Even stranger was the fact that in my Heading North file in my laptop, the correct layout for that row is there, no incorrectly rotated one. Cue The Twilight Zone theme. Smack self up side the head.

Anyhow, the moral of the story is that mistakes happen. The more eyes on instructions for anything, not just quilts, the better the end product. This one is now perfect. Made six times over as of today! Here is the pattern back:

Here are the quilters who made the throw or the baby (or both: Wow Carol!). You can visit their sites by clicking the links.

Throw

Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts of my Quilting Life

Carol of Quilt Schmilt

Anja of Anja Quilts

Baby

Rose of Something Rosemade

Michelle of @peetmichelle

I hope you will pop over to their sites and take a look at what they've made. You will be wowed! The pattern is on sale as I said, for just $7.70, but I would like to give a free one to a reader. Just leave me a comment below answering this question:

Have you started sewing Christmas projects?

I'll choose someone on Sunday night and let that person know! Be sure to include your email if you are a no-reply.

And that person is Anomak! Thanks for including your email so I could send you your copy. How I love thinking of my pattern in the far north of Canada. 🙏💗  You should check out Anomak on Instagram; her needlecrafts, especially knitting, are out of this world, as are some of the shots of the high arctic where she lives.

Linking up

AlyciaQuilts

My Quilt Infatuation