Busy Bee Quilt

Are you looking for an easy quilt to make this summer that uses a lot of different fabrics or maybe a bundle you’ve been hanging onto for just the right pattern? The Busy Bee quilt could just be what you’re wanting!

Quilt Backstory

This new pattern release is not really a new pattern on this blog. Formally released as Honeybee Cottage in just one project size, I’m rereleasing the pattern with a new name, look, and three project sizes for the same price as the original pattern!

Above is the original Honeybee Cottage quilt designed, made, and quilted by me (before I was an AGF fabric designer) in Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids and Bonnie Christine’s Sweet as Honey fabric collection. This pattern was for a 64-1/2’’ square quilt. The pattern revision has changed the original quilt size to a 64-1/2’’ x 74-1/2’’ quilt— that’s better sized for a twin bed.

Cover Quilt

This very traditional looking quilt design is really just a vehicle and excuse to play with your stash of fabrics! I made sure the pattern is fat quarter and 1/2 yard bundle-friendly so if you like the looks of a 10-piece bundle then it’s sure to look good in this quilt. The driver behind remaking this quilt came from my Art Gallery Fabrics Designer’s Palette 1/2 yard bundle of 10 prints (above)—all I need to add for the top was the Four Leaf - Glow print from my Willow collection as the background fabric and AGF Decostitch Golden Earth for the center squares in the blocks and I had the perfect pattern to show off this group of fabrics.

The Designer’s Palette bundles can be purchased from your favorite quilt shops that carry AGF fabrics and you can source the other prints used in my sample OR you can purchase the Busy Bee Designer’s Palette kit from Lady Belle Fabrics.

I did the free motion quilting on this cover sample and used Hobbs Tuscany Supreme 100% Unbleached Cotton inside for the perfect summer to fall weight.

I love to select a backing print that can give a quilt two looks—patchwork front and whole cloth back, I used the Cut Flowers - Fortune print from my Kismet collection for Art Gallery Fabrics.

Second Busy Bee Quilt

Because the cover sample was so much fun to make, I was eager make a second quilt but this time, mix prints from several of my latest fabric collections. I stitched up the 44-1/2’’ x 54-1/2’’ crib/throw version as a second quilt sample and used prints from Willow, Shine On, Booking, and AGF Fusions collections Serenity and Rosewood.

I do love this soft color palette and much as I love the fall-inspired cover quilt version. This large crib/throw quilt was perfect excuse to go for a cottage-look—especially with using my Delicate Balance print as the background. The binding is the same Delicate Balance print but with a light blue ground.

For the backing, I used Rosewater Ballet from my Willow collection to complete the romantic mood of this quilt and pull all the colors together. You can get this same look by purchasing the Busy Bee Cottage Garden kit from Lady Belle Fabric! Brooke at Lady Belle Fabric has kitted this look in both the crib/throw size like I made for my sample as well as a twin-size quilt kit—got to love options!

The free motion quilting on this sample was done by me and I used Hobbs Tuscany Silk blend batting inside for a light-weight, heavenly drape.

Tester Showcase

A quilt pattern release wouldn’t be complete without showing off the quilts that my testers made! I know you love this part as much as I do and it offers a chance to see the same quilt in a variety of fabrics, colors, and looks. Enjoy the virtual quilt show and let it inspire you to create your own either from the additional kits offered or just to see the quilt sizes shown different ways. I only made two of the three sizes but there’s also a table runner project size in the pattern and after seeing the runners a few of the testers made, I now want to make a runner as well!

Quilt made by Terri Neil

Terri Neil chose prints from the Art Gallery Fabrics Season & Spice collection to create a crib/throw quilt that looks right at home as a summer quilt as it will be snuggled by a fire this fall—especially since she backed it with Shannon Fabrics Cuddle. Be sure to follow Terri on Instagram @quiltingrubies where you’ll see more examples of the long arm service she provides quilting beautiful quilts for her customers. Be sure to visit her website as well at Quilting Rubies.

Quilt made by Elaine Satterfield

Elaine Satterfield of Create Joy Quilt on Instagram has an eye for color and her style always shines through on everything she creates when testing a quilt or making items for her Etsy shop. Elaine made the crib/throw size and beautifully straight-line stitched it on her sewing machine, backing the quilt with Shannon Fabrics Minky. The look is nothing but perfection!

Quilt made by Victoria Newmyer

Be still my pink and peach loving heart, Victoria of Midlife Quilter does it again and creates the perfect bundle for her crib/throw quilt! That addition of two size scale check prints adds a sweet home country-vibe to the quilt. You can purchase this kit from Victoria’s shop with the link below. Be sure to follow @midlife_quilter on Instagram and see all the lovely fabric and notions she has to offer.

