We’ve always been entranced by Amy Friend’s (During Quiet Time) use of color in partner with her repeating patterns. She is a masterful paper-piecer and it’s hard not to look at her quilts with a total sense of awe.
Amy has been in AuriLove for nearly 10 years and we’d consider her to be a master in 50wt;). She can attest to its virtues, particularly in the paper-piecing world, where flat seams can make or break a quilt. She swears by 50wt for her quilting as well, creating perfect pebbles or understated lines.
Amy’s second collaboration with Aurifil was released earlier this year, just in time for QuiltCon and right before the world seemed to shut down. Petal + Stem is a vibrant collection of 10 small spools of Amy’s go-to 50wt thread, perfectly partnered with her book with Lucky Spool.
The Petal + Stem book is a glorious and colorful tribute to Amy’s other creative love — gardening. (Seriously — peek at her IG… her gardens are amazing.)
Today, we’re thrilled to turn the blog over to Amy, who has prepared a stunning block to share.
I am so happy to be visiting the Aurifil blog today to share a free Pumpkin pattern with you! Not only is the foundation paper pieced pumpkin adorable, and a great scrap buster, but it coordinates with the blocks in my recently published book, Petal + Stem!
Petal + Stem is a book full of 40 mix and match patterns for petal and stem blocks. They can be put together in so many combinations to create very different quilts. The book offers several quilt layouts including two that I think would work for the Pumpkin block! I can see the Pumpkin block being used in one of the rounds of the Flourish medallion quilt. It could also be used in the Garden Whimsy quilt, perhaps in place of some of the grass blocks.
Flourish 
Garden Whimsy
All of the quilt top layouts were designed with the idea that you would substitute blocks of your choice for those I used in my samples to make your quilts uniquely your own. If you want even more block designs, I am releasing Bouquets with four newly designed coordinating blocks every 3 months for the next year! The first Bouquet is now available in my Etsy shop HERE and my Pattern Shop HERE. It’s so much fun to mix and match these blocks to create unique quilt top layouts. The possibilities are endless.
While I was considering block designs for this post, I settled on a pumpkin because it’s not only seasonal, but the colors are represented in my Petal + Stem Aurifil thread collection too. I include three greens in the collection for leaves and stems. Then there is a rainbow of possible flower colors, which happens to include orange! The threads are all small spools of 50wt. I love using 50wt thread for my foundation paper piecing because it doesn’t add any bulk to my seams. I also use these great coordinating colors to hand stitch my bindings, and often, to quilt too. I have a limited number of thread collections available for sale in my Etsy shop right now if you would like one. I am a huge Aurifil thread fan and use it exclusively for my piecing and quilting. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
If you don’t want to use your blocks in a Petal + Stem quilt layout, they could make a cute table runner or pillow for the fall. I still have to decide what mine will become. Check my blog (www.duringquiettime.com) to see what I decide to do in upcoming weeks.
If you would like to download this free 6” foundation paper pieced block, please visit my Pattern Shop. I can’t wait to see your versions! If you are on Instagram, use the hashtag #duringquiettimepattern and tag me too @duringquiettime. I would love to leave you a compliment on your work!
Link to pattern: https://duringquiettime.com/product/pumpkin
HUGE thanks to Amy for sharing this pattern!! What will you make??
ABOUT AMY
Website — Facebook — Instagram — YouTube — Twitter
Amy Friend is a former museum curator turned designer. She designs modern quilts and specializes in paper pieced designs. She authored the books Intentional Piecing (2016) and Improv Paper Piecing: A Modern Approach to Quilt Design (2017), and has a new book, Petal + Stem (2020). Since 2019, Amy has run a paper pieced Block of the Month program each year. She is an award winning quilter and her quilts have been exhibited at a number of quilt shows as well as museums. Amy visits quilt guilds to speak about her quilts and to teach workshops. For those who can’t attend a workshop, Amy now offers online workshops for individuals. Those can be found on her website under “Online Workshops.” Amy lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three children. If she isn’t sewing or spending time with the family, you might find her in the garden. You can follow her creative path on her blog, www.duringquiettime.com or on Instagram @duringquiettime.
**All images courtesy of Amy Friend.
THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
Petal + Stem
10 Small Spools, 50wt (220yds/spool), 100% Aurifil Cotton
2150, 2260, 2530, 2515, 2588
5018, 2888, 5017, 5005, 2120
To view this info on our website, click here. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.
The projects in the book are beautiful. The two quilts shown are stunning. And the pumpkin is just so sweet. Thank you for sharing your talent with us.
Thank you for sharing this pumpkin pattern. Perfect timing. It was good to meet you. Thanks for showing up today
Wonderful block, as usual. Nice to be able to add this to my never ending quilt with all your quilt blocks. I love it! Thanks.
I enjoyed this blog post tremendously. The two sample quilts are darling and I like the pumpkin block. Thank you for the pattern. I, too, love Aurifil thread!
Cute pumpkin block!