Hi ,

Do you love food fabrics as much as I do? They are one of my favorite things to collect - any fruit, any vegetable, even sweets like cookies, chocolate, and Betty's favorite - jellybeans:

This week I have a super simple quilt pattern for you to showcase your favorite food fabrics. The blocks can be cut and pieced in a day, especially if you begin with precut squares like these on Amazon. 

Just note - I've written this pattern for 4-inch precut squares because that's what I had on hand. 

If you'd prefer a pattern for 5-inch squares, reply to this email and let me know. I will happily adjust the pattern if enough quilters are interested in a different size block or a bigger finished quilt.

The fun thing about this pattern is the way the shadow fabric elevates the food fabrics - almost like they are floating over the quilt. If you'd like to try this technique with larger pieces of fabric, Click Here to check out the Fabric Shadow Showcase pattern.

Fruit & Vegetable Quilt Pattern

The finished quilt measures 51 inches square, which is a perfect tablecloth quilt for a small round table. You're free to expand the sashing and borders to make your fruit & veggie quilt bigger.

Materials

• You'll need 49 precut 4-inch squares featuring food fabrics. I have several repeats of fruits and vegetables, but only included one square of chocolate and one of jellybeans so Betty can have fun finding the sweets in the quilt every time she sees it.
• 1/2 yard Shadow Fabric
• 1 3/4 yard Background Fabric
• 1/3-yard Binding Fabric

Cut List for Shadow Fabric:

Cut 2 - 4 x 42-inch strips

Cut 2 3 x 42-inch strips

Cut List for Background Fabric:

Cut 5 - 4 x 42-inch strips - piece together with a diagonal seam to create the long border pieces. You'll cut these down to size when you're ready to attach the borders.

Cut 13 - 2 1/2 x 42-inch strips - piece 7 strips together to create the long sashing strips. Cut the 6 remaining strips into 42 - 2 1/2 x 5-inch strips

Cut 4 - 1 1/2 x 42-inch strips

Get started cutting and keep reading to find the block piecing instructions below!

New Affordable Computerized Sewing Machine

No matter how many machines I've met and enjoyed sewing with, I'm always on the hunt for a new affordable sewing machine with the right features to make quilting fun. This week I've added the Singer Heavy Duty 6800c to my sewing machine store and I'm absolutely delighted with this addition.

This is a computerized home sewing machine packed with some of my favorite features:

• Needle up / down button
• Speed control to limit the speed of the machine
• Start / Stop button to run without a foot pedal
• Walking foot INCLUDED - that's so cool!

Yes, the throat on the Heavy Duty 6800c on the small side at 6.4 inches, but it's very lightweight at less than 18 pounds and a great choice for a travel sewing machine or beginner quilting machine. 

A walking foot is included in the box so you can explore walking foot quilting from the day your machine arrives.

But it doesn't come with a patchwork foot or darning foot. I recommend bundling this machine with the Deluxe Foot Set, which includes all the feet you need for all styles of quilting, plus patchwork and applique!

I've been using the Ruler Foot from this foot set when playing with a new style of computerized quilting on the Cutie Breeze Frame:

Wait... what is this?

This is the new QuiltMotion X - Foundations, and yes, I was able to use it with this under-$400-Singer sewing machine!

QMX is specifically built for home sewing machines and the Cutie Breeze Frame.

The QMX Foundations system moves the carriage and guides your sewing machine through the design. Yes, it can work even with small home machines like the Singer 6800C. 

The downside is that small throat did limit my quilting space. I can only stitch a 2 1/2-inch tall pantograph with this sewing machine. I loved the challenge and personally feel if you're willing to be patient, you can use a smaller machine, at least to help you get started.

Will Your Sewing Machine Work With QMX?

I played with QMX for hours last week and I found you only need 3 things for your machine to work with QMX:

• Start / Stop button - This allows you to hit start and run the machine in time with the QMX system.
• Speed Selector - You have to be able to set the speed your machine is running - how fast the needle is bouncing up and down - and balance this against the QMX moving speed.
• Needle Up / Down Button - Yes, you need to be able to drop your needle down to pull up threads and baste stitches.

