Category: Brimfield Block Quilt

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Brimfield Block Tula Pink De La Luna Quilt CHARITY AUCTION

We were so touched by Mathew Boudreaux’s post on Instagram (@MisterDomestic) about Pride month being the month of June. In his post he told us that at least a few times a month he is contacted by either an LGBTQ+ youth or parent of one to let him know how he has positively impacted them by just living his life proudly and truthfully. What really caught our attention is this statistic: LGBTQ+ youth are 3 to 5 times higher in either contemplating or attempting suicide. We knew we wanted to do something.

The good people at the Trevor Project do life-saving work. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25. We decided to  auction our brand new Brimfield Block Tula Pink De La Luna Quilt and donate all the proceeds to the Trevor Project.

Here’s a little back story behind this quilt.

The quilting done by @Quiltingismybliss is beyond.

 

When pear yellow becomes the perfect “neutral” background color to allow the EPP appliqué rings to pop!

We were so fortunate to get our hands on Tula Pink’s De La Luna fabric from the awesome folks at Free Spirit Fabrics prior to its release.

Sooooooooo good….

We immediately knew that our original Brimfield Block would be the perfect frame for those De La Luna sisters’ cameos. So off we went, planning our fussy cuts (and can we just say Tula makes the *best* fussy cuttable fabric?) and glue basting fabric to our paper templates.

We enlisted the help of one our friend, Jessica Lopez (@thegorillaandthepig on Insta), to hand stitch allllllll the Brimfield Block EPP rings (man, she’s quick!)

Tula Pink’s fabric patterns allow you to fussy cut the fabric to create new patterns. We couldn’t wait to dive in.

 

I just watched the movie Coco with my family and can’t get sugar skulls our of my mind!

When it came time to pick a background fabric, we decided that Tula’s solids were definitely the answer, but which one? As it turns out, there isn’t a lot of yellow in this collection. So “pear” worked out perfectly, allowing for a bright contrast to the darker, moody colors of the fabrics that does these sisters proper justice!

Pom Poms fabric from Tula’s All Stars collection make for a fun backing.

For the backing fabric we used Tula’s Pom Poms in “fern” from her All Stars collection. For the binding we went with the Tent Stripe in “iris”, also from the All Stars collection.

At International Quilt Market in Portland, our friends at Paper Pieces had their Baby Brimfield Block quilt quilted by Teresa Villa (@quiltingismybliss on Insta.) When they showed us her work, we knew we wanted to work with her on a quilt, too! We’ll let the pictures speak to her custom long arm work. Isn’t it stunning?

Teresa Silva (aka @quiltingismybliss on Instagram) quilted her heart out!

The auction for our Brimfield Block Tula De La Luna Quilt is being held on Instagram account @BrimfieldAwakening. It starts Wednesday morning 6.20.18 and will end at 11pm EST Friday 6.22.18.

  • There is some small print. This quilt will not be shipped to the winning bidder until after International Quilt Market in November.
  • Between now and that time, this quilt will be used for a few trunk shows and be on display during Quilt Week in Paducah and at International Quilt Market in Houston. The winning bidder acknowledges that they will not receive possession of the quilt until after International Quilt Market in Houston and by November 15, 2018.
  • You must pay within 24 hours of auction close.
  • Shipping for the US is free, and Brimfield Awakening will cover 50% of the shipping costs internationally.
  • Bidding starts at $230 USD.
  • Winning bidder will direct message @BrimfieldAwakening in Instagram with their name, address, and PayPal email address so we may invoice you.

If you would like to make a contribution to The Trevor Project, you can click here.

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The Open Road: A Journey to Brimfield Call for Quilts!

Okay, can someone P I N C H us? Nisha and I are **thrilled** to announce The Open Road: A Journey to Brimfield! We have teamed up with Paper Pieces to bring you a curated Brimfield Awakening exhibit during Quilt Week in Paducah, KY this September. And that is not all! We want YOU to be a part of it!! We will be showcasing 100 of our F A V O R I T E Brimfield Awakening projects made by YOU! This is an excellent opportunity to show off your prized Brimfield Block and Brimfield Block STAR projects (not just quilts!) But WAIT !! There’s more!! Paper Pieces will be hosting a Quilt and Stay that week where you can stitch with us, take classes (including our brand spankin’ new pattern releasing this summer), take in the big AQS Quilt Week Show just a short walk away at the convention center, AND have access to Hancock’s of Paducah *after* store hours (can you IMAGINE?) We have lots of other fun events lined up too!

Text your quilty BESTY right now.

Go ahead. We’ll wait.

And book your trip! We can’t wait to hang with you in Paducah!

You have plenty of time to make your dream Brimfield Block or Brimfield Block Star project or quilt to enter into our curated exhibit in Paducah this fall!
Click the picture above to enter your project into our exhibit! It has all the details. The deadline for entry is July 20, 2018.

