Bouncing By Quilt Pattern - Story & Coloring Pages

I'm so excited to announce that you can come make this newest quilt with me at a GORGEOUS riverfront vineyard in Tennessee this fall! The retreat is all inclusive - including patterns, workshops, meals, and accommodations! See all the details here.

Because writing and testing a quilt pattern takes so much time, I feel a lot of pressure to choose my next design carefully. Not only do I wonder if I’ll love it as a finished quilt, but I also think about whether you all will, too. There are two sides to this—on one hand, I have to create designs that truly resonate with me. If I just chase trends that don’t align with my style in an effort to boost sales, the process feels uninspired and disconnected. That’s why I intentionally avoid looking at what other pattern designers are doing—I don’t want their ideas influencing mine. Instead, I seek inspiration from my life, my surroundings, and sometimes from traditional quilt blocks, like I did with this quilt.

I love incorporating curves into my designs, and in my mind, the Drunkard’s Path block is the original curve in quilting. So I thought—why not take something classic and make it feel fresh and modern? That idea led to the layout for Bouncing By. What I still love about my original sketch is how the circles don’t all match, and the colors aren’t placed in a rigid pattern. The clean, solid look also speaks to me, and it's got me thinking that I'll be making this quilt again soon!

I wanted to name this pattern Winding Ways to play off of Drunkards' Path or Garden Path, inspired by the floral, bee, and butterfly prints I was using—but both of those names were already taken. I was stuck so I turned to my pattern testers, and Stasi @tennesseequiltretreats suggested Bouncing By, which was absolutely perfect!

Choosing Fabric

For my quilt, I had fabric from my stash all picked out and ready to start cutting when I got an email from Benartex saying that as a 2025 ambassador, I'd have 6 official projects but I could also use their fabric for other projects!!! I'd already had my eye on this Bee Haven fabric line so I immediately made a digital mock up and sent it their way and so glad that I did! The saturated colors worked beautifully in the circles with the tan floral as my background and as a 108" wideback!

I fell in love with this fabric back in October when Rachel Rossi, the designer, stopped by my booth at Quilt Market in Houston. She was so lovely to chat with and shared all about launching her first fabric line with Benartex. The moment I saw her lookbook, I was hooked - flowers, bees, and butterflies in saturated colors!? Yes, please!

One standout feature of this fabric line is the gorgeous gradient panel, which starts with a deep green filled with flowers and transitions through layers of greens, yellows, purples, and blues. I used this panel to create a stunning border, cutting two strips for each side of my quilt and sewing them together top-to-top to create a mirrored effect around the entire quilt. You can see the full border on the cover image, where the entire quilt is pictured. To make it pop even more, I added a narrow purple border inside the panel and echoed that fabric in the binding—perfectly framing the quilt and tying everything together!

Color Options

You know I can never include just one way to color a quilt in a pattern—so for this one, I’ve included two!

Option 1: Scrappy Fun!

This version uses 18 different fabrics in the circles, and I loved these prints from Bee Haven by Rachel Rossi @designsbyrr for Benartex. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! The rich, saturated colors, combined with beautiful coneflowers, bees, and butterflies, make for a stunning quilt. If you have a collection of prints that work well together, this is a fantastic way to showcase them! And if you love these exact fabrics—good news! We managed to snag just enough before they sold out to make kits!

Option 2: A Simplified 5-Color Layout

This version uses five fabrics (or a curated selection of fabrics in five colors) for the circles. The best part? The layout repeats, making fabric placement much easier to plan. This means less guesswork and a smoother piecing process, all of which is clearly laid out in the pattern.

Option 3: The Split Design

Of course, you can always go for the split design from my original sketch! If you do, please, oh please, send me pictures—I’d love to see your take on it!

Making the Quilt - Free YouTube Tutorial

It helps to think about curves like pie. Every pie needs a crust and a filling, just like piecing curves requires both components. But just as an overfilled pie can lead to a “pie explosion!!!” in the oven (a phrase from a darling little girl who watched my curves demo at Road2CA last month), a fabric pie actually needs to be “overfilled” to ensure you have enough fabric for the seam. Keeping this in mind helps with accurate cutting—think of it as making a small hole for a lot of filling. It also makes thinking about stitching easier— sew with the crust on top!

Like all my patterns, this one includes paper templates that work perfectly fine for cutting out this quilt. However, the invention of the rotary cutter, self healing mat, and rulers make lighter work of this step. I was using my Circle Savvy Ruler by Creative Grids (which totally works for this pattern and is include in the instructions) when my pattern tester Sandy showed me the Clammy 10" Ruler by Latifah Saafir - IT IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for this quilt - every shape can be cut out with this ruler!!! This is truly the fastest and easiest way to cut out this quilt. Latifah also shared another game changer - using a rotating cutting mat makes cutting curves even easier! You can see her demonstrate it at 6:10 into the video. https://youtu.be/gARsH6S0HGQ?si=cOta5Q-uadTjO2Fb. So now all three methods are included in the pattern - how to cut with paper templates, the Circle Savvy Ruler, and the Clammy.

