In this weeks Down the Rabbit Hole I talk about one of my old faves- and I know it’s one of yours too. Annie’s Garden was originally designed for my friend Sam’s little girl, who is now 26! (If you see this Sam or Annie, Hi! Why would a 26 year old who doesn’t sew be watching a quilting video?! She won’t see this 🤣) anyway this quilt was designed for Annie, and has gone on to be made for any other little girls bedrooms. Did you make one? Or would you like to make one? What’s your little girls garden going to be called? Let me know in the comments 😍 The Material Obsession One book, and the Annie’s Garden pattern in both PDF and paper formats, available at my website. www.sarahfielke.com Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

​Hi Smites How's Wednesday treating you? At the risk of TMI, I'm in the middle of prep for a colonoscopy tomorrow so let's say my Wednesday is less than ideal. I feel like we all remind each other of our mammograms so here's me reminding you to look after the rest of you as well. Ugh. Still it will be all over on Friday and I can't wait to eat a salad 😂 I'm knee deep also in Lexi Hoodies, and seeing so many beautiful Aussie and NZ flag quilts erupting all over the place that I'm tempted to make another one! The one I currently have belongs to Oscar, and I had to borrow it back from him to relaunch the pattern . Maybe I need one for me :) I've also had quite a few messages and email from people asking when the Lap App cover and the bag pattern that goes with it will launch? I had planned for the beginning of February, but as I had to move the hoodie sew along back a bit I decided to wait until that is done to launch it so that it doesn't get buried in the shuffle. Its so so pretty and I want it to have its moment in the sun! Once it does launch, Joyce from the Lap App company and I have teamed up for a bit of a giveaway, you will be able to enter to win a complete set of the patterns (lap app cover and pincushion, matching dilly bag, matching tote that fits Lap App and everything else too), a Lap app, a Lap app ironing mat and a magnetic sheet! It's a whopping prize and theres not too much longer to wait, I promise. That's about all my news so without further ado, here is a video and the templates for the words on the front of the hoodie. We are going to start by appliqueing those, and then add the flowers and birds to the rest choose your own adventure style. I have spelled quilter, but if you're desperate to spell something else please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you. Don't forget that this does NOT have to be needleturn applique, you could very easily fuse the pieces and then machine blanket or zig zag stitch them to the front of your hoodie. Sarah

Hi peeps how’s the cutting out of your squares going? This week in the video I’m talking a bit about the half square triangles, as some of you have had some issues piecing them! Also about laying out and sewing the rows together. This week I’m also going to talk about the quilting and how I did it. You may or may not choose to quilt your hoodie - it’s not compulsory, but there are some good reasons for it. The designer of the hoodie, Melly, is also running a sew along on her Facebook page, so I am trying to include things that are different to what she is saying so that we don’t just say all the same things. If your pattern has not yet arrived in the mail please let me know sarah@sarahfielke.com and I will get you started on cutting out. There’s a lot of cutting out to be done before you can start sewing so you will be busy I promise! Assembly of Panels Once you have cut everything out, it’s time to start sewing things together. The pattern obviously gives you the layout of the stars and squares for each panel for each size, and for each different shape - sleeves, hood etc. Before you start sewing your squares and triangles together double check that you’re using the correct layout grid for your size, it will save you a lot of unpicking! I found it very useful to use a design wall for this next step. If you don’t have one, pin a piece of your interfacing to a curtain, or lay it out on a table, so that you can put all the squares and triangles out for each pattern and make sure you don’t have any double ups of fabrics, and that everything looks nice and balanced. Once I had done that, I picked each row up in order from left to right into a stack, and numbered the top squares - 1, 2, 3, etc through the rows, so that I could then take the stacks to the sewing machine and piece them into strips. There are a few options here. I pieced each panel into rows, and then sewed the rows together, as I think the patchwork is neater that way - stitch one row, press the seams to the right, stitch the next and press the seams to the left so that they next neatly when you sew the rows together. It is 100% fine to sew the stars and then sew the squares together around the star, or to piece vertically instead of horizontally if you prefer that. I like to use a foam core design board for projects like this. I had one for each panel in this project, a back, a