Of course you can enter a quilt, but here are some ideas for projects you can enter besides quilts:

  • bags
  • pillowcovers
  • table runners
  • wall hangings
  • lamp shades
  • garments
  • bunting
  • Christmas tree skirts (!)
  • holiday Brimfield

Blow us away with your creative uses of our blocks – go W I L D!

Click on the picture above to check out the Quilt + Stay happening right above our curated exhibit!

Even though Nisha and I live in the DC suburbs, we actually didn’t meet each other until we went on a quilt retreat in Georgia. Actually, that first quilt retreat I went on, I didn’t know anyone and made life-long friends (and a business partner to boot!) So if you want to surround yourself with like minded Brimfield Awakening enthusiasts, consider participating in the Quilt and Stay!

Click on the picture above to see the classes we are teaching during Quilt Week in Paducah!
Are you a Brimfield Block or Brimfield Block STAR fan? Click the pic above for more and come learn both in our class.

Nisha and I will be teaching THREE different classes, and participating in one barn quilt class, open to anyone who’ll be near Paducah during Quilt Week. This one focuses on Brimfield Block and Brimfield Block Star. Not sure which one to make first? No problem – we will be teaching both of our blocks in this class, go over English Paper Piecing (EPP), explain how our unique “2-in-one” templates work, glue basting for curves and the flat back stitch. These blocks are a lot of fun to make and they sew together surprisingly quickly. You’ll love the negative space that forms both inside of each block and between the blocks! The best part is that if you have the acrylic templates for our original Brimfield Block, then you have the templates that you need to make it’s cousin: Brimfield Block Star 🙂

Want to up your fussy cutting and color game in your EPP blocks? Come to the famous Hancock’s of Paduch with us after dark!

We are **really** excited about our Hancock’s After Dark class! Hancock’s of Paducah (ever hear of them?) will open their doors after hours to our lucky classmates and we will stroll the aisles and go over the importance of color selection and the keys to fussy cutting fabrics for EPP. Nisha has the eye for pulling fabrics from across the spectrum for color. And if understanding how to create patterns within your fabric designs between your EPP shapes trips you up – we’re here to show you how to achieve those cool “sub patterns.” It is quite addicting. Did we mention WE’LL HAVE HANCOCK’S ALL TO OURSELVES 🙂 And don’t worry, there will be stitching time, too. What a neat experience and we can’t wait to do this!

Be the first to learn our brand new pattern launching this summer!

Our third class is a MYSTERY CLASS on our soon-to-be-released new EPP pattern coming out this summer. All we can say is that the block that inspired this new pattern was found in the same musty old trash bag in which we found the original Brimfield Block. So you know it’s going to be good! You should see the pictures our busy pattern testers are sending us of their works in progress as they stitch this new design. You can be the first to learn it!

We are just editing our original blog post to update it to include this

Paint your own Brimfield Block Barn Quilt! Best part? It will fit in your luggage 🙂

FANTASTIC BRIMFIELD BLOCK BARN QUILT CLASS!! Join us at MAKE in Paducah where we will paint on already-stenciled Kentucky barn wood our own Brimfield Block 🙂 You can sign up for it here.

We hope you’ll consider coming to Quilt Week in Paducah this September! If you can’t make it in person, please consider entering one of your Brimfield Awakening projects for our special exhibit. We can’t wait to see what you make! Be sure to tag us on Instagram with these hashtags: #BrimfieldBlock #BrimfieldblockSTAR #BrimfieldAwakening

Thank you for supporting our small business. Nisha and I are so grateful for all the support you have offered. We can’t believe that in about 3 weeks the May Brimfield Show will be happening – this will be the year anniversary where we found “B”! Happy stitching — xx Kim + Nisha

 

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Brimfield Block Pattern, Templates, Papers PREsale

Friday afternoon (tomorrow) we will make our Brimfield Block pattern, acrylic templates and paper pieces available for PREsale. We want to debut the quilt at International Quilt Market in Houston at the end of October before we ship. So, the ship date will be November first. Here are some NEATO things about the Brimfield Block quilt that make it rather unique!

See that “Tall House” piece above? Notice anything? It is P-E-R-F-O-R-A-T-E-D 🙂 This is really COOL! Why? Because it puts more flexibility into your hand. Running low on time? No problem, keep the piece as one and you’ll have one fewer EPP piece to sew. Want to go nuts with some fussy cutting? No problem, easily tear along the perforation, separating the house base from its triangle tip and void-la! you have 2 pieces instead of one 🙂 In the original layout of the Brimfield Block, the tips on the “tall house” and “fat house” pieces were separated, like in the picture below.

We also like what paper pieces did for our acrylic templates. They got smart about it. Instead of creating costly acrylic templates for every house tip, they combined the house pieces into one, but made them so you can separate them into two! This saves you money, keeping the costs down combining the templates. But you still have the flexibility to have two house pieces if you want. Take a look below at the acrylic templates.

