We have lift off!

I have been working hard for months behind the scenes preparing for the launch of our new online shop on the Nellie's Niceties website. I'm ridiculously excited to share that I have had seven of the patterns professionally printed in A4 booklet form. I think it's really nice to be able to hold a pattern every once in a while rather than having to scroll through it on a screen.

 

The following designs are now available:

Kaleidoscopic - full instructions and templates for a foundation pieced quilt, suitable for all abilities.

Granny Crosses - full instructions for strip pieced quilt and cushion, suitable for all abilities.

Shields EPP - full instructions and templates for EPP cushion, suitable for all abilities.

Sneaky Stars - full instructions for lap size and cot size quilts, suitable for all abilities.

Anyone for ice cream - full instructions and templates for lap size quilt, suitable for all abilities.

Candy Twists - full instructions and templates for lap size quilt, suitable for all abilities.

Doris Project bag - full instructions for fully lined drawstring project bag with options for pockets and straps. 

 

All of the above designs are also available in PDF format from our Payhip store if you prefer an instant download. There are also 2 PDF only template sets which are only available from our Payhip store:

Kaleidoscopic template set - Kaleidoscopic template and colouring sheet with no written instruction, suitable for people with experience of foundation piecing.

Shields EPP template set - Shields EPP template sheet and colouring sheet with no written instruction, suitable for people with experience of EPP.

 

 

More information on each of the patterns can be found on the relevant product listing page.

 

You will also be able to purchase Jess' Rose Blackout range of note cards in our new website store and Jess is hoping to increase her range later in the year. 

 

To celebrate the launch of our website store we are offering a 20% discount until the end of March. Use code LAUNCH20 in any of our stores for 20% off everything.

 

We really hope you'll like the look of our new store and we'd love to hear any constructive feedback. Please bear with us if there are any hiccups in the early stages of the launch.

Catch you soon x



Running late - Month 7 Crossroads

Time has flown past again. It appears I've missed our 5th blogiversary! I'll have to remedy that very soon with a giveaway but for now I'm belatedly sharing this month's Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM block.

Shock, horror, it's another EPP block. I've called this one, Crossroads.  

It's a 6" block that produces a pretty secondary pattern as usual when used in mutliples.

The pieces sew together very quickly which makes it a satisfying "sewing for fun" project. Here's one I pieced last night.

I'm intending to make another 3 so I can make a 12" block out of them for my sampler. If you fancy having a go yourself you'll find the templates, info sheet and colouring sheet here.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #crossroadsblock. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x 

Nellie's Knots - revisited

Slowly but surely I'm revisiting our old patterns and templates in an attempt to bring them up to date. First up on the make-over list was Nellie's Knots.

I've put together a step-by-step pictorial guide to go with the 6" templates. You can access it for free in our Payhip store and on our website.

I've assumed that users of the guide will have a basic knowledge of foundation piecing so it is light on words.

If you haven't checked the free templates out before maybe now is the time :) Enjoy!
Catch you soon x

Mystery BOM Month 6 - Fiesta block

This month's Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM block is yet another EPP block. Sorry if EPP is not your thing but I'm in a hand piecing groove at the moment :) I've called this one Fiesta. It's a 6" block, slightly tricky but still fun.

As is typical for my designs there's a nice secondary pattern in multiples.

You'll find the free templates, info sheet and colouring sheet on our website. Here's proof that the block actually works in fabric ;) 

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #fiestablock. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x 

Fat Quarterly - Cartwheels

What seems like forever ago I made a little hot-pad for Fat Quarterly e-zine using my Cartwheels EPP templates. Due to the whole Vat-Mess nonsense towards the end of last year the e-zine temporarily ceased trading but now, thankfully, it is back up and running on Payhip. You'll find my hot-pad and lots of other gorgeous paper piecing projects in Issue 20.

I used Katy's Priory Square fabric for my version and it now takes pride of place on our new kitchen island :)

Here are a couple of shots of the island while it's still nice and tidy. It's a Stenstorp from Ikea and it is a perfect match for our existing kitchen which did not come from Ikea, bonus!

I intend to put a vase of flowers on there eventually but the worktop is newly waxed so I don't want to spoil it yet.

Catch you soon x

Let's go fly a kite - Mystery BOM month 5

This month's mystery block is a 6" EPP block that I've called Let's go fly a kite.

