Splendid showcase... Gettin' Tipsy quilt, Hoppy Bunny Animal and more!

What a wonderful day it is to get to share this fun set of projects with you. I've named it my, Splendid showcase. Without farther ado, here it is...

Do you ever get nostalgic looking at fabric? Well that’s what happened to me when I saw the Splendid Collection by Gabrielle Neil Design for Riley Blake Designs. This sweet floral collection sent me back to my childhood, with its vibrant colors, fun tie dyes and adorable butterflies. I couldn’t help but reminisce for a moment about shopping for the perfect Easter Sunday dress, normally floral, having fun dying eggs with my mom, and waiting in anticipation to see what the Easter bunny had brought to my basket.

My very first Easter, I was only 18 days old. I don’t recall much, but I do have wonderful pictures and a sweet little stuffed baby chick. The Splendid collection reminded me so much of the essence of my first Easter; so I couldn’t help but make a set of items that would make a wonderful Easter gift. 

First, I wanted to make a quilt perfect in size to lay across your lap on a cool Easter morning. The Gettin’ Tipsy quilt pattern was a new design I had in the works that I thought would showcase the Splendid collection nicely. This 10” stacker or Fat-quarter friendly pattern involves half-square triangles [HST] and half-rectangle triangles [HRT], making it a great pattern for beginner to confident beginner quilters. Click here to shop the pattern. I ended up making the smallest of the 4 size options at 48 x 56" in the pre-cut 10” friendly option. This way I got to showcase all of the beautiful prints within the Splendid collection.

Second, the set now needed an Easter basket! I thought the tiny butterflies on the Splendid selvage were the cutest things. So I cut off all the selvage from the fabrics before starting on any of the projects. Then, I sewed all the selvage strips together and fussy cut out the best parts to sew up a square edged basket with binding and a small little handle using a Riley Blake Designs basic - 1/8" Stripe in Black. 

But, an Easter basket isn’t complete until it has some eggs. I found this fantastic Fabric Easter Egg Tutorial by Kim Kruzich of Retro Mama. I was a little worried that the eggs would be hard to make, but they aren’t that bad at all. One thing I found tricky was cutting out the fabric from the paper template with a rotary cutter. I found it easier to pin the paper template into the layers of fabric and then cut out with scissors.

Lastly, this set needed a stuffed animal. A couple of years ago I released a quilt pattern called Hoppy Bunnies. The bunny blocks are 7 x 18", so I thought one of those bunnies would make a wonderful stuffed animal. I’ve never made a stuffed animal before, but I was excited to give this a try. I used the Riley Blake Designs basic - Blossom in Lemon Zest, for the large stuffed Hoppy Bunny, along with Splendid Stripe White, for its tail.

Then, big bunny had to have a baby, so I made a smaller bunny at 50% the scale of the original. For the baby bunny I used, Splendid Flowers Hot Pink and Splendid Garden White, for the tail.

I’m beyond crazy about this Splendid collection! I’m sure my niece is going insist on taking this set home when she see it. 

What will you be making with the Splendid collection? I look forward to seeing. Please don’t forget to share and tag us  #SplendidFabric #ILoveRileyBlake #RileyBlakeDesigns - We love seeing what you make!

Happy Sewing!