An Oldie But Goodie

Recently, a stitcher contacted me about seeing an old quilt design of mine on someone's stitching blog. It was called SUNSHINE AND SHADOW.... and was it still available?

Here's the design she was referring to:


I created this pattern many, many years ago - it was one of the very first quilt designs that I stitched. And really, it was one of my favorites to stitch as well.
It's a 10" x 10" design stitched on 18 ct. mono canvas. But frankly, it never really sold very well, so later when I created my website, I didn't include it in my AMERICAN QUILT COLLECTION.

So imagine my surprise (and delight) when a stitcher in England enquired about it and asked if it was still available. I told her that yes indeed it IS still available and I've just printed out a copy to send to her.

Because her request made me look at it again, I thought I'd share it with you as well. It's different from all my other quilt designs because it's worked primarily in Tent Stitch (or Basketweave, which is really what I used). The variegated checker boxes alternate with squares of black Scotch Stitches. Lots of repetitive stitches and rather tedious.... BUT, I found the stitching relaxing and fun, and I really enjoyed seeing the surprising appearance of the variegated squares, since each one turned out differently, giving the whole piece a subtle feeling of real sunshine and shadow.

Here's a look at it up close, so you can see the easy stitches I used:


There are four different colors used in this piece, and I suggest four different colorways (all using Caron Watercolours) in Rainbow, Pastel, Amish, or Lavender options. Or you could pick out your own and surprise yourself as you stitch. (I'm seeing an orange and purple version that might be fun as a Halloween project.)

Anyway, this classic SUNSHINE AND SHADOW quilt design is still available from me (even tho it's not currently on my website), so if you're ever interested in stitching it up, drop me a line!