Sometimes I’m amazed at how well (and for how long) I can keep a secret; I have been looking forward to today for a little over 16 months. When Cheryl Brickey (Meadow Mist Designs) asked me to make a quilt for her second book, Just One Charm Pack Quilts, I was tickled and I really enjoyed getting to make Blossom Chains. Just One Charm Pack Quilts was a huge success for Cheryl, and she was immediately asked if she would consider how to use charm packs to make larger quilts. So when she asked if I would consider making a quilt for her follow on book, Just Two Charm Pack Quilts*, I immediately said yes. I made the second colorway of Somerville Circle which is included in the book (the pattern begins on page 46).
Somerville Circle – photo provided by C&T | Stash Publications
The concept for Just Two Charm Pack Quilts* follows the same recipe as Just One Charm Pack Quilts except instead of one charm pack per quilt, two charm packs per quilt are required. Each pattern in the book needs two charm packs, an additional fabric (Fabric A), and a background fabric. There are 16 throw size quilts (some of them very generously sized) in the book, and each pattern in the book is made in two colorways to give you lots of beautiful inspiration.
When Cheryl sent the fabric to me to use for the quilt (Charm Packs: True Colors by Tula Pink for FreeSpirit Fabrics, Fabric A: Fairy Flakes in Paper from the Tula Pink Linework collection for FreeSpirit Fabrics, Background fabric: FreeSpirit Tula Pink Solids in Sweet*, and Binding fabric: Neon True Colors Mystic Tent Stripe by Tula Pink for FreeSpirit Fabrics*), I knew that I would be spending some time thinking about how to organize the charm packs into rainbow order for the pattern.
Charm Organization
Without giving too much of how the pattern is constructed away, Cheryl has a brilliant construction method for Somerville Circle. There is a lot of small piecing, but by making use of mini strip sets, it makes the piecing quicker and more accurate. Armed with that knowledge, I spent time arranging color groupings of the strip sets into the rough shapes that they would eventually take in the quilt blocks (photo above).
Block Variation
Due to the nature of strip piecing, and due to the fact that the strips could be rotated 180-degrees to get the fabric placement changed up, I was able have slight variations in each set of 3 blocks that I made from the charm mini strip sets. While I wanted to keep the colors moving as close to rainbow order as possible, I knew that my eye would also be drawn to seeing strong repeating patterns, so I wanted to maintain a controlled scrappy feeling. I think by making each of the 3 blocks assembled from the same strip sets varied (photo above), I was able to get the color flow to work better when I got to the quilt top layout (photo below).
Somerville Circle Layout
Once all the blocks were pieced, I spent a serious amount of time on my design floor puzzling through a layout that let the colors flow between each section as harmoniously as possible. Honestly, it was a LOT of fun to see that my planning was worth it and how the colors drip and flow across the quilt top.
Somerville Circle
Before I packaged up the quilt to send to Cheryl for the book photography, my husband and I had to take it out into our yard for some photography. Like I mentioned at the beginning, I’ve been living with this secret a while. I made the quilt while were were still living on the Big Island of Hawaii. Living in Hawaii was a quilter’s photography dream: every quilt looks stunning against all that green!
Somerville Circle
The lychee tree in the orchard had the most beautiful branch structure. And the quilt looks beautiful beside it, but I’m remembering the juicy, sweet, fresh lychee and the overflowing buckets we were able to share with neighbors.
Focus, Yvonne.
Somerville Circle – Quilting Detail
For the quilting, I used 50wt Aurifil 2024 (White) to quilt loops on Fabric A and 50wt Aurifil 5003 (Wine) to quilt a stipple / meander across the charm squares and background fabric.
Somerville Circle
I am lucky to count Cheryl as a close friend and I am so glad there are not many days in the year we don’t get to catch up and chat. She has created something beautiful in her third book, and I was absolutely tickled to be able to make this quilt for Just Two Charm Pack Quilts*. I hope you seriously consider adding it to your quilting library. You might be thinking, “I don’t have or like to purchase charm packs (I get that – neither do I),” but Cheryl walks you through how to create your own custom charm pack from your stash, and THAT makes me gloriously happy to think about.
I can’t lie; I cried when Cheryl shared the cover with me. What an honor for my version of Somerville Circle to be included on the front cover of the book!
Book Hop & Giveaway
July 31st UPDATE: The Giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Jane / Janequiltsslowly, who was randomly selected using a random number generator.
Thank you so much for stopping by on my portion of Cheryl’s Just Two Charm Pack Quilts Book Tour. Be sure to visit Cheryl’s Meadow Mist Designs blog each day through August 3rd for details on the other participants and patterns in the book on the book hop.
