Chain Reaction quilt

Remember my secret project using Thomas Knauer's beautiful Pear Tree fabric? Well, I can finally reveal the quilt—and I'm so excited to tell you that it's also my first published quilt pattern, available now in the March/April issue of Quiltmaker magazine! (Chain Reaction is also now available as a stand-alone pattern. Click here to purchase.)

There's my quilt! And look, there's me, up in the corner!

Would you be surprised to hear that you don't have to paper-piece this quilt? A few people who have already made the pattern have told me that it's very easy to piece. It looks more complicated than it is—can't beat that, right? All you have to do is pick up the March/April issue. I haven't seen it on newsstands yet, but you can click here to purchase a copy.

Finally, I was excited to learn that the members of Quiltmaker's Scrap Squad will each be making this pattern using their own scraps, and those versions will be featured on Quiltmaker's blog over the next two months. The Scrap Squad is a specially-selected panel of Quiltmaker readers who make one pattern from each issue. They can include their own ideas and variations on the pattern, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with mine!

A few more things to note about this quilt: It was beautifully quilted for me by fellow Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild member Lucinda Fenske, and Thomas Knauer was kind enough to send me the Pear Tree fabric from his own stash when there was no more advance yardage of it to be found. Thank you, Thomas! Go check out his blog to see the fabulous new lines he has in the works, including Flock and Savanna Bop. I think those Flock dot prints will definitely be finding their way into my stash!