Welcome to Riley Blake Design's virtual Quilt Market! Let me introduce New Dawn, my latest fabric collection shipping in August 2020. This collection features 24 prints and two new quilt patterns, designed by yours truly (see more details on those below).  New Dawn is a collection dedicated to my mom. Not only is she an excellent seamstress, but she is a magnificent gardener (a skill I did not inherit). Growing up we had a beautiful garden. I particularly loved the roses and little strawberries that grew outside my room. If you look closely, you can find our garden friends in the fabric prints--including Wolfie, the fuzzy spider who claimed one of the planters as his own. He was actually cute for a spider and would come out to visit while you watered the plants. Whether you have a green thumb like my mom, or a black thumb like me--these roses will always bloom. 

Click HERE to see all the prints and preorder.

As a young mom, I prefer simpler, modern, easy quilts that show off lots of the fabric. I buy fabric because of the art in the print--I hate cutting it up so small that you can't see all the beauty! That's not a problem with this quilt pattern. I plan on sewing more versions of this quilt with other fabric I've been hoarding because I don't want to cut it up small. Shops can preorder the pattern HERE.

I'm also a super indecisive quilter. I love ALL the fabrics and must use ALL the fabrics in a quilt. This pattern helps with that addiction. The regular version shows off many prints in each of the berries, or the scrappy version allows for even more prints to be used. This is another simple, easy beginner quilt pattern. Shops can preorder the pattern HERE.

I can't wait to see what you all create with New Dawn!

I've actually uploaded a few new clip art sets to the store! There's a desert clip art set using illustrations from a rejected fabric line, jungle clip art from my Under the Canopy fabric line, Florida clip art from my Florida embroidery, and some pets. Perfect for all those DIY coronavirus projects ;). Find them in my shop, Etsy, or Creative Market or just click on the photo.

It's week two of the Riley Blake Designs Block of the Week Challenge. Each week they are highlighting a traditional block and challenging everyone to make one. This week we are focusing on the log cabin block. There are many variations of this block and infinite ways you can arrange the blocks and colors within the blocks to make quilts that look completely different! It's such a versatile block. Traditional log cabin blocks have light colors on one side and darker colors on the other surrounding a center square. The color of the center square has meaning like yellow for "visitor's welcome" and red for the "home hearth." Below I included directions for making one version of a log cabin block in 12.5"x12.5" and 6.5"x6.5" finished sizes. Click on the pictures below to download the pattern for free. Remember to tag #RBDblockchallenge and @citrusandmintdesigns so I can see what you make!

*Fabric used is Under the Canopy and Blossom available through Riley Blake Designs

Are you ready for adventure???! My daughter has been requesting "turquoise animal fabric" for the past three years and it's FINALLY here!!!!! Filled with bright colors for endless combinations, Under the Canopy is bound to make you smile. I certainly get happier every time I sew with it :).

You can find it now online or in your local quilt shop! Available through Riley Blake Designs. Scroll for awesome project inspiration and pattern links.

Don't forget about the boys! This fabric is boy friendly and the snakes were specifically created for Tyler, the greatest snake enthusiast ever.

Show your Florida state pride with this Florida animals embroidery pattern. I turned mine into a pillow, but you can also hang it in a hoop or sew it into a tote. It's very beginner friendly. I've taught two in person local classes with this pattern and everyone has done such a wonderful job with it. Find the pattern here in my Etsy shop.

Looking for a simple but cute beginning sewing project? Look no further than the jungle zipper pencil pouch. Once you learn the basics of sewing zipper pouches, you can have fun creating any size or shape you need! Find the pattern in my Etsy shop Citrus and Mint Threads here.

I wrote my first pattern! Hurrah! Have fun this Labor Day weekend sewing a simple zipper coin purse. These animals are ready to eat your change. Perfect for kids and adults alike (I have more jungle animal art prints than I care to admit). Find the pattern in my Etsy shop Citrus and Mint Threads here.

I know that it's the week of Valentine's...January was just the worst. I finally got around to decorating for Valentine's Day and realized that I don't have many Valentine's Day decorations. I headed to Target, of course, my go to place for cute inexpensive decor. Disappointingly, there weren't many decorations and a lot of repeats from last year. After some searching I found a heart banner with tassels that was okay, but I thought I could make it cuter with my own fabric.  Voila, the heart tassel banner was born. I made it in non-traditional Valentine's colors because I don't have any March decor either, so I can just keep this up longer :) Find the full tutorial after the "read more" break.

In January I was busy drawing FIVE new  sets for y'all! Find them in my Etsy or Creative Market stores by clicking on the title below.

Vintage Kitchen Papers
Basketball Clip Art
Champion Clip Art
Doctor Clip Art
Dentist Clip Art

For the past few weeks I've been posting sneak peeks of this project on my instagram stories and it was making my mom mad. She bought cute Christmas fabric and was planning on making me a quilt for Christmas, and here I was making my own quilt! When she told me this I laughed and explained that this Christmas quilt is actually HER Christmas present from me. So we get to switch :)

I loved Jill Howarth's Way Up North fabric from the first time I saw it. I thought that it would pair so well with many of my fabrics from my two collections. Surprise, surprise, my mom and I don't do traditional colors for Christmas so I wanted to make something simple, modern and full of color. I'm a super beginning quilter (and by no means a pattern maker) and I totally made this up as I went along. Which is why several of the measurements are strange, but you'll get the gist. Find the (very basic, not super detailed) tutorial below.