front, two sleeves, two hoods and the strip up the centre. I picked everything up into the numbered stacks, and put the stacks out in order on each board, so that I could then pick a board up and sew the rows and not be confused. If you would like to know how I make the boards, there’s a tutorial in my StitchyMites program. Interfacing Once your panels are assembled, its time to add the interfacing - wether you are using the fleece or QuiltLite. For the fleece you can just press the patchwork panel onto it following the manufacturers instructions - make sure that you don’t touch the bare fleece with your iron as the glue will make the iron plate sticky. If you are using non-fusible interfacing, you can use basting spray to attach it to the back or thread or pin baste the pieces together. Make sure you are very secure with this so that the pieces don’t bag when quilting - there is no third layer to help stabilise things. Tracing the Pattern Last week we talked about how to cut your pattern sheets out from the master - you need to do that before you start quilting, as it will save you quite a lot of time in not having to quilt the entire panels, especially if you’re making smaller size. Once you have pieced your panels together, and attached your chosen stabiliser, pin your pattern to the fabric or use pattern weights to hold it in place while you trace each pattern shape onto the fabric. If you haven’t ever made a garment before, some important things to know are: The pattern pieces already have a 3/8” seam allowance included, so the line you are drawing if your CUTTING line. (Don’t cut the pieces out yet!) That means you can use something you can see easily, because any thats showing after you cut out will be inside the hoodie. Don’t forget to reverse any relevant pieces. The hood sides you cut one with the pattern right side up, and one with it flipped over. The same for the sleeves. For the front and back pieces, you only trace around the outside edges, NOT up the middle! Make sure and line the centre edge (the edge that says “fold”) up with the centre seam on the star for the front and back panels. Fold the sleeve template in half and line the centre of the star up with that too. Quilting Usually when you machine quilt something, you use a walking foot on your sewing machine, so that the three layers feed through the machine evenly. I didn’t use a walking foot to quilt these panels, the batting or fleece is so fine and there is no third layer, as the lining for the hoodie is attached in a seperate piece. I just used my usually sewing foot, a 2.5 stitch length and a normal sewing needle. I machine quilted in an X shape onto the squares for my patchwork hoodie as Melly did, and I quilted in a diamond pattern for the vintage fabric hoodie. I have included some visuals as to how I did this in the video, using a ruler and a Hera marker to make my lines before quilting to make things quick and easy. If you are stopping and starting anywhere, make sure do do a lock stitch if your machine has one, or a little back and forth, to secure the ends of the thread so that you don’t have to sew them in afterwards. Lines outside the drawn patchwork shape you can just run off the edge, as they will be caught in the seams of the hoodie when its sewn together. You don’t have to quilt your hoodie, but it gives the piece lovely texture, and it also helps to keep all that patchwork nice and stable once your body is inside the piece. Different versions Lots of questions about using vintage fabrics for this project! Simple answer is that you can use vintage fabric for anything you would use new fabric for, you just need to make sure that - You WASH your fabric. I don’t wash fabric for patch generally, unless its a colour that I’m worried will run. Vintage fabric is another thing all together though because you don’t know where its been before it was yours :) Hand wash each piece in wool wash or similar and dry it on the line, especially for embroidery pieces treat it with a bit of love and respect. My vintage hoodie will be hand washed. DO make sure that you take Melly’s advice and run a line of stitching around each piece, just inside the drawn line, or even take the extra step and use a zigzag or overlocker to make sure any embroidery thread on the edge of seams is stable. I did a double line of stitching because my overlocker is in for service :D I also had a question about making the hoodie from wool blankets! Absolutely awesome idea - I would say though that I wouldn’t piece that too heavily as you will have a lot of lumpy seams, and also that I wouldn’t use any interfacing inside the hoodie, just a lining. But a wool appliqué version using my appliqué templates and a lovely checked vintage blanket would be GORGEOUS! Not to mention toasty. If you are making the appliqué version of the hoodie that I am providing to my StitchyMites, there will be a post for you on WEDNESDAY on Smites with the templates for the words attached I am spelling quilter on my hoodie, if there is something else you want to spell please let me know and I’ll draw the letters for you (this is for