Back when we lived in Kentucky, a favorite pastime of ours were Sunday drives. We lived a short distance from Route 8 which follows alongside the Ohio River for miles and miles. It’s a bendy, winding, hilly road with lots of scenery and we’d always end up at some roadside farmer’s market or one of my husband’s favorite ice cream stops. One particular Sunday we had a lengthy sermon we wanted to listen to, so we packed up the kids at nap time and drove down Route 8 for a couple of hours straight. Many of the barns we passed were part of quilt trails in the area, and I enjoyed spotting the different quilt blocks painted on the barns. (At the time I didn’t know what a quilt trail was, I just thought it was a cool barn trend of some sort..) Anyways, one particular block stuck out and I just thought it was the neatest of all the blocks… A patchwork ship with patchwork sails. We drove past it too quickly to really take a good look at it, but I was determined to go home and try to design my own ship using the same idea. Thus the Ship n’ Sails Patchwork Mini…I have had this mini hanging in my sewing room for sometime now, and was just recently asked to write up a tutorial for it. You can download the pattern and instructions here: Ship n’ Sails Mini Tutorial I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

If you have any questions on this pattern feel free to let me know, I am happy to answer. If you are on Instagram share your progress with #shipnsailsmini. I would love to see what you make!

xoxo, Bridgette