Cheryl has coordinated to allow me to give away a digital version of Just Two Charm Pack Quilts. Because this is a digital prize, it does not matter where you live. To be eligible for the giveaway, make sure you are signed up for my Launching Pad Newsletter. When you leave me a comment on this post, be sure to use the same email address that you have signed up for my newsletter with. You can comment on anything you like, but a few comment suggestions are:
- What is something kind you have done for a friend or a friend has done for you lately?
- Would you try to recreate the rainbow order with the Tula Pink charm squares or just allow the piecing to be fully scrappy?
The giveaway is open through Sunday, July 30th, and I will contact a randomly selected winner via email on Monday, July 31st.
Additional Somerville Circle Photography
Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday, Beauties Pageant, and Favorite Finish.
*Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content. Thank you, in advance, for your support!
Hi Yvonne, you could be very proud to see your quilt on the book cover! Applaus!!!! It honors your work! You have always very good inspiration!
I am not sure if I do right to send in this mail my comment. There is no field for comments on the other blog I am signed up as requested.
My room has a good amount of fabric so I would prefer to use fabric from my stash. I think it would be wonderful to win one of the two online books! We will see. If the comment is wrong here, please let me know.
I think it’s official, your charm pack renditions are my favorite in each of Cheryl’s books. It’s no wonder yours was chosen for the cover. I love the way you planned out the rainbow, it flows effortlessly throughout the quilt.
Organizing the charm pack strips was time well spent! A beautiful quilt well desrving of a front cover.
The quilt is absolutely gorgeous, I already have the book, and have completed one of the projects for a graduation gift it’s almost ready to be gifted. I used a charm pack I had in the house and all the fabrics I also had in the house except the backing… at some point I have to get around to making the one that you made, it’s gorgeous!
Gorgeous! I love the movement of the blocks. Thanks for sharing!
I like the controlled scrappy look of this quilt and it would be easy to do with any charm packs. It might also be fun using five inch squares collected from friends that would make it a true charm quilt.
I would go scrappy for this quilt–I have a lot of scraps.
Beautiful quilt!! I love the chain effects that you can see…. and what fun to revisit when you were on the big island!!!
What a fun quilt! Congrats to Cheryl on her latest book.
Random scrappy with a tweak here and there would be my strategy for the Sommerville Circle quilt. The pink background is lovely.
How delightful to see that your quilt made it to the front cover! Congrats! It’s a lovely quilt, and I’m fascinated at how different it looks close up to far away (I like both views). My recent fun thing for a friend was gifting her a tote bag – it was fun to see her big smile. I’m so glad Cheryl has written a second charm pack book. If I don’t win, I’ll be picking up a copy soon!
Congratulations on your quilty collaboration! Great job! Your quilt is super cute! And you did a great job keeping a secret!
I always look forward to seeing your interpretation of patterns Yvonne! Your creative mind works so much differently than mine and I’m envious
I love that you arranged the fabrics in rainbow order – that seems kind of mind-boggling to me! Beautiful photos too!
What a great quilt! and congrats to be chosen for the cover.Cheryl has some great ideas and patterns! And already signed up for your newsletter.
I receive your launching pad newsletters and am grateful for all the interesting things you include. One of my dear friends and I exchange quick sms messages when we’ve not heard for each other for a couple of days. Both of us have complicated lives and it’s our way of a quick hug! I would try to make my quilt rainbow like your Yvonne. I do love your version.
I was just going through my stash, and noticing I have charm packs begging to be use… one of a kind and two of a kind. What a great thing to have these books brought to my attention. My Quilty kindnesses this month have been a 50th anniversary quilt, and a wee quilted treasure for a new baby for a friend of my boys.
I can’t wait to seek some inspiration for my charm packs.
LOVE your version of the quilt. I would be thrilled to have my quilt on the cover.
I quilt with my friends once a month. We always potluck, and our hostess always has lots of treats and candy on the quilting table. However, when she found out I was changing the way I was eating, she makes sure to put out fresh strawberries or vegetables or unsalted nuts for me to munch on, so I wouldn’t feel left out! I never asked her-she just does it. We make quilts for Project Linus, so I would pull scraps from my stash for these quilts. I definitely want to read Cheryl’s advice on making your own charm packs from stash.
16 months is an awfully long time to sit tight. Kudos to you! Love the quilt and your piecing is perfect, as always. If I made this quilt, I would choose a few favorite colors/scraps and let them fall wherever they land, mostly, I think. Ok, I am more of a control freak than that 😀
Thank you so much for creating Somerville Circle for the book and for being a part of the hop!
Your quilt is beautiful. I would try to imitate your rainbow effect.
Recently, two good friends have volunteered to help me better organize my sewing room!
What a great quilt!