StitchyMItes only - you can become a Smite member for $5 AUS a month at https://www.sarahfielke.com/stitchymites-info. You will need your fabric pieces attached to your interfacing, your bias tape fabric or fusible bias tape and your appliqué fabric for this week. You absolutely could do this version with fusible appliqué and a machine blanket stitch, it does not have to be hand appliqué. Feel free to ask me any questions via the comments section below the video, or by email! Please remember that I did NOT design this pattern, so if you have any issues with the pattern itself (I don’t think you will, its very well written and I have’t found any problems in making mine) please contact Melly via her website. Have fun peeps and please feel free to join my Facebook group Sarah Fielke Quilts and post your hoody progress there! I usually don’t allow posts about other people's patterns in there as its just for people making my patterns, but this time is special! :) And I think everyone would love to see your hoodies coming together. Just search Sarah Fielke Quilts in your Facebook search bar, ask to join and then answer BOTH questions AND agree to the group rules for entry (the only way I can screen spam accounts. Yay hoodies! I really hope to have one or even two finished for next week, I put my back out and wasn’t able to sit at the sewing machine so I’m not quite done with either of them!! Sarah x

So the quilt I made for the Quilt Market and Festival magazine 2013 (which I still can’t remember the name of) (ahem) is another using Dresdens, and I also give you a little tutorial about how I like to make Dresden blades, along with a good tip for getting your circles flat. I hope you enjoy this week’s Down the Rabbit Hole! Don’t forget to like or comment so I stay in your feed, and give my YouTube channel a little 👍😘 #sarahfielke #sarahfielkebom Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

Good morning Smites,  I'm bright and early with the post this week - thats because I want to get you started on the appliqué Lexi Hoodie if you're waiting for it!​  This week we are going to cut out and prepare all the "background" ie, the actual pieces of the sweatshirt, ready for us to applique onto next week. Everyone else still has to cut out squares so we are well ahead of the game. It's actually a lot more work than you think to get all the pieces prepared, so if you get it done this week then next we can work on the front, then the back and then the sleeves and hood. The "pattern" for the applique is very up to you, I will be showing you what I'm going to do as I do it, and you can choose to put as little or as much of the appliqué on, and only in certain places if you choose to do that also.  I have chosen to make my appliqué hoodie from one piece of fabric. You could of course very easily still piece the background in some way, and then appliqué over the top - entirely up to how much work you want to put in! I wanted to have a striped hoodie with the bright appliqué on the top, so that's where I've landed.  Before you cut any fabric out, I STRONGLY recommend that you measure yourself and use both the body measurement chart and the actual size chart to choose your hoodie size. Once you've done that, you can work out how large you need to cut your hoodie fabric out to. We are going to do things in a slightly different order than those piecing their hoodies. First cut out your pieces from the pattern sheet. For dressmaking you are better to trace the pieces off onto tracing paper, and then cut those out to make your pattern. Thats so that you have the master pattern in tact for other sizes, and also because the tracing paper is easier to pin to fabric if you want to do that when you're cutting out. I will be 100% honest and say that I don't do that. Naughty I know. I rarely make patchwork clothing for other people because I have two sons and they have no interest in patchwork clothes, and my two daughters in law would take the same size as me so it's all moot! So I just cut mine out from the master, and I use pattern weights to secure the paper on the fabric as I cut. I prefer that anyway as there are no pins puckering the fabric through the paper - personal preference.  I do however make a muslin, which is essentially a pretend version of the piece of clothing made from a cheaper fabric like calico, made only so that you can try it on and make sure it fits before you cut your nice fabric up. I made my "muslin" this time by making the actual lining for the hoodie - I was cutting it from a big piece of leftover backing fabric I had, so I kind of thought "oh well, if it doesn't fit I'll just pop that in my scrap bin and use it later". I was also pretty confident that I had measured myself carefully and read the pattern through, and the muslin fit beautifully. I will say that its on the tighter side (not tight, but fitted) over my boobs which are on the larger side of things, so do take that into consideration if your girls are going to take up extra space! Once you're happy with the size and you're sure you have the right one, trace the pattern pieces onto