Meet the Country Mice...

EDIT: The country mice have arrived in the studio *squeak* and you can now purchase a darling little pattern book here, find one on Amazon for convenient delivery wherever you are, or purchase the pattern as a PDF here.

Tilda has a cosy new collection of fabrics coming out this autumn called Hibernation and as soon as I saw it I started to sketch the cutest new quilt: the Country Mouse Sampler...

Did you grow up reading Beatrix Potter's Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse and losing yourself in the exquisite illustrations of Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge? Have fond memories of the entrancing singing mice in Bagpuss or spent a happy hour playing with Maileg's mice (with or without small children)? The Country Mouse Sampler builds on all of those cherished memories of childhood days when we imagined mice in tiny dresses really did roam the hedgerows.

Inspired by the rich, berry tones in Hibernation, my country mice have cousins visiting from town, so are busy foraging for a feast of blackberries...

I'm making my blocks with a Fat Eighth bundle of Hibernation - combined with some of Tilda Fabric's wonderful blenders to make tiny shirts and sprigged aprons - using machine piecing and my favourite snowballed corner technique. I'm adding details with simple embroidered backstitch.

Hibernation will be in the shops on the 1st of October, which is when I'll releasing my pattern booklet - there will also be a PDF version available - and in the meantime I'll be busy sewing blocks in tandem with my friend Andrea, from the Willow Cottage Quilt Co, who will be offering gorgeously curated custom kits in her beautiful shop, which you can pre-order here. You'll be able to choose from two colourways, classic indigo and country cream...

I'm very much looking forward to holing up (sorry) in the sewing room making country mice and, when I'm taking a break, foraging in the garden hedges for blackberries because I've just found this recipe and I think it would be the perfect partner for a nice piece of cheese.

Nicola xx