The Garden Star Series

One of my favorite creative traditions is the Garden Star Series. Every year, I release a new quilt pattern that builds upon this growing collection. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce the latest addition—Garden Star 7! This new design made its debut at QuiltCon, and I couldn’t be more excited to finally share it with you here. It is the perfect beginner quilt or a great pattern for your next quick make. Garden Star 7 includes three versatile sizes, giving quilters room to play and personalize.

A special detail I love? When you piece ...

I had a big list of things I wanted to sew over Easter, and first up was two new project bags.  I use these bags to store hand pieced or hand embroidered blocks that I'm working on.  I've currently got four Sue Spargo Block of the Months on the go!!! So I need four project bags.  

I love the mesh because I can see what's in each bag without opening it.  And it's stretchy!

I like to try new patterns with my quilting on the back of the bags.

I first released the Fields of Flower quilt as part of the Great Jelly Roll Bash in 2024. I can’t believe it has already been six months! Jelly Roll Day falls on the third Saturday of September, and since I’m all about the quilting life, celebrating a quilting holiday makes perfect sense, I always throw a party for the occasion. But it just hit me—I haven’t shared Fields of Flower my row quilt on the blog yet!

One reason for the delay? This quilt is BIG. It wasn’t quilted initially, but that changed for QuiltCon ...

After months of keeping this pattern close to my heart, I’m thrilled to finally share Drift—my newest quilt pattern. That’s right! It’s the Drift quilt pattern release day—scratch that, week. I have lots of fun things planned. The main thing? I am intertwining it with QuiltCon!

The Drift Quilt Pattern

For years, I have been intimidated by curves. I have made blocks that use them here and there, but I was lost when I tried to write a pattern incorporating the technique. This was especially true for an orange peel quilt I attempted to design ...

Welcome to another Quilt Block Mania Tuesday! read more

I’m back for another Block Mania Tuesday! It’s been such a joy designing and creating all these unique blocks for this year’s Block Mania. November’s theme challenged us to make something you’d find in a market or shop, so I chose to design the Lucky Clover Quilt Block. It features a Purple Shamrock preserved in a cloche.

Why a Plant Themed Quilt Block?

Lately, I’ve fully embraced my inner plant mama! Taking care of my plants has become my favorite way to unwind from life’s stresses, especially since quilting—my beloved hobby—has ...

Last Tuesday, I shared my newest pattern, the Sugar Skull quilt block. I tested the pattern using the Good Spirits fabric by Ruby Star Society. It’s their Halloween line, which hit stores a few months ago. If you follow me on Instagram, you’d know that I used this fabric for a quilt-along with the Fat Quarter Shop. A couple of months back, I made a door hanging with this fun fabric line.

Since I didn’t have any plans for the quilt block and still had some leftover fabric, I decided to turn it into something. I settled ...

It’s spooky season! I couldn’t be more excited that this month’s Block Mania theme aligns perfectly with my latest creative spark. October is all about sweets! Inspired by my love for Halloween and my husband’s Hispanic heritage, I took a unique approach to the theme: the Sugar Skull Quilt Block.

A sugar skull is exactly what it sounds like—a large cube of sugar molded into the shape of a skull, then decorated with bright colors, icing, glitter, and other embellishments.

In Tucson, there’s a massive street parade for Día de los Muertos. I love ...

After promising you I'd always do my blog posts on Friday nights NZ time, I slipped one in on Sunday, so if you missed seeing my Purple Zone quilt you can click back and read about it here. 

I've got more quilts from the exhibition to blog about, but first on to my shopping from Capital Quilters' exhibition last weekend. 

We had five retailers at the exhibition and I think I bought something from nearly every one of them.  

my haul from the exhibition

First up was this very interesting fabric from e bond for Free Spirit Fabrics ...

Happy Tuesday!!

Hey there quilters! It’s another Block Mania Day, and I am joining in again. This month, we’re diving headfirst into the arid beauty of the desert. As someone who calls the desert home, I couldn’t be more thrilled to share my latest creation with you all. I’m proud to present my Diamondback Quilt Block..

