Currently Stitching: Parlor County Fair

September 22, 2025

Today I'm trying out a new layer cake and a new pattern! I've had my eye on this "County Fair" pattern, by Cut Loose, for some time. I've been trying to be good about buying patterns with fabric in mind, instead of just adding to my collection of unused patterns. So when this new fabric line came in at work, I finally got to use it!

It's called Parlor! Truthfully, my first thought was my grandma's Tupperware collection... But once I flipped through the pack, I realized there was a lovely variety of florals and modern-ish fabrics. The colors are so bright and cheery, and will look great in these flower petal style blocks.

I pulled out some backing that's from a retired line that offered similar colors. Then I went hunting for a blender to bring all the craziness together! I decided to use this spotted creamy color. It adds a bit of texture along with the much needed cohesiveness. I also stumbled across this mild blue green dotty fabric when I was looking around. I will be using it for the binding.

So far we've only gotten the pre-cuts and are still waiting for the rest of the line. That's the main reason I'm not using something from the collection for binding or backing.

This is not my pattern, so I can't share instructions or measurements. But I'll walk you through my process of putting this together!

I started out by sorting out some of the fabrics, it doesn't require the entire layer cake. Then I got all the pieces cut up according to the pattern. It was pretty straight forward and I got it knocked out pretty quick! I always get excited once everything is cut up and laid out.

As I was getting ready to start piecing, I drew two lines on the cornerstones instead of one. I sewed on both lines and cut down the middle. This way I can make all the half square triangles in to blocks as I'm working instead of putting the little triangles in a baggy and stuffing them away. Whenever I see a project where I know a bunch of blocks are going to be snow balled, I try to do it this way. It saves so much time down the road.

Of course, it means it adds some time to the project because I have to trim all these little half square triangles. Funny how that works. It's still always worth the extra effort.

Once I got through some of these first sets, I started pressing the parts of the blocks. Then I gathered the other necessary pieces to put them together. I like to chain piece this sort of project a lot. I generally set up a "nest" around myself so I can sew, iron, trim, and repeat! It helps it not feel monotonous.

From that point on it was pretty much just repetition until all the blocks were ready.

It was such a joy to put all these colors come together. As simple as it is, it's very happy to look at!

Once all the blocks were built, I put them up on the design wall.

I like to take a picture of and then leave it overnight. I can think it over a little this way and see how it looks from multiple angles. I try to make sure I don't have similar colors or patterns next to each other. Or too many of the same thing in a row or column. It'll sew up pretty quickly after this!

As intended, I did end up with all these adorable half square triangles! I think I'm going to make a pillow out of them. Here's the shave/ trim pile... ugh....