the front of your fabric with a pencil or a silver gel pen, or something else you can see well. This is your cutting line so don't worry about it showing, any left when you cut out will be inside the seams. Add the relevant markings from the pattern for joining etc. You need a front panel, a back panel, two sleeves (cut one right side up, and one with the pattern turned over to the back), two hoods (again, now RSU and one REV) and the piece for the panel up the middle of the hood. Make sure to leave at least 2" around the outside of each piece, so 4" between them - thats because if you're going to appliqué, the piece will get a fair bit of manhandling before its sewn together, even if its machine appliquéd, so you don't want it to fray. Cut pieces of your chosen interfacing or "batting" to the same size as your pattern panels. If you are using fusible fleece you can iron it on now, and appliqué through it - this actually gives your appliqué a nice little bounce, and the fleece is so fine that it's easy to sew through. As this is a piece of clothing I didn't cut any of the back out of my appliqué as I usually would, this will take much more of a beating than most quilts would as your body is inside it putting strain on the seams every time you wear it! If you are using Quiltlite or flannel for your batting, this part is kind of up to you. You don't want to put a batting under the appliqué fabric that will bag away from the front while you sew if it's not well thread basted, so you can either spray baste the batting to the front piece, or appliqué the front first and add the batting later when the appliqué is all done. I am using a linen fabric for my hoodie that is quite shifty, so I chose to baste the batting on first before I started the appliqué so that everything didn't move around on me while I sewed.  Once you have all your pieces cut out and basted or not basted as you see fit, you can start choosing fabrics so that you're ready for next week. If you're planning to make your hoodie appliqué pretty much the same as mine, you will ned around 3 or 4 metres (3.5-4.5 yards approx) of 1/4" bias tape for stems, and also for parts of the lettering. You would only need one roll of the fusible bias tape I sell, but if you want different colours you would obviously need a roll of each. I am using three colours - two different greens for stems and yellow for my lettering.  If you aren't using fusible bias, you can get ahead and make your bias tape so you're ready to go. If you haven't ever made bias tape before, you can watch this very ancient video I did for Craftsy about a million years ago, that will show you how I like to make my bias.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3hxMU2wZM0 You won/t need a whole long piece, lots of short bits will work just fine because nothing is longer than about 6". ​ Next week I will give you the templates and the layout for the front of the hoodie, the week after that for the back and the final week of Smites Lexi will be the plans for the sleeves and hood. Are you sewing along? Are you making an appliqué hoodie or a pieced one? Don't forget if you have questions I'm  always happy to help you, just drop them in the comments.  This weekend I'm off to the Liberty Showcase in Melbourne, I'm so so excited - so I'll be able to tell you all about that too! See you then peeps Sarah x

Hi peeps I hope you’re going to love making this hoodie with me - I am so enjoying the pattern! Here’s a few things I’ve thought of that I didn’t put in the video, and also some of the things I said in the video, all in the one spot so you don’t have to scroll through the vid looking for them. The designer of the hoodie, Melly, is also running a sew along on her Facebook page, so I am trying to include things different to what she is saying so that we don’t just say all the same things. If your pattern has not yet arrived in the mail please let me know sarah@sarahfielke.com  and I will get you started on cutting out. There’s a lot of cutting out to be done before you can start sewing so you will be busy I promise! Fabric For a hoodie the same as Melly’s, you will need a good selection of low volume prints, as well as brights with good contrast for the star. There is a lot of piecing in the panels so make sure to take your time cutting everything out carefully so you have matching squares and triangles!  If you have a Sarah Fielke half square ruler, you can absolutely use that for cutting your triangles - you will need to cut 3” strips fro your fabrics.  We are a way away from the putting in the lining, but I wanted you know what I’m using. I have almost finished my first hoodie ( will post a pic I promise!) and I have used a sateen backing fabric for the lining of it. There are some pros and cons to that! It’s lovely and slidey to get on and off for a start - the hoodie has no stretch, so that is something to consider. The pro for me would be that it is pretty slippery to piece together, so if this is your first garment (and I know it is for a lot of you)  Sizing There has been a fair bit of chat in Melly’s Facebook group about choosing the size for your hoodie. When you measure for your size, Melly recommends that you use the finished garment measurements not the body measurements on the pattern, as those include the ease. Measure yourself, and then use those measurements to help you choose the size from the garment measurement chart.  