These are the four Brimfield Block acrylic templates you will need to make one Brimfield Quilt Block. They include the Short House, Fat House, Tall House and Orange Peel. The house pieces have drilled holes so that you can further subdivide the house tips into separate pieces.

 

See those dashed lines and drilled holes? They are there to help you trace the different parts of the house pieces (base or tips) separately onto your fabric. Have a look at our tutorial below to see how this is done.

 

Please subscribe to our youtube channel to stay up to date on tips, tricks, and tutorials about the Brimfield Block and our future patterns 🙂 We would love to see what you make, so please tag us @BrimfieldAwakening and use hashtags #BrimfieldBlock or #BrimfieldAwakening on social media. Which fabric collection do YOU think would make for a beautiful Brimfield Block Quilt?

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HOW THIS ALL BEGAN

So how did this thing get started anyway?

Basically here’s how Nisha and Kim found their jam. Kim used to forecast the weather long ago for Fox in Boston (sooooo many hair styles ago.)

Thus her love affair with Brimfield, a town in central Massachusetts right on the Connecticut border, began. It hosts an antiques fair three times a year: May, July, and September. It has fields and fields and fields of estate sale type stuff. If you’ve ever watched Antiques Road Show or Flea Market Flip, then you know what we’re talking about. It is a collector of *anything* vintage’s dream. Fast forward 19 years and Kim now has a  l-o-n-g-i-n-g to return to those fields.

By this time, Kim and Nisha are good friends. Tied to the DC metropolitan area for work, they are both members of the DC Modern Quilt Guild and attend the same types of sewing retreats. It isn’t long before they plan a road trip to the May 2017 Brimfield Antiques Show to sniff out some vintage quilty goodness.

As any good Brimfielder knows, you come prepared. That means you have the following: cash (or a friend with access to cash because you don’t have your ATM card, ahem), rolling cart, hat, sunscreen, water, waterproof shoes (preferably tall – we’ve beaten women to the loot because they had to take the long way around a deep puddle), assortment of bags from plastic to larger bags, rain slicker, and the Brimfield Flea Finder ap. Check off every Monday-Friday item from that list!

  • Fanny packs are not just for Amazing Race contestants! Travelon Anti-Theft Waist Pack with RFID Protection. What that means is that your credit card info will be safe. And it's waterproof!

Brimfield staggers the opening of their fields over the course of multiple days. It starts on a Tuesday and goes through that Sunday. Some of the fields have specific start times, but several simply open at “sunrise”. Most of the residents in and along Route 20 and the side streets turn their ample yards into parking lots that week charging ~$8 for the day.

LET THE WALKING BEGIN!

We highly urge you to count your steps while walking the fields – they will add up! At first the charming names of the fields like “New England Motel” make you go “isn’t that quaint”, but by hour 5, with new blisters and port-o-potty induced fatigue, one might be inclined to say “Quaker Acres”??? Why would anyone name a field *that*?” But then your bestie will offer you a sugary treat deep from within one of the many picnic-styled bags in her cart and you’ll snap out of your diva-ness and instantly remember why you’re there.

And then it will hit you. The Smell.

It wafts up from the forgotten about bags of textiles holding the odd assortment of 1930’s feedsacks and orphaned quilt blocks. The smell will lead you there. Musty? yes, but in a good way. This is exactly what happened to us – walking past a dealer with an old blanket laying on the damp ground with a bunch of Hefty bags strewn about. We eyed each other as in “all clear” and at once started rummaging through the bags. And as if the heavens high above felt our collective endorphins releasing, a choir of angels sang as we pulled out THE ORIGINAL BRIMFIELD BLOCK.

It was love at first site. From that day on, our planning began. We knew we had to get this pattern out into the world. We redesigned the block – added a third “house” piece (instead of keeping the original 2 house shapes), changed the proportions and most importantly – we added the “perforation” option to the block. This would mean that quilters could decide whether or not to have separate “roof” or triangle pieces or keep the house shapes as one. What we didn’t know at that time was just how beautifully the blocks would look when pieced together without traditional sashing in between – the two different areas of negative space that would result. With limited wifi, we researched the block and figured it had to be a descendent of the “Strawberry” block (made popular in the late 1920’s published in a newspaper.) So, one diner at a time from Vernon CT down to East Brunswick NJ we plotted our game plan over bowls of matzo ball soup and Reubens. Over the course of the Jersey Turnpike we hatched Brimfield Awakening and the Brimfield Block Quilt.

Isn’t Carrie’s quilting from @Gotchacoveredquilting divine?

To make the Brimfield block quilt you will need to purchase the pattern, acrylic templates, and paper pieces (or these paper pieces. ) Our paper pieces are unique in that they have perforation. This allows you the flexibility to create more pieces for additional fussy cutting 🙂

Please share your Brimfield Block quilt pictures with us! Use the hashtags #BrimfieldBlock or #BrimfieldAwakening. We can’t wait to see what you make. And by the way, we’re not done. Much more Brimfield patterns are to come. We came home with loaded carts after all 🙂