Perkins Dry Goods

I’ve got patterns! The printer moved quickly for me and the new pattern ~ Starlight ~ is now available on the website (click here to go to the patterns).  I just love this Urban Indigo line from Moda.  I’ve got Dandelion Girl fat quarters calling my name too.  Hmmmm.

The patterns will be available soon through my distributors for quiltshops.  It may take a few weeks for all of the inventory to get where it needs to go.

I also spent Monday in Amery, Wisconsin with the Apple River Quilt Guild.  We had a class using my Sweet Pea pattern and then a trunk show in the evening.  Another great group!

In the heat of quilt market preparation last month, I was saved by chocolate.  Last minute and me are not good partners.  If you know me, you know that I am methodical and organized.  I don’t do harried and rushed well at all.  I was late getting my pattern covers for new stuff to the printer, which meant I might be stuffing bags in the hotel Friday night before market opened.  YUK.

I phoned Jane at Tri-State Printing and groveled a bit - she was so very nice and didn’t make me feel bad at all.  She was calm, she was kind and would overnight a partial order to me so I could bag enough patterns to ship ahead to Houston.  Low and behold those covers came, crammed into that overnight envelope along with two mini chocolate candy bars.

Okay, fast forward to a month later…… Market was great.  I think  mentioned in my Middle Name Game post that I met some fantastic new people and connected with old friends.  Better than a college reunion!

Now for the new stuff… I’m very excited about these four new designs.  I hope you like them!

Twist and Shout Tote is a fun little pattern that has a ton of options. Two styles and three sizes for each style!  I did these with Jelly Rolls and Charms.

Three for Tea is another jelly roll project that you could adapt to charms too.  Two runners and a small topper can all be pieced from one jelly roll with a bit of yardage for borders and binding.  I also included scalloping instructions for the corners on the topper.

Summit Square is a very traditional scrappy project that has two quilt sizes and a quick runner that you can make from your scraps.  I use the Civil War Classics line from Marcus Fabrics and just love how it turned out!

Country Lane is my first effort using the Sweet Sixteen (TM) charms from Maywood Studios.  These are a fat sixteenth of a yard and cut at 9 x 11 inches.  It was kind of fun to see the secondary pattern emerge.  Two main blocks and a simple pieced border in this project.

Quilt Market was held in Salt Lake City May 4-6 and what a blast it was!  So many things to see.  Fabrics were lighter and brighter.  Definitely a feeling of youthfulness in the air.  A nice addition to the mix of traditional and reproduction prints.  Lots of patterns, notions and gadgets.  I can’t wait to try the samples of Presencia thread I got.  I have spools of 3 ply 60 weight and a 3 ply 50 weight.  Stay tuned!

I introduced three new patterns along with my Perfect Piecing Seam Guide this market.

Magic Squares is a fat quarter quilt that uses a slice and dice technique.  You end up with a scrappy four patch square in a square in a square block.  It goes together really fast and comes in three sizes.

Sweet Pea lived on my idea wall for about two years.  I knew I wanted to use this block and a simple fabric plan to make a quilt that looked more complicated than it really was.  And finally one day it just came to me!  The setting triangles are pieced which makes it hard to tell where the main block is.  Three sizes in this pattern:  throw, twin and queen.

Man Quilt happened almost by accident.  I was talking to a friend about what kind of quilt she was going to make for her brother.  It just so happened that I had a quilt on the design wall  that wasn’t quite finished.  It didn’t have a name, and it was definitely more masculine than most of my quilts; both in design and fabric choices.  Just for fun, I called it the Man Quilt - and it stuck!

The Perfect Piecing Seam Guide is my first attempt at a notion type solution for a quilting problem….I have been teaching for several years now and one of the biggest issues I have noticed in my classes is that pesky quarter inch seam allowance!  It is so very elusive for beginning quilters and can often be a problem for just about anyone.  If you change machines or even go from one 1/4 inch foot to another, there can be a difference in your results.  This little ruler is priced at about $5.00 retail and has a laser line with a needle hole that is a SCANT 1/4 inch from the edge.  You simply mark your machine with a piece of tape or a sticky note.  You can be consistent from machine to machine!

I will be introducing the Seam Guide at the Quilt Festival in Chicago April 13 - 15 and at Quilt Market in Salt Lake City.  They are also available from my distributors right now!

I am busy getting ready for both the International Quilt Festival in Chicago and Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City. New products are being shipped to the distributors as I type and will be up on the website within the next few weeks. Stay tuned! I think you will like what you see.

I have three new patterns coming out that have some interesting assembly techniques. Magic Squares is a fat quarter friendly project that spans throw through queen sizes. Sweet Pea and Man Quilt use pieced setting triangles to make a simple design look oh so complex! Also in multiple sizes. Last but not least, I developed a seam guide just for quilters! The Perfect Piecing Seam Guide is made from plexiglass and has a scant quarter inch guideline that you can use to set your seam allowance perfectly on any machine.

If you are not familiar with my patterns, they are designed with the emerging quilter in mind. Each pattern is tested before publishing. They go together easily and have pressing instructions to boot!

Celine Perkins
Designer and Owner of Perkins Dry Goods