Brought To You By The Letter N

Hi everyone! I'm Kate Spain and thank you for joining me for the "Spell it With Fabric" Moda blog hop. For this hop, Moda has put together an entire alphabet of quilt blocks for you to use however you wish. As you visit each of the blogs on the hop you will be able to download pdf's for making each letter. If you've missed any blogs so far, please check the schedule here. Also posting today are:

Me and My Sister Designs

Jan Patek

Pat Sloan

My letter is ... N

I made this block using the Reflection print (27174-15) from my newest collection, Daydream. Download instructions for how to make this letter block.

What are your initials?

KS: Funny thing, i couldn't find an initial anywhere in my family — including pets! — that started with the letter "N". We had a dog named Lulu, and a cat named Mitzy but no Ns

My favorite memory about school ...

New pencils. I guess drawing was in my future!

My favorite book, movie or television show starting with your letter ...

Any movie with Paul Newman in it! I think i answer this question the same every time just so i can include his photo.

I love quilting because ...

New fabric, New projects! Here's an inspiration board i put together for Daydream. To me, every fabric collection i design is a New creative adventure!

Here are some sketches that began what turned into Daydream...

What if everyday was a holiday? ...

Now that's a dreamy idea!

Do you have a quote or motto you live (or work) by?

I live by this one:

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.

~Aesop

And work by this one:

Never put off for tomorrow, what you can do today.

~Thomas Jefferson

...and sometimes this one...

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done

the day after tomorrow just as well.  

~ Mark Twain

...but most of all, these are words that have made all the difference in my life:

The words look so small, but have been powerful, motivating forces for me. I made this quilt using Daydream, some Moda Bella Solids and Moda's alphabet instruction book that you're gathering along throughout this blog hop.  Maybe you have an inspirational quote you'd like to make into a quilt too!

I thought the colors of this quilt looked particularly inspiring against the backdrop of snow ... especially because i've been daydreaming of Spring a lot lately! The quilt measures somewhere around 104" x 107-ish" and is the largest quilt i've ever made...so i've been referring to it as my

"Dream Big" quilt. Hey, if you're going to dream, why not big! I brought it inside to take some more photos... 

... and Franny photobombed my shoot!

Here's a detail of some of the quilting i did on my Janome...which is kind of a swirling Daydream in itself. I absolutely love the meditative flow of free motion quilting and find it's a lot like doodling, only with thread.

Something I like ...

Nuts. If i had to pick a favorite — which would be really hard — i'd have to say cashew.

Somewhere I have been ...

New Zealand

Somewhere I want to go ...

New Guinea … to try to catch a glimpse of

the incredible bowerbird in action.

Someone I know ...

Nancy Joseph – my brother-in-law’s mom who

introduced me to Moda Fabrics!

But most of all, the letter N draws me back to Nature again and again ... it's something i look to all the time and it Nourishes my life with infinite inspiration. I love to garden and during the winter months here in Connecticut, i turn my attention indoors where i have a collection of plants and orchids that i care for. The rewards are colorful, especially at this time of year when there's still snow on the ground. Here are some photos of what's blooming right now:

My favorite quilt block ...

Nine Patch. It's sweet, simple and satisfying (i couldn't think of three things that started with "n" so figured i'd try to get you excited for the letter "S" day).

Is there an object, tool or anything that you cannot work without?

a Nice hot cup of coffee. Seriously. I'm a Nightowl, so it's almost impossible to start the day without  a little caffeine! Which brings me to the back-side of my quilt. Because the only way to make your dreams come true is if you heed this simple reminder:

Yes, that's appropriately on my side of the bed!

And now a couple things for you to Daydream the hours away...

First, this free quilt pattern is one i designed as a project sheet for the collection:

Moda has it available on their website as a free download. Or if you'd like to purchase a printed pattern, you can do so on Fat Quarter Shop.

The second thing is a giveaway! Moda has generously provided a jelly roll and fat-eighth bundle that i'll be giving away to two lucky winners!

Just leave a comment letting me know something you're Daydreaming about these days. Only one entry per person, please. Winners will be randomly selected and announced here on February 28th. Good luck and thank you again for stopping by!