My Splendid Sampler 2 Day!

Welcome Splendid Samplerers!

Over the last few months we have been working our way through the first 20 free block patterns for the Splendid Sampler 2 Sew Along.

Finally it is time to reveal my block and I am so excited to share it with you! I also have news of an amazing fabric bundle GIVEAWAY, so please read on…

It’s been hard keeping both my block and my day on the Quilt Along secret especially as my block made it on to the front cover! Yay!

Here it is, my Fruit Bowl block.  I’ve used a bowl pattern for a couple of previous quilts – my Dishes Quilt and my Crockery Cupboard Quilt, and it’s a motif I love to return too (I don’t think this will be the last time either!). But this time I decided to add the contents of the bowl!

Regular readers will know how much I love needle-turn applique, and especially for circles, so this block is a combination of two things I love to sew.  I made this block at the exact same time last year and we were reaping our harvest of plums and apples from our little orchard, as we are now, so that was also an inspiration.

Those little curves on the bowl are quite tight so you might find it as easy to hand piece them as to machine them. But they are certainly doable if you take your time.  If you are really struggling try stitching from the centre of the curve outwards and then flip over and complete the seam from the other side. Or try enlarging your template pieces a little on the straight line edges and then trim down once sewn.

I’ve been enjoying making all the blocks so far in the Splendid Sampler 2 Sew Along.  I’ve been managing to keep up and here are the first 14 blocks including mine.  There is a wonderful range of techniques to keep you on your toes but the blocks are all a very manageable 6″ (finished size) so are really speedy to make.

You can download this block pattern (along with the previous 13) for FREE from the Splendid Sampler website here. All of the first 20 blocks will be available free with a new one being released every Thursday. Once the book is out there will still be a focus on a particular block every week.

The whole thing is hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson and follows on from the very successful original Splendid Sampler book and QAL.  This new book is published by Martingale too and will be out in around a month.  There are 80 amazing designers each contributing a block with Pat and Jane making up the numbers to 100 in total. You can pre-order your copy of the book here or just click the button on the sidebar.

I feel super honoured to be included amongst this talented group of international quilters!

As you can see I have decided on a red, white and blue palette for my Splendid Sampler 2 quilt (with a little turquoise here and there).

I even made some mini bunting from the same fabrics to use in my block photos every week.  I have had so much fun styling these with different flowers from the gardens or notions from my sewing room!

And I’m loving my chosen colourway!

So I thought it would be a lovely idea to curate a Fat Quarter fabric bundle using my red, white and blue theme and offer it as a giveaway!

I have chosen 12 fat quarters from my shop and my own stash, some of which will be going into my own SS2 quilt and put together this beautiful bundle.

If you’d like to enter the giveaway simply head over to my Instagram post here to enter!

I’ve chosen to run this giveaway on Instagram as it’s a much easier platform to run big giveaways, and I’m sorry if that means you can’t enter this (though I would encourage you to sign up for IG as it is a wonderful place for quilters!).  But I promise I’ll be hosting a fabulous giveaway here in a few weeks time that you’ll be able to enter just through the blog!

Meanwhile I do hope you enjoy making my block. Please tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you share your blocks there – I’d love to see them!