Gem Blossom Quilt

I’m so excited to share my newest quilt pattern with you, Gem Blossom. This design has been in the works for quite some time! It was one of the very first patterns I drafted in November 2023 (2 years ago!) when I challenged myself to start writing quilt patterns, so it feels extra special to finally get to cuddle under it.

When I first sketched the block, I was thinking about how to create a simple flower. I shared a mock-up using Flower Garden by Hang Tight for Cloud9 on my Instagram account, and a fellow quilter commented that she loved the quatrefoil design and hadn’t seen one like it before. It hadn’t even dawned on me how similar it was to a quatrefoil until then.

That sent me down a fun research rabbit hole, where I learned all about the quatrefoil’s history and how it symbolizes faith, hope, love, and luck. I just love that meaning, and it’s stayed with me throughout the entire pattern design process.

Gem Blossom is a beginner-friendly, block-based pattern that uses the stitch-and-flip method to create its soft, curved petals without any tricky piecing. If you’ve made my Snowball Pillow or other stitch-and-flip projects, this one will feel familiar and fun.

The pattern includes six sizes, from Baby to King, and works beautifully with solids, prints, or even directional fabrics.

Another thing that made this quilt extra special was that I had the opportunity to do the longarm quilting myself! I designed the quilt, pieced the top, chose the quilting pantograph, and guided it through the longarm at APQS. What a treat! This version is my solid version, and I’ll be sharing another one with you later this week.

I love how it turned out, meandering first longarm quilting stitches and all.

Check out the pretty backing, it’s already sold out in my shop, and it doesn’t appear to be available from Art Gallery anymore, bummer! — but I’ll keep an eye out for it. Here is the details (from my shop), so you can see if anyone else has some in stock: Hillside Meadow – 108″ wide backing.