Bounce . . . . .

There's a new quilt hanging in my living room, and when I say new quilt I mean new quilt!

This is this quilt's world premiere, from my living room to you!

This is Bounce, a new pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

Earlier this year Carrie Nelson asked if I would be interested in sewing a quilt for her for spring market, this is the quilt I got to piece,  it didn't make it to market, but neither did Carrie!  So all those folks who went to spring market missed out on this quilt, but that means you get to see if first!

I figured Carrie would just send me some fabric and a pattern in the mail with a note that would basically say, "here it is".   But Carrie made her version the same time I worked on mine, which made it more of a sew along and a lot of fun. (For picture of Carrie's version go to Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. online store)

I also got to make a few of my own choices, Carrie was great that way, "do what you think looks best", she would say, so I  would.

This is the fabric Carrie selected.  Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics.

I got to decide whether to go totally scrappy or scrappy within each color way.  I chose scrappy within each color way.  This is fabric I would had never bought on my own, it's way outside my normal fabric comfort zone.  But I loved working with it, loved how it looked when I pieced the blocks, loved it more when it was done.  I am now more open minded about these colorful modern looking fabrics that are popular now and expect to buy and use more of them in my projects.

So here are all the blocks before the bounce effect.  

The pattern suggests you may want to put the blocks on a design wall before making them bounce, it's a good tip to follow.

You have several choices to make when you start on this pattern.  One is to go with scrappy stars with pieced blocks in the center, or  a star made using one piece of fabric.  My version has the scrappy stars.  You can also decide to go with all big stars, like Carrie did, or big and small stars like my version.

Here it is all pieced and bouncy.

You also have two choices on the border, here's a closeup of  my version.

I stayed scrappy but within color ways, like the stars, and all my strips are the same width.

Along the way I would suggest ideas to Carrie on how to make the pattern better.  She was great about listening to my ideas and even better about explaining why my ideas wouldn't work for this particular pattern.  (there's more to this pattern business than you would suspect!) One of my favorite ideas was to not provide a layout with the pattern, make folks do their own.  I was afraid everyone would try to cut their blocks exactly like mine, and I would like everyone's Bounce to have their own bounce.  Carrie very politely let me know that when folks buy patterns, they expect a layout page.  It makes me laugh to think about it now, yes even I expect a layout page, and some of you think I should design patterns? 

There are several things I like about this pattern.  First, you don't have to worry about cutting off those star points when you connect the blocks, they're floaters.  Second, any style of fabric would make a great Bounce. Additionally, this pattern can be made using a layer cake, 24 fat eighths, or 12 fat quarters, who doesn't have some of that!  And most importantly, it's fun! (perfect for your Summer of Fun)

Here's the pattern.  Lucky you, it's available for purchase in Carrie's online shop, today, now!  You can select  a PDF version (click here) if you can't wait a single second to own this pattern, or you can buy the paper version (click here), which will be mailed to you.  I'm sure it will be showing up in your local quilt shop also, but why wait when you can have it now!

This is Bounce

It finishes at 70" x 70"

It is Lifetime Quilt Number 84

It has approximately 956 pieces.

I can hardly wait to see new and different versions of Bounce.  I'm really wanting to see one with a scrappy background.  I may try that myself. (PLEASE someone make a Minick and Simpson Bounce for the 4th of July!)  Be sure to send me a picture when you finish your Bounce!

What better way to celebrate a new pattern than with a giveaway.  Even though I didn't name this pattern, the name has nothing to do with me at all really,  I'm the sort of person who wakes up happy most every day, it's just my nature to get out of bed with a bounce in my step.  So while it was really just luck that I got to make this particular quilt for Carrie, it was a perfect fit, this pattern suits me and my personality.  If you would like to win this pattern (donated by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.) and a layer cake of your choice to make your own Bounce, leave a comment on this post by Friday, June 29th.  I'll announce the winner on Saturday.  In your comment I would like to know what puts a bounce in your step!

My Bounce was quilted by Linda Hrcka at the Quilted Pineapple.  Today she's going to talk about how she quilted Bounce and show you lots of nice close-up quilty pictures.  The quilting on this project is amazing, be sure to stop on over.

So thanks Carrie for what I would consider the opportunity of a lifetime, a quilt I pieced on the cover of a pattern, it could not have been more fun!