Working with Little Sewists (& the Brighton Quilt)

So friends it is a very happy Friday here today, and I cant wait to share all the news and reasons why! Lets start with the personal stuff first – we are on school holidays (hooray for pj days), summer is leaving (queue quilts and heaters) and after months of illness for me personally and the kids (glandular fever, CMV, horrid colds and bugs) for the first time in a long time I feel human again. It is so lovely being able to make it through the day without a nap – well most days hahaha. It feels so great to be almost back to my old stuff and be productive again especially with so many exciting things planned in the next couple of months.

Now onto the cool business stuff …

I have been sitting on a secret since December and you guys it has been a killer especially as I am terrible impatient at the best of times, luckily this one was the very best kind. I was approached last year by my lovely friend Natasha Chrismas from the amazing fabric house Little Lizard King about playing with their premier fabric range Little Sewists (to be released in August 2019). Natasha asked me to make a quilt and a few other accessories for the upcoming look book and of course I leapt at the chance to be involved.

I designed a simple quilt for the range which allowed the gorgeous border print to be a feature and sent it off to them with some other products to be part of the photo shoot. What happened next blew me away, not only did the ladies love my quilt they wanted me to release the actual pattern for it under their label! I couldn’t have said yes fast enough due to both total excitement and my complete inability to play it cool.

So this post is super exciting because I am not only talking about the amazing fabric range that they have created, my appearance in the look book but also sharing a brand new pattern. I seriously feel like I kicked a whole lot of business goals in one fell swoop. Now lets get into details…

There is so many things to love about Little Sewists – the sweet girls (modeled after LLK’s own children), gorgeous colours and some prints that celebrate all things sewing. I can see it being really popular, especially for shared family sewing projects. You can see lots of beautiful images showcasing the range and detailing the beautiful fabrics within by viewing the Michael Miller look book here. To see the individual fabrics in detail Michael Miller has you covered here.

How gorgeous is this pic Natasha took showing the fabrics in more detail and displaying the Brighton quilt so beautifully. She is an amazingly talented seamstress who runs the highly successful business Ellie’s Handmade – she is one of the hardest working businesswomen I know and I am so proud to call her my friend.

Now lets talk about the Brighton Quilt – I am really really proud of this pattern! It would have to be one of the most comprehensive quilt patterns on the market because, unlike most where you get taught only how to make the top, it takes you right the way through from cutting to quilting and binding. This makes it a whopping 65 pages of instruction complete with step by step instructions and images. The pattern will talk you through how to make 2 different versions of the Brighton Quilt (with the border print and without) in a whole host of different sizes from Cot (Crib) to Single Size (twin). There is also a mini quilt option as well which you can use as a matching dolly quilt or as a cushion. And to make it even more brilliant – it is completely beginner friendly! I promise you that if you give it a go you will end up with a beautiful quilt at the end of it. Of course if you are not a beginner the good news is it comes together really quickly meaning you could have the top made in a weekend.

How great is that border print running through the middle. I always love working with them in a quilt because they add amazing interest and Michael Miller always gives me the best ones to play with.

I used the mini quilt pattern to make this sweet cushion for the bed – I played with it a bit to use all the different fabrics in the range so it doesn’t look quite like the pattern but I love how fun it is. Both the quilt and cushion were quilted using my favourite wavy stitch (thanks Janome!).

Now I cant show you all the tester photos because they haven’t all been shared yet but here is an amazing peek of what has been shown so far. The girls have all nailed it and what is most amazing is that most of them have never ever attempted quilting before. I was blown away by their work. It just goes to show that if you can make a dress then you can absolutely make a quilt!

If you would like more quilty inspiration and to see the rest of the quilts being made then you can find them all in the Little Lizard King Facebook group – it is such an inspiring community of ladies who genuinely love their craft.

Now because this pattern has not been released by me you can only purchase via Little Lizard King directly. The good news is they have it at an amazing discount price until Sunday so now is the time to hop on and add it to your collection. Make sure you look at their other patterns as well – there are some incredible clothing options in there.

I had to leave you with one last pic before I signed off because I really really love it! This is the lengths a great tester will go to to get the perfect photo. I am totally terrified of heights so this made me even more awestruck lol. Thank you Cathy (Missy Bug Boutique) because you gave me amazing photos to choose from. I am always so grateful to people who help me along my Piccolo Path.

And now after all these words I am off to get my pjs on, cuddle my children and plan our school holiday movie watching.

Sarah xx