I am an Australian size 10 to 12, and I am making a medium. The sleeves and length of the garment are perfect on me. I have fairly big boobs (TMI? Hahaha just trying to help) and the medium is more fitted on my chest so thats something to take into consideration when you’re making yours. If you’re unsure, I would make a muslin to check - if you’re a dressmaking newbie, that means cutting the lining pieces out and sewing them together from a scrap fabric like muslin or calico. Then you can try it on and change your size if you need to without wasting your expensive patchwork fabrics.  Using the pattern Quite a lot of people have let me know that you haven’t ever made a garment before. In answer to some of those questions -  NO you do not need an overlocker. This hoodie can be made with your regular sewing machine. I took my stitch length down to a 2.2 on my Bernina for seam security. NO you should not cut the pattern out from the big paper sheets. Dress making wisdom will have you make another pattern by tracing the paper pattern out from tracing paper. That way you always have the other sizes to work from if you make another in the future, and also the tracing paper is easier to pin to fabric when you are cutting out your pattern. Full disclosure. Do I do this? No. :) YES I would take a highlighter and highlight the pattern layout pages and stitching instructions that are relevant to your size. As the pattern is so inclusive in its sizing, there are a lot of different layout pages and its easy to look at the wrong one. Different versions I am making three hoodies - well four now because my friend Flo just came for the weekend and she wants one too.  I have been asked several times wether people could put a different block into the patchwork or make the squares a different size. The answer to that is absolutely, when you watch the video you will see that I am making the hoodie once to Melly’s instructions, once with large pieces of embroidery and vintage sheets, and once in a whole cloth version with appliqué on it.  All you need to do is work out what size panel you need for the size you are making. Each square is 2 1/2” finished, so count the number of squares across or down, x by 2 1/2” and add 1/2” for your seam, then you can make up a panel or cut a piece of whole fabric to that size. If you are making the whole cloth appliqué version that I am providing to my StitchyMites, there will be a post for you TOMORROW on Smites about how to prepare your pieces for next week, and getting your bias tape ready to go. You will need your fabric, your interfacing and your bias tape fabric or fusible bias tape all set up and ready to go to start the appliqué in week 2. You absolutely could do this version with fusible appliqué and a machine blanket stitch. Feel free to ask me any questions via the comments below or by email! Please remember that I did NOT design this pattern, so if you have any issues with the pattern itself (I don’t think you will, its very well written and I have’t found any problems in making mine) please contact Melly via her website.  Have fun peeps and please feel free to join my Facebook group Sarah Fielke Quilts and post your hoody progress there! I usually don’t allow posts about other people's patterns in there as its just for people making my patterns, but this time if special! :) Or you can add questions, comments and upload your progress below in the comments section. And I think everyone would love to see your hoodies coming together. Just search Sarah Fielke Quilts in your Facebook search bar, ask to join and then answer BOTH questions AND agree to the group rules for entry (the only way I can screen spam accounts. Yay hoodies! Off you go and cut! Sarah x

This week for Down the Rabbit Hole I’m talking about my Aussie Aussie Aussie quilt in honor of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics! You can preorder the paper pattern for this quilt at my website, and the PDF will be up for order in the next day or so- sorry peeps we just didn’t quite get there today. All three patterns from last weeks DTRH are now available either in printed or PDF formats- search Goodnight Sweet Prints, Candy Shop and Summer Sunshine at www.sarahfielke.com 🥰 Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