As you'd expect there's a cute secondary pattern when combined in multiples.

You'll find the info sheet, templates and colouring sheet on our website. The block goes together in a couple of hours and should be suitable for everyone from confident-beginners upwards. I should probably have ironed mine before taking a photo but that was too much like hard work ;)

I thought you might like to see my sampler progress so far, please excuse the masking tape.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #letsgoflyakite. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x

Promises - Mystery BOM Month 3

I'm a day late posting this month's mystery block so please accept my apologies if you were waiting with baited breath. 

This month we are English Paper piecing a block that I'm calling Promises.

 I've prepared templates in two sizes this month: 6" and 12" so you have options for different projects. As usual there is a secondary pattern when multiple blocks are pieced together.

Some of the piecing is a bit fiddly but I hope you'll think it's worth a try. I recommend starting with the pieced kites. The templates are the finished size so you need to add your seam allowances to the fabric when cutting them out.

 This is how I pieced the rest of the block.

One quarter done then repeat the process to add the remaining sections. Please excuse the bumpy circle in the middle of the finished block, I haven't removed the papers yet. You'll find the information sheet, colouring sheet and templates on the website.

I was thrilled to find Wendy's Rolling in the clover block in our Flickr group again this month! It's nice to know I'm not sewing alone :) 

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) Catch you soon x

Rolling in clover

A new month starts today so that can mean only one thing, it's new Mystery BOM block time!

We're "Rolling in Clover" this month. This 6" English Paper Pieced design is a little tricky to piece in parts but well worth trying out.

As with most of my designs it tessellates to produce a secondary pattern.

You'll find the information sheet and templates on our website. I'm giving a little bit of guidance this month as it is a little tricky. You'll be printing the block off as whole then cutting your paper pieces from it this month.

As usual I glue basted all of my pieces.

By far the trickiest piece is the green one! For the best results when basting I clipped into the corners leaving only a few threads of fabric to catch when sewing.

When joining the shapes I started with the trickiest piece. (I use Aurifil thread to stitch as I find it doesn't tangle or snap!) I stitched from the tip of the triangle, right sides together with it's corresponding blue shape and continued in the order as shown below. 

I followed the same process to attach another of the green pieces to the opposite side of the blue shape as shown below.

Next step is to sew the second blue piece to the other side of the tricky green piece as shown below. Starting at the base of the blue shapes and working continuously around the green piece in the same manner as before.

Repeat these steps for the bottom half of the block, then join the two halves together. I started stitching from the centre of the block outwards to make sure that my centre points matched. Finally add the orange pieces to the corners of the block. I stitched the long edges together first then worked up both short sides from the base.

Leave the papers in while pressing if you intend to add further blocks, otherwise remove the papers and press well to remove any little lumps from the green bits. This block took me around an hour and half from start to finish in between cooking and watching the rugby.

I was delighted to see two Star Central projects added to our Flickr group for the first month! This first one is by Diane. I love that it's been turned into a project already!

Diane's photo from Flickr.

 The second one is by Wendy. Lots of yummy favourite fabrics in these!

Wendy's photo from Flickr.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) Catch you soon x

Facelift

I'm popping in to let you know that we're having a bit of a facelift at Nellie's Niceties. We've got a spanking new logo...

...and I'm in the process of building us a new website! If things are a bit disjointed around here that will be the reason. I'm trying to shift things around to make a more pleasant experience for visitors to our little corner of the internet. We've wanted to spruce things up for a while and exciting happenings in the very near future were the motivation we needed to get cracking!

I'm sure you're all aware of Katy's new venture as the editor of Quilt Now magazine.
                           
 If you're not aware you should be, it's going to be ace! There's a special offer for UK subscribers that runs out very soon. You see that it says Medallion Quilt Along in the corner of the first front cover, well that's my little contribution. I don't think I can properly convey how excited I am to be playing a part in this awesome new venture! I've been stitching up a storm in preparation for my monthly appearances. I really hope that some of you will fancy sewing along with me each month :) The first issue is due in UK shops on 17th July and I for one can't wait to go hunting for it in the wild even though I have already subscribed.

I'm hoping to pop back in tomorrow with my FAL list but for now it's time to cook tea. Catch you soon x