Introducing the Nutcracker block of the month...

Every year my friend Andrea - from the Willow Cottage Quilt Co - joins me to create lovingly curated parcels for our warm and supportive block of the month programme. Working with Andrea is the highlight of my year and after lots of delicious plotting and planning behind the scenes, we're always excited for the moment our new programme makes its debut. This year we're transporting you through a fairytale forest to the land of sweets for the Nutcracker Sampler...

ETA Hoffman's fantastical Christmas tale of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King inspired Tchaikovsky's magical ballet and a family outing to see the Nutcracker has become a much-loved Christmas tradition for children and adults alike. Little girls have dreamed of becoming a ballerina after watching the Sugar Plum Fairy pirouette across the stage. I fear my pirouetting days are behind me, but I've spent the winter happily immersed in picture books, re-acquainting myself with the characters and dreaming up my own cast of blocks.

As well as a ballet, ETA Hoffman's fantastical tale has inspired so many beautiful books...

Andrea and I ran our first sewalong, the Spellbound Sampler, back in 2017 and launched our first block of the month programme two years later. This year our participants can choose between beautifully packaged monthly or full kits containing everything they need to create nine original sampler blocks along with a full-colour pattern book - exclusive to the programme - using my favourite, achievable machine-piecing techniques to add special details to each block. In addition we include any little extras you will need to finish your quilt top and also a few lovely surprises, just for you.

This year we'll be expanding your piecing skills by creating Dresden fans, using placement templates and adding heirloom detail to your blocks with simple embroidered embellishment. In fact, the techniques we use were tried and tested in that first sewalong eight years ago. We're here to support you as you create your heirloom quilt, with filmed block tutorials, exclusive blog pages - where I share my inspiration and guide you through the techniques we cover - plus a private creative community where we can all cheer each other on as we make our blocks.

past and present block of the month quilts

This year's quilt will finish at approximately 60" x 65" and we're going to be sewing with Tilda Fabric's highly anticipated festive collection, Merry Little Christmas. Reservations will open on the 15th of July when we reveal the quilt, but our subscribers always get first dibs - and a sneak peek - so sign up for our newsletters if you'd like a reminder!

with love from the studio,

#BlockoftheMonth #nutcracker