You might have noticed that my block designs for this year’s block mania all share a similar style — a blend of fun, funky, and just a touch of quirky. My goal is to create a quilt with all my ...

In the aftermath of creating my Inflorescence Quilt. Amidst the chaos of my sewing room, I found myself adding new scraps to my already overflowing scrap bins. I have more than one place I put my scraps, a writers chest and a utility cart. Thinking there has to be a better way, an idea sparked. I started designing a pattern tailored to repurposing all of the triangular pieces found within the cuts of the Inflorescence Quilt. I have been tinkering with a pattern for a few months. So I decided to take the concept and change it, turning it into ...

Oh my goodness!! Pinch me because I think I am dreaming!! It’s another pattern release day here at Brown Bird Designs and this one has been a long time coming. I came close to picking this design to release instead of Garden Star 2 when I worked with Citrus and Mint’s playful collection many years ago. Instead, I put this design back in my pocket and have been waiting for the perfect time and perfect line to bring it into the world. This is Inflorescence Quilt, and isn’t she lovely?? Grab yourself a cup of coffee and ...

Are you ready to embark on a creative journey that will touch your heart? In the world of quilting where the quilt block is queen, Block Mania is everything. As we dive into this month’s theme and 28 quilt bocks centered around making, let’s explore how we can make each quilt block with heartfelt intentions. I have a very special block for you, a hand quilt block which represents every type of making. This is my Made with Love quilt block.

For my fabrics I used Ruby Star Society. Don’t you just love the floral background fabric ...

Happy New Year!!! Yes, I am a little late on these well wishes but I got sick on that day and my day job has been keeping me way too busy. I did sneak in some planning for the new year. All of this has kept me on my toes. Since my mind has been circling around the idea of renewal, resetting, and new goals I remembered something… I just realized I haven’t shared my Color Turn Quilt Pattern here or put it in my shop yet. The Color Turn Quilt Pattern is my take on a modern rainbow ...

It may be Thanksgiving where you live, but I've just finished my Halloween quilt!  I've called it "Spooky Darlings" after the fabric range that I used.  

I only had a fat eighth bundle to play with so I made the biggest triangles that I could and combined them in alternating dark and light rows ...

Well, it's that time of the year again.  Halloween is still viewed as an American tradition in this part of the world, but more and more people are getting in to trick or treating each year.  

My Spooky Darlings quilt won't be finished for this Halloween, but it is progressing well.

I live on a street that is well known for Halloween because it's wide and straight and a safe place for kids to trick or treat.  It's Spring in the southern hemisphere and it doesn't get dark here until after 8pm at the moment ...

Today is the big day!! We are two and a half weeks away from Halloween, which also happens to be my birthday. I didn’t plan on it. I definitely didn’t expect it. Actually, I was trying to get ahead for next year, but here we are in the midst of another pattern release. This pattern is something that I have had in my Halloween pattern file for years. Most of the patterns in there are bat related. Looking back over the years, I can see that I am a little obsessed. Click here to see a deep dive ...

Window Dressing was published in March 2023 in Make Modern Issue #51, in the category of Prints Charming! I smile every time I read that :-)

Made with Ruby Star Society Fabrics (Reverie by Melody Miller) provided by Moda, it is a simple design that exploits the value gradations for maximum effect. Put another way, the Prints Charming did the heavy lifting and I gathered the compliments :-)

Cold Day, Warm Quilt

For some reason, the blog publication of this quilt slipped through the cracks. But here we are now.  

Window Dressing finished at 60" by 80", making it a perfect size ...

I've finished my Swatch quilt and I've called it Club Tropicana. 

A while ago I started naming my quilts after my favourite songs from the 1980's and I loved Club Tropicana by Wham.  Here's link to the video in case you need a reminder.  This quilt does have some palm trees it in and the bright yellows remind me of pineapples, so Club Tropicana seemed appropriate.