The Pocket Economy Block

If you are new to quilting or have been quilting for a long time, you likely know or have heard of the Economy Block. It has also been called the "square in a square" or the "diamond in a square" block. I've loved it since I first learned about the basic block. It didn't take me long to make a Micro Mini Economy Block in various sizes and offer it with other basic hexie and square paper piecing blocks that can be downloaded in my Etsy shop, as a bundle, if you want to sew small and use up some of those scraps!

Now I've got a fun new spin on the Economy block for you. Kim @PersimonDreams invited me to participate in her "Old School BOM" sew along throughout this year and I'm excited to share my fun add on to the basic economy block for the month of June. If you've already been sewing I hope you are having fun sewing through all the amazing "Old School BOM" with the other designers. If you are new to the sew along, I hope you'll take some time to check out all of the other designers FREE blocks that have been released.

So what's so fun about this new block? By adding two more pieces, you can make a fun pocket in the center and use the pocket for a sweet little note, little cuddle toy or something else. To get this fun Pocket Economy Block pattern and the simple instructions click the newsletter sign up link here. (PLEASE NOTE: Once you sign up for the newsletter, Mailchimp will automatically send you a confirmation email that you've signed up. Please be patient and await the actual "Welcome Newsletter" that will come some short time after. Be sure to check your spam/junk folders as emails are known to be filtered. Also note, I will not respond to rude and demanding comments or emails. This is a free pattern and negative behaviors will not be tolerated). There are paper template pattern pieces and two different sizes to make. You can sew one 12" block, or sew four 6" blocks and combine those four to make it 12" to fit with all of the other blocks. After you finish sewing your Pocket Economy Block, please be sure to share it with me by tagging me @kidgiddy on Instagram and use the #oldschoolBOM hashtag as well.

I look forward to seeing what's in your pocket! Thanks for sewing with me!

Disclosure: There are no affiliate links. Thank you.

Puppy Portraits and a Stitch-a-long

I am beyond excited to finally be sharing this nearly 3 year long project I've been working on with Erin over at Aurifil and the Aurifil company. I had a chance to talk to Erin a bit and shared a lot about this project and why I love Aurifil. You can read all about it over on their Auribuzz blog. 

Many people over the years have sewn my dog blocks, which started with the French Bulldog block and expanded to eleven more…with other breeds to come later this year. I was at my Mom’s childhood home one summer and saw a wall that was once filled with numerous framed portraits and family reunion photos. She was packing to move and I missed all of the photos. At the time I was trying to think of another fun quilt layout that would work for all 12 dog blocks in the series and thought of a wall of frames. I quickly decided I didn’t want to sew all those 12 blocks again, so I turned it into a cross stitch pattern instead.

When I thought of bringing the cross stitch pattern to “market”, I knew I didn’t want to make money from it, but wanted to do good with it. Oftentimes, designers are asked to give away free patterns to boost sales for one company or a certain product. But when I came up with this idea – there was no product, just the pattern. My idea was to find a way to encourage those that can afford it, to pay for the pattern with 100% of the proceeds to go to various charities. As mentioned, this idea has been in the works for well over a year…and on my end it’s actually been upwards of two and a half years, which was long before Covid. When Covid hit everyone was struggling one way or another, I knew all my prep work was worth it and this was the purpose for the project. To help others with the money raised from the pattern sales. Even though it wasn’t ready to release last year, we knew it would still benefit so many people and continued work on it. Aurifil offered to create the Puppy Portraits spool collection to make it easier for folks to get the colors I used and to help raise awareness to the project. I’m so grateful to work with companies that are actively helping to make a difference for everyone.

We are so excited to share that the Puppy Portraits Stitch-a-Long officially kicks off TODAY (June 10th). Can you guess three of the dogs that might be included on the portrait wall? Reserve/purchase your patterns by filling out the Puppy Portraits Google form linked via the button below.

We are not charging for this event in the traditional sense. Rather, we simply ask that participants make a donation to a charity that is close to theirs hearts or homes to offer passionate and targeted support to those in need. The signup form will require the following details:

— When and where a donation was made (donations must be dated June 10, 2021 or later)
— Donation amount (minimum of $12)
— Screenshot or other proof of donation

We’re excited to track all donation totals as well as charities, organizations, and foundations included. We’ll share details at the end of the stitch-a-long. Participant names and individual donation amounts will not be shared and will remain anonymous.

Upon signup, your name will be added to our pattern distribution list and you’ll receive a PDF download with the Stitch-a-Long frames. The first puppy portrait will arrive in your inbox on July 8th (if you’ve signed up by July 7th), with all subsequent portraits arriving on the 2nd Thursday of each month for 12 months. The frames are numbered in the order in which the puppy portraits will arrive, so please be sure to stitch them in order as noted. When you finish your new ‘puppy of the month’, you can then continue working on the frames.

If you'd like to order the Puppy Portraits collection and the Lugana precut linen (as shown above), you can find it in my Kid Giddy Etsy shop. These are pre-orders and will ship when the product arrives. We appreciate your patience!

We truly hope you will stitch-a-long with us over this next year and feel good about being a part of this special project.

Disclosure: There are no affiliate links. Thank you.