Welcome to the blog today! Several months ago I designed a fresh take on the old cheater quilt.  After testing it out, I’m finally ready to share the whole process with you.  Ever heard of Spoonflower?  The company offers an amazing service that I’ve been wanting to take advantage of for years.  So this is my year!  I’m doing lots of things I’ve never done before.  I’m seizing the day – Carpe Diem! Or perhaps I’m seizing the year?  Carpe Anno!  Spoonflower Fabric allows customers to upload a design to their website and have it printed on fabric.  {They also offer wallpaper and wrapping paper.}  If you aren’t a designer but want a custom piece of fabric you can shop the Spoonflower fabric site with thousands of designers from all over the world to find your perfect piece! They operate a bit like Etsy in that, you can look at each designers shop, not just the designs themselves. So I invite you to look at my Spoonflower shop and buy a modern cheater quilt to start with!

I love the idea of cheater quilts, they are fast and fun! Sadly, though, most cheater quilts are very ugly and outdated.  In fact, I haven’t really seen a good cheater quilt until Spoonflower hosted a contest last year on them.  It got me thinking about it.  I wanted to incorporate some of the tried and true quilt blocks from the past and yet I wanted a modern airy feel to the cheater quilt.  I chose a squash blossom pattern, enlarged it on a grid big enough for one yard of fabric, used half square triangles to construct the pattern and quilting lines.  The panel is available in two color ways of cheerful, calm solids.

My Peachy version contains a few shades of grey, pale peachy pink, and a light smoky blue on navajo white.  This design is great for a modern baby quilt, but also finds it’s home amongst cozy couches, and master bedrooms.  You can make a large quilt out of several yards/panels. I included a border on two sides to help you implement this concept.

I hope you catch the cheater quilt bug…. You can buy it in my Spoonflower shop and whip it up in an afternoon….

Here’s a shot of the Teal Colorway panel.  I’ll be sewing it up soon.  It has dark and light teal, mustard, and navajo white.