​Hi Smites, A bit of a random one this week, but I know that some of you love it when I give you a recipe! This is partly a recipe I found online and partly a result of my fiddling about with making a souffle omelette. We had it for breakfast on Saturday and it was so tasty we've had it again several times since! Damo has two and I have one, but its just one egg so you may well want two, or some toast or cooked spinach alongside. I hope you enjoy it. Also checking in to tell you to make sure and watch this Friday's Down the Rabbit Hole reel on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube - the easiest way to do that is to make sure you follow me in one of those places, or subscribe to my YouTube channel and it will send you a notification when there's a new video. There's a teaser there today about a new/old pattern that I'm releasing on Friday.... it's the pattern I'm most asked to re-release, more so than any other. Maybe you can guess what it is from the video, and maybe you can't - but I'm releasing it just in time to make it as you cheer on the Aussies at the Winter Olympics on Friday, so maybe that helps? 😉 In a special sneak for Smites, you can preorder the pattern and see the whole quilt here. https://www.sarahfielke.com/product-page/aussie-aussie-aussie-pattern-printed What do you mean you're not cheering for the Aussies??!! How appalling, how very dare you live somewhere else 😂🇦🇺​ Ok, on to this recipe. I'm going to call them Egg Puffs for want of another name for them. You could put two eggs into each puff, but you would need to put two yolks into the top of it so thats up to you really. I prefer them as single ones. For each puff - 1 egg, seperated 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese 1 tablespoon of chopped chives 1 tablespoon chopped basil Half a red chilli, chipped finely(optional) Salt and pepper Preheat the oven to 230C (446F) Whisk the white of the egg to stiff peaks. Gently fold everything including salt and pepper into the egg white except for the cheddar until it's well mixed, but be careful not to knock the air out of the whites. Pile the egg white mix onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 6 minutes. Remove from the over and use a spoon to flatten a little divot into the top of the puff. Gently slide the whole egg yolk into the divot, and sprinkle the top with cheddar. Return to the oven for 3 mins - depending on how hot your oven is, you might want to turn on the griller for this part so that the cheese goes a little browner. # Minutes will give you a runny yolk, so if you like your yolks cooked through you might want to give it 5 or 6 minutes instead. Eat it right from the oven, asap - the whites go lovely and crispy on the outside and its really delicious. I added some extra chopped basil to the top of mine too after the yolk was cooked. Let me know if you try them! Low fat, high protein but most of all delicious, ticks all my breakfast boxes. Happy Wednesday peeps - don't forget the new quilt on Friday, and that the Lexi Hoodie Sew Along starts on Monday! Sarah x

This week for Down the Rabbit Hole we’re talking about quilts from Material Obsession One that I no longer own - and why! The patterns for all three of these quilts can be found in the book, which is available at www.sarahfielke.com, and they’ll also be available as printed or PDF patterns as of mid next week. I hope you enjoy the stories behind these fun quilts- and also of the sneak peek into my studio, and the bits and pieces behind me on the wall! Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

Hi Smitey peeps, I hope you're having an excellent Wednesday. I'm back at work officially now, after my "holiday"..... I had planned to have some proper time off, and instead have spent pretty much the whole time working :D thats what happens when you work for yourself I suppose, there's never really a break unless you throw your phone out the window and unplug your computer! We've managed to squeeze lots of fun times with friends and family in though too, so I haven't suffered too much. 😉 Soooo many things going on for 2026. Let's see....I am planning an extremely fun collaboration with a design friend that you will be the first to hear about a little later in the year.... the reveal for my next fabric collection will officially be in October I believe, but you'll also be the first to hear about that. I have a little tutorial about how to do a basic design repeat that I'm going to give you in the next few weeks too, just for fun and for you to play with. Designs for new BOMs and various other very fun stuff are happening all around and about. My studio looks like a fabric bomb has exploded and theres scratchings and scribblings everywhere. My Sew Along for the Lexi hoodie will start on February 9 - if you bought the pattern from me, you will have had an email with the first little bit of info attached to it yesterday. Plenty of time to join in as we are not starting until February 9, the pattern is available here . Also if you didn't already hear you lucky Smites will get the templates I'm doing for a cheeky applique version of the hoodie for free, just coz I love you. Hmmmm what else... I'm going to Sisters (in Oregon) to teach in July, and there are still I think two (?) places left in my Tiny Town class. If you'd like to come and spend two fun filled relaxing days with me at my favourite quilting event in the world, get in quick! The info is at https://stitchinpost.com/collections/sarah-fielke - sorry but the other two classes sold out in the first half hour. If you're interested in those though there is a waiting list, or you