Let me introduce the Magpie Quilt cover version! This block based design reflects my love of checkers and grew out of another design I made for a workshop that was originally inspired by the Moquette fabrics used on the London Underground.

It's a simple repeating design that's great for playing with bold colour and practising your seam matching skills. It's really accessible for beginner quilters and fun for seasoned sewists alike!

You can download the PDF pattern HERE.

The pattern includes also a two colour option and a fat quarter friendly multi-colour version and includes instructions for six generous sizes from Baby up to King size:

Baby - 48'' x 60''

Small Throw - 60'' x 60''

Large Throw - 60'' x 80''

Twin - 75'' x 100''

Queen - 90'' x 100''

King - 105'' x 100''

I love how in the six colour version what is actually the 'background' fabric, or the colour that appears in every block, actually appears to float like an overlay over the top of the other fabric colour. Depending on the colours you choose you could have a lot of fun playing with transparency and this works really well with the multi-colour version.

Read more about the fat quarter multi-colour version HERE

Magpie Cobalt Cover Quilt

I am officially obsessed with cobalt blue, as anyone who has followed my quilting making since the early days on Instagram. 

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I also love all highly saturated colours particularly when used together. Do they make your eyes go funny? That's what I'm after! It literally gives my body a thrill. And the visually bold but clean design of the Magpie quilt really supports strong colour choices. 

I used Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids in:

• Royal Cobalt
• White Linen
• Festival Fuschia
• Pineapple
• Burnt Orange
• Wisteria

The Pinepapple yellow and Wisteria purple are a little less saturated than the Festival Fuschia pink and Burnt Orange to create a little playful dance between the shades.

Get the Magpie Cobalt Cover Quilt bundle HERE

I chose Royal Cobalt again for the binding to bring the quilt together and for the backing I used this adorable pink floral from Cloud9 Fabrics. It's called Tiny Blossoms from the Through the Window collection by Emily Taylor. It's a sweet contrast to the strong graphic design of the quilt top but the colours were perfect!

For the quilting I used a mixture of straight parallel lines and the serpentine stitch on mt Janome. I couldn't decide which to use so I used both! I'm really pleased with the result and will definitely be combining them again on an other quilt!

Rather than use my go-to neutral shade from Aurifil - 2309 Muslin - I decided to use a pale pink shade - 2415 Blush - to feel playful again and I thought it would be more harmonious across the whole quilt. Muslin would have stood out starkly on the cobalt blue but been invisible on the pale White Linen fabric.

Magpie Quilt: Evergreen 

Originally I'd planned to release the Magpie Quilt pattern in time for Christmas and though about doing one in some festive shades. But life got in the way! I think these shades capture a winter vibe but aren't so Christmassy that you'd notice. I'd also been dying to try out some of the new Signature Solids shades by Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts for Art Gallery Fabrics.

I used Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids and Signature Pure Solids in:

• Evergreen
• Pearl
• Hemlock
• Spiced
• Queen Bee
• Poppy

Get the Evergreen Magpie Quilt bundle HERE

I confess this one sat in my WIP pile for quite a while after a cutting error with the backing fabric meant I had to go on the search for the perfect fabric again. In the end I opted for Speckled in Icebox by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Ruby Star Society and now I can't think why I didn't choose that in the first place! I absolutely love it! The bright turquoise is just the right shade and saturation to contrast the slightly more muted blue toned greens on the quilt top. And the speckles pick up the Hemlock and Evergreen shades exactly if you look closely enough!

I used two different shades of Aurifil thread for quilting: a pale green on the top, rather than my usual neutral, for the same reasons I used a pale pink on the cobalt quilt, and used a mid turquoise in the bobbin to match the backing fabric. I also used a dark green to match the Evergreen when attaching the binding. And for the quilting motif I quilted half inch parallel lines but instead of using them vertically like I might normally I went horizontally. I think it adds a pleasing solidity to the quilt as well as a gorgeous texture.

If you'd like to make either of these quilts you can find all the Magpie bundles HERE