A Very Large Little Bird

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Darcy
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2023 — The Year of the Rabbit

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Darcy

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AshtonPublications

To celebrate, here is a new pattern featuring a cute and easy applique bunny, English Paper Piecing flowers and a quilting motif in the corners, all included in the pattern. Also, for a limited time, all books and patterns are discounted on Etsy… Happy New Year!

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Selvage Bunny Experiment

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Darcy

This summer is HOT! So I’m staying inside and looking for something new and easy to do. I started experimenting with stitching up some Grandma’s Bunnies out of leftover selvage scraps. I don’t have just a ton of selvages because I used most of them up by making a large quilt for my daughter so I added a few regular fabric strips. It’s fine. I think it will make a cute quilt. I will probably end up making all 30 bunnies 🙂

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Finishing Old Quilts

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Darcy

Darcy's avatarAshton Publications -- A Quilting Blog

I’ve been on a “get it finished” binge lately. I managed to quilt two old bunny quilts in the past week. this first one is machine applique and I made this way back when my first book was brand new. The patterns are from Grandma’s Bunnies.
I was playing around to see how the patterns stitched up as machine applique, rather than by hand. I think it dates back to 2002. More than enough time to finish it, don’t you think?
Even though Grandma’s Bunnies has been out of print for several years, I still have the original computer file, and I still have it for sale on my website. But now it is listed as a loose-leaf pattern that is packaged in a ziplock bag.

This second quilt is almost finished. The little bunny in the middle was hand stitched and is just the baby bunny from the…

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Really, Really, Tiny — Bottlecap Pincushions

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Darcy

This popular pincushion pattern is available to quilt stores for wholesale. It is also sold on Etsy.

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I don’t know why, but my pincushions keep getting smaller! There is a new listing on Etsy for these guys. They are pint sized versions of their larger cousins. Complete with a few crushed walnut shells and tied tight. They are topped with a bead this time because a button was just too big. The bottoms were not pretty, so I glued them inside a recycled metal bottle cap.

They are tiny enough to use inside an Altoid tin with plenty of room to spare. You can also stick them to anything metal with a button magnet. I find these tiny pincushions very useful on the throat plate of my sewing machine when I am chain sewing and need the same 3 or 4 pins over and over.

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August Block of the Month — Giant Sunflower!

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Darcy

The August block is a huge sunflower. You have lots of opportunities to bling it up with beads and embroidery. The seed head in this example has numerous beads sewn to it. The outside edge has green glass beads in between the yellow petals. I quilted the blue background to look like sun rays and added tiny rows of clear glass beads in the background also. This one was very fun to make. I’m sure you will like it too! This pattern is available by itself HERE, or in a book form (July – December) HERE.

For those of you with embroidery machines, this is a closeup of the August block as digitized by Anna Aldmon. You can find it on her website HERE.

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July Block of the Month — Red, White, and Blue

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Darcy

For a Patriotic block, celebrating the month of our American Independence, I have designed a cluster of red and white striped petunias. They are accompanied by a blue swallowtail butterfly. Each of my monthly panels include an option for beading. I have sewn clusters of beads in the center of my flowers and also some additional seed beads on the butterfly. If you look carefully at the other blocks in this series you will find beads scattered on all of them. This is optional, but is also a lot of fun!

This is the first month in the Second Half of My Garden’s Journal series. This block of the month project is divided into two parts. Each is written as a 52 page book that is only available at this time as .pdf downloads on Etsy. You can find Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.
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June Block of the Month — Foxglove with Butterflies

Posted on February 12, 2022 by Darcy

Last month we had Morning Glories with a chrysalis hiding in the leaves. This time, the butterflies have emerged and are ready for their summer showing. This block has a central stalk with Foxglove blooms that include four different butterflies. This is the last month in Part 1 of My Garden’s Journal.

For an added bonus, you can make this small bag! Bling it up with a fun zipper pull and beaded fringe at the bottom. If you love butterflies, you can find many, many more in my book Butterfly Dance.

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May Block of the Month — Morning Glory

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Darcy

The May block of the Month features Morning Glory blooms with a chrysalis hiding in the leaves. The caterpillar is optional as is the hole in the leaf. These patterns can be found in Part 1 of My Garden’s Journal on Etsy.

The practice block is a wool needle book that has the chrysalis on one side and the leaf with the hole in it on the other. You can add as many 2-sided blank pages as you want to the inside. They all have a metal grommet in one corner and are held together by a keyring.

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April Block of the Month — My Garden’s Journal

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Darcy

The April block of the month is a very showy Lily. It can be made from shades of pink, orange, or white. The pattern includes a bonus pattern for a zipper bag which uses a cropped portion of the flower.

Glass seed beads are added to represent the “freckles” on a Tiger Lily.

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