Hi sewing friends! Laurel from Snowberry Street here to show you this charming new collection by Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter and her sister Laura Miller called Portsmouth. As Amy describes on her blog, this collection was designed and named in honor of a little seaside town in New England where her husband was raised. His extended family still lives in this beautiful corner of the globe, giving Amy the opportunity to return often for summer vacations and reunions. I found myself nodding as I read Amy’s list of “New England nautical perfection: beaches, sailboats, lighthouses, thriving hydrangeas, the smell of saltwater, and American flags and buntings hanging from colonial houses built before 1776.” I couldn’t agree more, Amy.
I knew I needed to work with this collection from the moment I saw this logo and layout:
Perfection, right?! This whole collection is a beautiful Americana compliment to Amy’s Notting Hill collection which remains one of my absolute favorites! I’m hoarding my stash Notting Hill. I can’t cut into it just yet. Someday…
I had a short list of 8 quilts I wanted to make from Portsmouth, but settled on the Penelope pattern from Andy Knowlton’s book Fresh Fat-Quarter Quilts. I’m a big fan of this book! I’ve made a couple of quilts from the book already and have another one in progress that will be appearing on my instagram in the coming weeks. If you want more Andy (and yes, yes you do), here’s her website and her instagram. The Penelope pattern features a classic Sister’s Choice block. A classic block for a classic collection seemed like the perfect choice for me. I also loved that this pattern would allow me to feature my favorite blues, pinks, and reds from the collection. I paired my favorite prints with Confetti Cotton in Cloud for the background and backed it in Painter’s Swirl in Cornflower
Those soft, beachy colors have my whole heart. So pleased with how this quilt came together. These prints would make a great flag quilt, too! Not going for an American vibe? The darling little flag prints would be easy to pull out and still have a lovely seaside collection!
After completing this quilt top, I looked around at my scraps and figured I could cobble together something else. I’d been wanting to make the Patchwork Duffle from Kaitlyn at Knot and Thread, so I went for it! Rhylee quilted the pieces for me with Soft and Stable to give it some structure and body. Bags can be a little tricky, but I’m really glad I gave this one a shot! This is a great size for packing your essentials for a weekend getaway. Looking for something smaller? Kaitlyn has a Mini Duffle as well!
Portsmouth is coming soon to a quilt shop near you!