Quilt made by Leah Parker Bruski

This is Leah Parker Bruski of @lapinsta on Instagram’s debut test quilt for me after joining our group this spring. It’s been fun getting to know Leah through her quilts and I love the fresh take she has added to my group of testers with going all AGF Pure Solids in her bundle selection and pulling the colors from the small floral AGF print. The fabrics were purchased from Jen Cannon of Piper Autumn Fabrics and you can purchase this kit in either the twin size like Leah made or in a crib/throw size.

Runner made by Mary Gove

I’m always excited to see what Mary Gove will create! I have this Busy Bee runner now on my make list and love it so much in my Art Gallery Fabrics Shine On prints—it’s the perfect summer runner! For more marvelous and inspiring makes by Mary, follow her on Instagram as the @thecurlyquilter.

Runner made by Leah Parker Bruski

Leah Parker Bruski made two Busy Bee quilts! Here’s the runner she made with a mix of Art Gallery Fabrics collection and the Painted Prairie - Cornucopia print from my Spirited collection as the background—so good! The straight line quilting was a great way to finish this runner. See more of Leah’s quilting journey on Instagram by following her @lapinsta feed.

Runner by Marija Vujcic

Each of the Tester showcase graphics show off the personalities of each maker but none better than what Marija’s color and print selections say about her nature-loving heart. Marija chose a limited palette of greens and gold from my Willow collection for AGF and made a runner. The lovely diagonal line quilting is the perfect contrast to all the floral prints in the runner. Be sure to follow this talented lady on Instagram Marija Vujcic and on her blog at Mara Quilt Designs as she plans to be publishing her own quilt patterns soon and they will surely be amazing!

Quilt made by Joyce Ulm

Joyce Ulm used a dark AGF Pure Solid for the background of her twin-size quilt and it really makes the prints and colors pop and gives the quilt a modern look opposed to the light background quilts. There’s a mix of Kismet and Maureen Cracknell Homebody prints along with additional solids for a lovely fall palette. You can see more of Joyce’s work on Instagram @evamaecustomquilts, Etsy shop, and on her Facebook blog HERE, and takes custom orders for long arm quilting.

Runner made by Tracey Taber-Perry

This table runner by Tracey Taber-Perry is perfect for your summer table—you’ll feel like you’re on vacation every day! Tracey used prints from Katarina Roccella’s new Capris collection for AGF. She also used leftover scraps to create the cutest coasters to match! Here’s a tutorial from Quilt Piecer for Fold and Turn Coasters like what Tracey made—I’ve got to try these! To see more of Tracey’s beautiful work and you can follow her feed @ttabes80 on Instagram.

Quilt made by Jen Cannon

Jen Cannon is the shop owner of Piper Autumn Fabrics and has an eye for putting colors together. This analogous color palette of warm jewel tones is pure joy! Jen has bundled this mix of Art Gallery Fabrics and kitted the Busy Bee quilt for two sizes—the crib/throw shown here and as a twin size. Use the link below to view the options on in her shop. Don’t forget to visit Jen on Instagram @piperautumnfabrics.

Quilt made by Christine Trotta

This scrumptious crib/throw quilt was made by Christine Trotta of Serendipity In Love Quilting. Christine went bold with this expertly curated fabric pull of pink, salmon, peach, caramel, and raspberry prints mostly from different AGF collections by Maureen Cracknell. Visit Christine’s Serendipity in Love shop and follow her on her Blog as well as her Instagram account @serendipityinlovequilting.

Quilt made by Brittany Tunison

To finish up our Busy Bee Tester Showcase we have a summer-fresh, gorgeous crib/throw quilt by Brittany Tunison of White Plains Quilts. Brittany used a variety of Art Gallery Fabrics prints to create this sweet palette of honey, sprout green, peach, and cream—her make really fits the Busy Bee quilt name and looks ready for summer adventures or quiet time just reading a book curled up in your favorite chair. To see more of her work, find Brittany on Instagram @brittanytunison and see her quilt patterns and posts on her blog HERE.

Are you inspired to create your own Busy Bee quilt or runner? Maybe you have some fabric bundles you were wondering what to do with or maybe you’d like something fresh to work with for your summer sewing and plan to order one of the kits available—either way, this is a fun quilt to make! Click the link below to purchase the pattern from my shop and start planning your quilt today!

Be sure to follow my on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns for daily postings and fabric updates!

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.

Heart Quilt Sew Along

Heart Quilt Sew Along

I know, I know that just two posts back on January 8th I said that Maureen Cracknell and I had no plans for a sew along, but, turns out that I was wrong about that (insert laugh/cry emoji)!!!!