Recently a person who is part of an online community with a quilting focus contacted our group to tell us that she had fallen on some really tough financial times and I contributed to her “Go Fund Me”. Many in our group also made a small contribution and together we gave her the temporary lifeline she needed. It’s so cool to watch our virtual community come together to help each other.
I think I might like to do a scrappy quilt, considering all the leftover fabric I have!
Love your quilt on the cover. I’d do a rainbow version for sure!
The way this quilt is consturcted, it looks very do-able. I think it woulld lend itself well to some applique in the large square. Since my husband died in Feb, life has not been easy. So many friends & neighbors have been kind to hlep out & include me at a time I feel very alone. I very much appreciate the support. I hope I will soon have time to focus on quilting again.
I saw Cheryl and the quilts at my local guild last night and they are amazing! Cheryl reminded us to read your book hop today to see your process. I really liked the thought you put into the rainbow order colorway-I’m not sure I could figure that out. I would love to have a lychee tree in my yard! I already own the print copy of the book so I don’t need to be included in the giveaway.
I totally missed that you made that version of Somerville Circle. I guess because I don’t read quilt books, I mostly look at the pictures and the construction techniques. Controlling the color layout makes for a spectacular quilt.
Well, Cheryl sure picked the right quilter for the job! It’s a very cool pattern and I love the thought and planning that you put into it to get your rainbow rings effect. I’m not a precut fabric purchaser ordinarily, but I’m wondering — are the patterns in this book adaptable for using scraps instead of charm packs? How big are charm squares anyway?
This quilt is so lovely! It is just beautiful in the book and I love how the colors go around the white circle. I have already purchased this book so please don’t include me in the drawing. I love quilt books and have purchased quite a few. Now I need to start one of the quilts.
This quilt calls my name….having lived in Somerville MA for a long time. Congrats on being a cover girl, too! I love this one and may have to make thais for our next bed quilt. I can’t quite figure out the rainbow order, but I love the idea of it, so I might try. Not sure of the color scheme I am going for but who can argue with rainbows?
The Somerville Circle Quilt would be perfect as a signature quilt for a wedding, baby, graduation, anniversary or other event. Would love to make both quilts—rainbow & scrappy!
Love all of these quilts. I like making quilts for donations and would make mine scrappy.
This quilt design and especially your version are my favorite in the whole book! xo
Love your quilt pattern you have every right to be proud of being on the book cover. As a fairly new convert to quilting I would buy charm packs to recreate your quilt (as I do not have a big stash as yet). Currently completing a suprise 60th birthday quilt for my lovely sister in law- best get a move on its only 4 weeks til the big day.
I love your version cuz I am a rainbow lover myself. I would definitely use a rainbowy charm pack for this pattern.
Beautiful and cleverly made!
This book has so many great quilts, but Somerville circle is my fav. The pieced circle design is so unique!. Your Tula fabric, rainbow placement (with pink) will be the first one I make. Thx for the inspiration!
The way the colors flow is indeed impressive! Your time was well spent making it happen. It seems that quilters often do nice things for others. Just yesterday after our workout, a friend who is also a quilter gifted a quilt she had made to a young girl who is heading to school in another state. It thrilled the recipient and also brought joy to those of us who saw her receive the quilt. I sometimes think that making quilts is no big deal, but to someone who receives one it can be a big deal indeed.
I’ve got some very pretty/special charm packs in my stash that are waiting for the perfect pattern and this book may have just what I need! Just yesterday, I drove my elderly friend to an out-of-state butcher for meats that she’s planned for her family’s reunion. She no longer drives, and I had the morning free, so we had a delightful time together!
Love the colours in this quilt. As a recent convert to quilting my stash is small but I’d love the opportunity to fabric shop to make your version of the quilt.mCurrently making a quilt for a 60th birthday- its a suprise but I need to get it basted and quilted only got a few weeks left till thecbig day.
The quilt you made was so lovely- great color mixes. I usually create my own patterns but I may need to make one of these!
I’ve never been a charm pack person, but I really like the patterns in this book. I did sign up for your newsletter. I’m interested in seeing what else you’re doing. As for something kind, I love to travel, but I’m disabled and it’s challenging. My best friend lives seven hours away from me. Four times a year she drives all the way up here to take me on trips. (I also travel with my husband.) My friend and I just got back from Alaska. Watching her cheerfully schlep me and all of my equipment around always makes me so grateful. She’s an amazing person, and I’m lucky to have her in my life.
Unfortunately, I have so many books and patterns. Wish I could just buy your pattern. I think it is wonderful Thank you from Canada
love your quilt! both the design & the quilting! really beautiful! 🙂
You did a wonderful job on the quilt, it is strikingly beautiful and I can easily understand why it found pride of place on the cover. Thank you for sharing your secret.