My Pollinate Quilt

I have quite the temperamental relationship with EPP, but I think we’re starting to come to terms with each other. It turns out that I enjoy EPP when I’m not a sewing machine churning out the same block over and over, which is why my Cherish quilt is taking for.ev.er. But when there’s small blocks, and larger blocks, and varied sections to piece together? I quite enjoy it! So when Kitty Wilkin aka Night Quilter invited me to sew her Pollinate quilt, I was on board with it. Because you should see what you get to play with!

Pollinate is an English paper pieced (or hand pieced!) quilt pattern by Kitty in collaboration with Karen from The DIY Addict. As-is, it will finish at 47″ x 58″, which is a great, achievable size – not too big! There’s a lot of pieces (1674 to be precise!) which sounds like a lot, but what it really means is that this quilt can look completely different from everyone else’s. Because there is so much room to play! Which is evident with how my quilt has progressed.

I began filling in the colouring page with a cherry blossom inspired colour scheme – pinks and peaches and  greens. But 1) I found the colour palette less than inspiring as it was rather muted, and 2) I discovered new shapes while colouring that reminded me of gemstones. Which prompted a whole new colour palette of jewel tones, and a whole new plan!

Oh. Yes. Very yes! Once my papers and acrylics arrived, I was excited to get pulling fabrics. I needed a mix of shades of each jewel tone – light, medium, and dark – and have some fun options for fussy cutting. The pile I pulled is summarised by this pretty pic I shared on Instagram yesterday!

I got stuck into cutting and basting on Sunday afternoon, started stitching that night, and off and on for the next couple of days resulted in the first rosette done. This one features some Karen Lewis, Carolyn Friedlander, Pat Bravo, and a Japanese fabric. A bit of fussy cutting, and a bit of not – makes for quick cutting, and the small pieces make for quick stitching.

Once I saw this finished on Tuesday afternoon, I rather obsessively stitched into the night and got the next lot of sections done. Note to self – when hand stitching so much, be sure to stretch your fingers and keep taking breaks. Side note – jazz hands work well too, haha!

If you want to stitch along too, you can preorder your own Pollinate kit now! The Pollinate kit comes with all the paper pieces, 10 clear acrylic templates (with 1/4″ or 3/8″ seam allowances – your choice!), plus the 10-page pattern guide and 3 colouring pages. Order it before August 15 to get the special preorder price!

Plus if you’re really loving all the Alison Glass and Tula Pink versions popping up on Instagram under #pollinatequilt, fabric kits will be available soon too.