If the sewing machine you own right now has these three functions - you can use QMX Foundations!

Wait - don't I need a stitch regulator?

No, not if your machine has the three features above. The QMX system moves the machine at a steady speed. If you run your machine at a steady speed to match the QMX speed, you will produce nice stitches every time.

You would need a stitch regulator if you don't have the features above. However, my personal opinion is it's better to use QMX with your machine running at a steady speed rather than a regulator. 

Do I have to have a Cutie Breeze Frame?

Yes. The QMX Foundations system is ONLY compatible with the Cutie Breeze Frame, not the original Cutie or any other Grace quilting frame.

Of course if you want the most space to play and be creative, bundling QMX with the Little Rebel is probably your best bet. I've set up 3 QMX combos to make it easy to get everything you need all at once:

QMX - Foundations - $1499.95 - This is just the QMX system, so purchase this option if you already have a compatible sewing machine and a Cutie Breeze quilting frame.
 

QMX + Cutie Breeze - $1999.95 - This combo includes the QMX system and a Cutie Breeze frame for a great price! This is perfect for quilters who have a compatible machine, but need the right frame and the QMX system.
 

QMX + Cutie Breeze + Little Rebel - $4402.06 - This is an extra special sale price for April since the Little Rebel is 11% off as you'll learn below!

This combo includes EVERYTHING - a high speed, 13-inch throat sewing machine with the features needed to run QMX, the QMX system and the Cutie Breeze frame. This is everything you need to dive into computerized quilting at a fraction of the cost of an embroidery machine and a much easier quilting experience.

Curious to learn more? Dive into the details and see all that you can do with QMX Foundations. Click Here to learn more about QMX Foundations.

Machine and Frame Bundle Sale

Through the month of April you'll save 11% when you bundle any Grace quilting machine and quilting frame. This is a terrific time to upgrade your quilting setup and expand your creative quilting ability!

I'm also including a Ruler Quilting Accessory Kit with Grace longarm machines which comes with over $480 in accessories so you can begin ruler quilting immediately!

If you've been wanting to upgrade, or considering an entirely new quilting system, now is the time. This deal will end April 30th.

How to Piece Fruit & Veggie Shadow Blocks

Let's get back to piecing our food quilt!

Piece the Food Blocks

To piece the blocks, we will first piece strip sets:

Piece Shadow Fabric 4 x 42-inch strips to Background Fabric 1 1/2 x 42-inch strips. Repeat once to make two sets of strips. Subcut these strip sets into 49 - 1 1/2 x 5 inch rectangles.

Piece Shadow Fabric 3 x 42-inch strips to Background Fabric 1 1/2 x 42-inch strips. Repeat once to make two sets of strips. Subcut these strip sets into 49 - 1 1/2 x 4 inch rectangles.

To piece the blocks, sew one smaller strip to the right edge of the food fabric square, then sew the longer strip to the bottom edge. Make sure the shadow fabrics are aligned across the corner to create the right effect:

After piecing, the blocks should measure 5 inches square. To complete the quilt top, arrange the blocks in rows of 7 blocks each. 

Piece the background 2 1/2 x 5 inch rectangles between them, making sure you maintain the same alignment of the blocks throughout. If you accidently turn a block and have the shadow facing a differnet direction, it will ruin the effect.

After piecing the rows, measure the length and cut the longer 2 1/2-inch sashing strips. Technically these should measure 2 1/2 x 44 inches, but my rows turned out just a little bit bigger than expected.

Piece the long strips between the block rows, pinning at the middle and end to keep everything aligned.

Repeat this process for the shorder 4-inch wide border strips. Measure the top and bottom edges of your quilt and cut the strips to length. The final step will be to cut the longest side border strips.

With your quilt complete, it'll be time for quilting next. How would you like to see this Fruit and Veggie quilt quilted? 

Reply to this email and let me know if you'd like to see this quilted with walking foot quilting, free motion quilting or with the new QMX Foundations system!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day