I started quilting as a hard core pinner but over time I converted to glue basting and now, I swear by it! 🤣 I love using all sorts of glue but for this quilt I used a Sewline glue pen to glue baste each and every curve. At first I thought glue basting was way too slow but the more I did it (and the more I taught it), the more I fell in love with it for two main reasons:

Accuracy – My fabrics lay flatter, my seam allowances stay more consistent, and my ends always meet perfectly.
Ease of Stitching – I can ease a curved seam together while stitching, but why hassle with it when glue basting makes the process so much smoother?

**Do you see where all three circles meet? That's glue basting in action, not to mention that all the fabrics lay flat. WIN-WIN 🎉**

Quilting Design

This quilt is a perfect canvas for both edge to edge quilting or custom quilting. The large open spaces between the chains of circles were calling out for something special, but I ran out of time and custom quilting is a slow process for me. A quick search for "coneflower edge to edge" led me to the Coneflower Charm Pantograph by Melissa Kelley over at SewThankful.com. Since my longarm isn't computerized, I followed the design by laser and I LOVE how perfectly it compliments the fabrics. One of the things I adore about edge to edge designs is the incredible texture they create. It adds so much dimension to the quilt, and every time I look at it, I can’t help but smile!

Pattern Tester Quilts

What hooked me on quilting—and keeps me here—is the endless creative possibilities. One pattern can lead to so many different quilt variations, and that’s why I love it when my pattern testers ask if they can experiment while testing. My answer is always yes! Their creativity shines in every version they make, and this pattern was no exception.

Stasi @tennesseequiltretreats and Amanda @StitchyMomma were the first to finish their Bouncing By quilts and I was blown away by their enthusiasm. Amanda had her's made before this pattern event had an official name! (Click on any of the following galleries to see the photos bigger) Amanda’s quilt, with its punchy paint splatter fabrics, instantly took me back to my childhood in the ’80s and ’90s.

Since we started testing right before Thanksgiving, Stasi went all in with holiday fabrics, creating a festive take on the design. Both quilts bring me so much joy—they are completely unique and reflect the magic of quilting.

P.S. - Stasi has an incredible retreat center on a RIVERFRONT VINEYARD! Check out the calendar and join in on one of my quilt retreats! This year we are doing this quilt at the vineyard retreat!

Stephanie @theparttimequilter always chooses fabrics that call to me! How fun is this one!?! And the Clammy in the first photo is a game changer! It's so easy to cut out this quilt with it.

Jackie @jackietheaggie, a professional longarmer from Texas, chose Whole Lotta Love fat quarters from Benartex for her version of the quilt. As she worked on it, she said her design wall looked like it was filled with Valentine’s balloons— so perfect for a pattern launching in February! And do you see how she matched the print in the seam!?

Nancy @nlbgolfergirl made her Bouncing By for her daughter in her favorite colors! How sweet is that label!

Kristen @kristensewcrafty said, "Starting to cut today - this pattern is so out of my comfort zone - never done anything like this before". Not much later, she said, "Finished! This pattern is great and I’m so happy I conquered circles!!" Way to go Kristen doing curves - They look amazing! I have to say her clothesline pins with letters on them are genius - I'm sure it made keeping track of which block is which so much easier.

Mollie @madebymoonlight made this pattern pop by using a grid for the background fabric! Not only did she say this is one of her absolute favorite patterns, she said, "Although I am no stranger to curves - this is the first time I glue basted. I'm so glad I took the plunge and did it! The last half of my blocks were such a breeze."

Jill @miss_jilly_quilts made this adorable baby quilt for her new addition to the family! Go momma of three and congrats! Jill always sends me a file of edits, not sure how she finds the time but I'm sure lucky to have her help!

Sandy @mysticansewn is calling her version, "Carry the Fire" That red background makes her quilt so dramatic! Love it!

Cath @cathlmaker stitched up this pattern with such precision - from her coloring page to finished product, I am so in love with her quilt! She went with a thinner sashing to create her window pane look and it's beautiful!

Creating Bouncing By has been such a fun and inspiring journey, from playing with curved piecing, to discovering the Clammy, to watching my pattern testers bring their own unique visions to life. Whether you go scrappy, stick to a repeating color palette, or try something totally unexpected, I can’t wait to see how you make this quilt your own!

If you decide to sew Bouncing By, be sure to tag me on social media or send me photos—I absolutely love seeing your creations! #bouncingbyquilt @SnapdragonQuilting

And if you need a kit, we’ve got a limited number available, so grab one while you can!