Almost as soon as we signed up to vend at QuiltCon 2025, we knew we wanted to bring a new Blakely sample. She's big, she's bold, she's an easy beginner quilt, and she's fast to put together. Blakely Sugar + Spice was the first QuiltCon sample we made, and, seven samples later, there's something about her I (Alysson) still can't get enough of.
Our Sugar + Spice Blakely is a Medium Throw size (69" square), and is the Ombre Yardage Version. She is all Bella solids, and the kit to make this exact quilt can be found here. The deep, wine-colored background...the super saturated colors...she's eye-catching for sure.
And here's where I give you a little peak behind the curtain: even though we sewed up this beauty in December, we made her our February Make of the Month (forgive us for any subterfuge...it was a busy month). And though we were holding back the actual kits of this make for QuiltCon, this color palette was too good not to play with again, so we put together a scrappy version of a Sugar + Spice bundle, using FQs and a combo of prints and solids. A handful of those bundles are also still available in the shop.
Okay, back to the OG Sugar + Spice.
Whether you are making a Blakely via yardage or FQs or F8s, cutting your pieces could not be simpler. There are a few different widths to pay attention to, but at the end of the day, it's all strips. We also prepared ourselves for piecing by changing out our thread color. We piece with Aurifil 50 wt cotton, and almost always in just a basic white. But with our background being so dark for this sample, white felt too stark and eye-catching were any of our threads to show. We went with a soft pink thread instead, also an Aurifil 50 wt cotton.
Strips cut, thread changed, bobbin full...pop an audiobook into your ears (I was listening to a Shari Lapena thriller) and off you go. Blakely is a perfect combo of working block-by-block (or rather, block group-by-block group) and strip piecing to your heart's content.
Another few rounds of strip piecing and seam pressing, and finished blocks start piling up. It really is that fast.
Sugar + Spice is the first Blakely sample we've made using such a rich, dark background, and we could not get over how the ombre-ed colors just popped like crazy off of it. These Bella solids are super saturated on their own, but against that background? They truly glow.
IT'S JUST SO GOOD. Don't tell the other samples, but Blakely Sugar + Spice might be my favorite? In the top five, for sure.
We backed Sugar + Spice in a wideback - Favorite Flowers in turmeric, by Ruby Star Society - and then it was Emily at So Sunny Quilts' turn to work her magic. She used a neon pink thread and quilted the Golden Eye pantograph into her. Sugar + Spice was then bound with Bella Peony.
The colors, the quilting, that pop of pink in the binding...she's so, so pretty. I'll never be over her. If you've also fallen in love with our Sugar + Spice, check out the links below to make your own!