You know how it is when you see pretty fabrics and the perfect quilt block—you just have to stop everything and make a quilt with it, right?!?!?! That’s what happened with Maureen and I when we both received happy mail from Art Gallery Fabrics with the new Foresta and Ballerina Fusions. Our boxes both arrived on Saturday and by Sunday we were making plans to host a Heart Quilt Sew Along using Allison Harris’s Heart block pattern. It all happened that fast and so will this sew along as we plan to start and finish our quilts and sew along by Valentine’s Day.

Heart Block Zip Pouch by Maureen Cracknell

Prior to this last weekend, Maureen was stitching zip pouches using Allison Harris’s of Cluck Cluck Sew Heart Block tutorial to make heart blocks that she then turned into Mirrored Hearts zippered pouches for her Etsy shop. She loved making the hearts so much she’d told me she’d love to make a quilt from the hearts next.

Like I said, as soon as the new fabrics came in, now we both wanted to make heart quilts!

Photo by Maureen Cracknell

Allison’s Heart Block tutorial has a free download for her heart block with size options and a quilt layout for a 6’’ square block. You’ll also find suggestions for how to customize this block into other projects.

For this sew along we have Allison’s permission to use her block and we’ve selected and designed a quilt using an 8” square block, sashing, and border layout to make a 52’’ x 61’’ throw-size quilt. You’ll find a free download for our quilt layout, coloring sheet, and fabric requirements on the Sew Along page.

We’ve not included piecing instructions in our free download because the Heart Block tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew will cover what you’ll need to know about making the heart blocks and next week I’ll go over putting the quilt top together with sashing and borders right here on this blog.

You may want to design a different layout for your heart blocks or follow Allison’s quilt tutorial from her site—Feel free to be creative! This is a casual sew along and a customizable project. The end goal is to have have fun sewing along with your Quilty virtual friends and have a finished project to gift, admire, or snuggle under by Valentine’s Day!

Assorted Art Gallery Fabrics from Mayfair and Foresta Fusion photo courtesy of Maureen Cracknell

You may have seen our fabric pull posts on Instagram as teasers to this sew along?

Maureen will be making her Heart Quilt from a mash up of Amy Sinabaldi’s MayFair and the new Foresta Fusion collection. Fusions are a group of ten prints from various Art Gallery Fabric designers that have been recolored and curated into the new color story. The two collections pair beautifully and have a romanic look for a heart quilt.

Quilt kits for the quilt Maureen will be stitching are available at Lady Belle Fabric.

The Heart Block is a fast block to piece and this quilt is a great way to show off your favorite prints! If you’re planning to make quilts like Maureen and mine, we’ve gone with a 30-block quilt and pulled 10 fat quarters. Background, backing, and binding requirements are listed in our free PDF download for the quilt layout in the illustration above.

Heart Quilt fabric pull by Sharon Holland

I’ll be making my Heart quilt from a curated mix of fabrics from: Art Gallery Fabrics Ballerina Fusion (a recolored mix of AGF designer prints), my Spirited, Everlasting, Signature, and Maureen’s Enchanted Voyage and Mystical Land collections.

My non-traditional Valentine colors remind me of sugared gum drops and candy. I’m crazy over this color palette and went with my heart when I did my fabric pull.

Due to the short notice of our sew along there’s not a quilt kit or bundle that exactly matches my fabric pull. However, Fabric Stork has created two beautiful bundles of ten Art Gallery Prints that would make a gorgeous heart block quilt that has a similar color story. You’ll still need to get your background fabric, backing, and binding.

AGF Bundle from Fabric Stork

AGF Bundle from Fabric Stork

We’ll be posting our progress on Instagram and encourage you to follow along and share your fabric pull and progress as well. When posting your quilt to Instagram use the sew along hashtag of #agfLOVEquilt and be sure to tag @sharonhollanddesigns @maureencracknell and @cluckclucksew so we can see your progress! If you’re sewing with Art Gallery Fabrics don’t forget to tag them too as they love to see what Makers are making with @artgalleryfabrics !

I’ll be adding progress snippets, videos, and tips videos to my Instagram Stories as I work on my quilt. As you can see, I’m pretty far along and have all my 30 blocks made only after two half-day sewing sessions. I’m excited to see it all come together!

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.

Looking Forward to the New Decade

Looking Forward to the New Decade

Resolutions have never worked for me. Instead, passion and goals are a much better motivator and reason for doing.

I don’t know about you but something about a decade change feels like it should be a big year. The last ten years I’ve been an artist, fabric designer, magazine editor, and back again fabric designer/author/quilt pattern designer. I achieved all those goals through continued education and passion. I’ve created an impressive amount of work during the past decade and this blog is visual proof of all that hard work.