can take my Climbing Scrap Mountain class on demand at my website, and the Dilly Dally Dolly pattern will be up for general sale next week (if you took my Dollies Online program a few years back, the pattern was a part of that and you already have it!). Tiny Town and template set (which includes all the papers for the houses) are available here but PLEASE don't buy them now if you're coming to class, they're included in your class kit fee and I haul them halfway across the world for you! I'm going to the Netherlands and potentially Germany and the UK in November to teach. The trip is a little under review at this point - unless I have a certain amount of shops/guilds signed on t​o host me, I can't make the trip viable as it's not a holiday this time. If your shop or guild would like to have me in November please let me know asap, I'd love to lock the last couple of spots in and be on for reals. I teach in the Netherlands and Europe a lot but its a while since I've taught in the UK and I'd love to see you all again! The Słodki BOM is rocketing along and Denise Lewis posted in the Sarah Fielke Quilts Facebook group today her quilt so far - its such a cute one and with a fun story so I thought I'd share it with you. This month's block evoked so many great memories! In the late 1970s I studied in Munich during my 3rd year of university. One of my best friends there was Mary. Mary was of Polish ancestry and when at her home in Detroit, Michigan, she danced in a troupe that performed traditional Polish folk dances in traditional costumes. She brought the beautiful red leather, lace up boots that were part of her costume to Munich. We didn't party much, but when we did Mary always wore those beautiful red boots. I've given my girl red boots in her honor! She was a kind and generous friend. Isn't that fun? If you want in on the Słodki action you can still sign up here . Theres always something nice going on in that group so if you're not already a member and you're on Facebook, its Sarah Fielke Quilts, and then you MUST answer the two questions and agree to the group rules, or your request to join won't be approved. Here's another lovely Night Garden quilt that was posted by Mary Jane Fielek I have the pattern for the Lap App cover (I think you already got a sneaky peek of that?) releasing on February 23. There are three seperate patterns, one for the Lap App cover, one for a matching tote and one for a dear little round drawstring bag that coordinates. They will be available either seperately or as a set of three for a small discount. To celebrate I'm doing a giveaway with my mate Joyce who owns the Lap App company - winner gets a Lap App, a Lapp App wool mat and a Lap App steel sheet, all of which will fit inside the tote. When we get a little closer I'll tell you how to enter - heres that sneak of the cover in case you missed it the first time, but I cant show you the other two quite yet as the tote still has the binding clipped on the outside and the bag needs it lining. Getting to that. Oh! And I finally started posting reels to Insta and Facebook, and they're all on my YouTube channel too. If you could do me a solid and go and follow my YouTube that would be AWESOME, because the more followers it has the more YouTube exposes it to people that DON'T follow you.... just another way for the social media overlords to tug on your proverbials. So with all this happening did I get my Granny Square quilt finished as I wanted to? You know the answer to that, of COURSE I didn't 😂 However all the strip sets are sewn together for the whole quilt, so I'm nearly there. February maybe? See you next week peeps and I hope that somewhere in the upside down world we're all currently living in you find a peaceful moment for yourself this week. Take care. Sarah x

Yay it’s Friday! Don’t forget to LIKE this post or comment on it so you don’t miss them in the future- or subscribe to my YouTube channel. The winner of the Dotty for Dresden pattern from last week is Edel Mather. Edel came up with the idea of calling my reels Down the Rabbit Hole, and I love it! Named for one of my well known quilts, as well as being relevant, fun and not sounding like anyone else. Thanks Edel 🙃 This week I’m continuing with fossicking about in Material Obsession One, and chatting about my quilt The ‘Burbs (the suburbs 😉) It’s such a fun quilt to make, and it’s SO much fun to work without templates or rules or perfection in piecing. I hope you give it a try, let me what you think! The PDF or printed pattern for The ‘Burbs and also my on demand improv piecing class, The Improv Army, are available at my website www.sarahfielke.com #theburbsquilt #sarahfielke Make sure and follow me on Instagram @sfielke or subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss an installment. Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

Hello Smites, I made a thing! And I thought you might also like to make a thing, so here is a video about how I made it. I’m going to make a lot more. I hope you make some too, because they’re quick and fun and easy, and dead useful. Tell me if you make some! Sarah x