Soul Searching

I’ve been struggling with whether or not to host some sort of quilting sew along or follow something I’ve been aching to do for a few years now—reconnect with painting. I know all of you would love a sew along and Maureen Cracknell and I have been kicking the tires on ideas but between our schedules and fabric collections it’s been very hard to nail anything down! The amount of advance work and prep is more than either of us can give right now. That doesn’t mean it’s an absolute “no” it just means I have nothing to announce at this time. Pursuing other aspects of Surface Design and being an artist means I need to put myself into my work 100% and follow my passion. This feels like the year to make that happen.

Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit Brooklyn Museum 2017

What I Need Right Now

One of the presents to myself at the end of last year was to buy the Georgia O’Keeffe Living Modern book from Amazon. I’ll have an affiliate link at the bottom of this blog post.

I was very fortunate to see the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum in 2017. The book and exhibit are more than an exhibit of O’Keeffe’s paintings—it’s about her intentional life style to reflect her art in every aspect of her life. Her clothing, home decor, minimal life style, and everything she touched supported her aesthetics. The exhibit placed her beautifully constructed and designed clothing amongst her paintings and photographic portraits. She was what we would call today a social media/branding genius. From her carefully curated outfits of black and white for studied portraits of her, of her with her art, and at home her Instagram feed (if she had one today) would be so polished and cohesive without even trying. I can only aspire to have such laser focus!

Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit Brooklyn Museum 2017

Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit Brooklyn Museum 2017

Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit Brooklyn Museum 2017

Now, I’m not saying I’m going to go off the deep end and becoming a minimalist or making all my garments but I would like to be more deliberate in my choices and find my painting voice again.

I’ve dabbled in many mediums and currently am in love with gouache because of it’s poster-like qualities and how it was used by textile/surface designers of the past. If you follow my Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns feed you may have seen my series of book covers. This is just something for funnies on the side—my real love is oil painting landscapes.

Book Cover Art by Sharon Holland

I love old books and especially the poster-like illustrated ones. The Old Santa Fé Trail is a book I own that’s a first edition, signed by the author in 1897. I saw a later edition online that had a green cover and liked that better than my copy so I took some liberties for decor purposes and went this a more colorful coloration.

I’m currently working toward having some of these book cover art offered as prints whether is will be from my website or from a print on demand service—it’s one of my goals for this year.

Book Cover Art by Sharon Holland

I had given my sister an original book cover painting for Christmas and had framed it before sending it off. I envision a reading nook or home library with my framed art and totally need to make a piece for this sunny corner in my office!

Mathew Boudreaux of @misterdomestic on Instagram is hosting an Auction for Australia that began Wednesday January 8 and will run until the following week. I will be adding a select number of prints to the auction so be watching his @mrdauctionhouse handle for my listings.

Continued Learning

The key to achieving goals is to never stop pushing yourself and never stop learning. Every new experience can build off old skills and open your mind to new possibilities—that’s why I love SkillShare.

Peace, Love, and Joy by Sharon Holland

Whenever I want to learn something or improve upon what I already knew—especially with technology that moves so fast—I can find it on SkillShare. If you’ve debated about trying SkillShare in the past this may be the year, the decade to give it a go! I am a SkillShare Ambassador and with it have the pleasure to give you a referral link for a Premium Free Trial of SkillShare. The Premium Free Trial gets you into every and any SkillShare course you’ve been wanting to see for two free months. You can learn a lot in two months but just think what you could do in a year!?!?

Right before the holidays I had a few extra moments and sat down with my iPad and Dylan Mierzwinski course on Illustration Practice: Lettering & Florals with Adobe Fresco. The wreath illustration above is what I made after watching her course and learned how to use a program I’d not tried before and loved it!

Bonnie Christine Focus to Flourish on SkillShare

My memberships (and your free trial) gives me access to Bonnie Christine’s new Focus to Flourish SkillShare course. Here, Bonnie gives us helpful insight into how to use our time wisely as creatives, create good habits, set goals, and basically go from dreaming to doing. Bonnie has inspired me to do more with my skills and find that balance between work and life. She also has corses on surface pattern design and is a phenomenal teacher.

Robert Joyner SkillShare courses

One of my very favorite fine artists to follow on SkillShare is Robert Joyner. His loose, expressive brush strokes, use of color, and technical skills help me to keep a fresh approach to my work. I’m basically going to go through every one of his course to get my oil painting mojo back!

Looking Forward

Prairie Flower by Sharon Holland

I do have a quilt in progress and will release a new pattern the end of this month or early February for sure. It’s called Prairie Flower and was the first quilt I made for my very first ever fabric collection with Paintbrush Studios (Fabri-Quilt). It seems fitting that this quilt started the last decade and brings in this new decade with a fresh remake.

Also, I’m working on a new fabric collection for fall of 2020 for Art Gallery Fabrics and over the next couple of month I’ll get that wrapped up. It’s very hard to work on that stuff behind the scenes and not be able to share for another half a year. Such is the life of a designer—I’m not complaining!

Wishing you all the best in 2020!

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.