Monday 3 June 2013

Learning curves …


When I posted about a quilt for spring, Sue commented that there perhaps ought to be one for summer and then autumn. I'm thinking that my latest quilt ticks the box for summer. Laid out, it is a field of flowers.




This is probably my most ambitious quilt to date, both in terms of size (it is a whopping 80" square) and in technique. Way back when, my to do list looked like this:





In between other projects, a sewing machine service that kept me and my trusty machine apart for a total of four weeks and a myriad of other excuses, I finally sussed it out.






I have used my favourite fabric collection EVER - Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt and I ordered the fat quarter collection from Fabricworm as soon as the legacy reprint collection was released, far too impatient to wait for its UK debut. I had collected pieces of the original collection over the years and have incorporated a few of them into the quilt as well as used one of them for the binding.








I felt reluctant to drag this quilt through my machine to quilt it and am so glad I opted to hand-quilt, using my perle threads, around each flower. I love the way it highlights the negative space in between.





If I could ever pick my top fabric, I think it would have to be this bouquet print in this aqua colour way. To me, it is perfect and I only wish I had more.




The finishing touch was a more elaborate than usual label to which I added a tiny bit of the selvedge plus a scrap to back the whole thing.








This quilt is now on my bed, having relegated my ripple crochet blanket to its summer home, and is adding another welcome splash of colour to my predominantly white bedroom. As ever, I can feel some pillows coming on … that's if I can drag myself out of the garden and back into my sewing room.

10 comments:

  1. it's gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous.

    where did you get the template for the curve?

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  2. It is beautiful. And just to let you know, there was some Flea Market fancy on sale (£14?/m) at Ray Stitch. Just in case the lovely quilt depleted your stocks too much...

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  3. ooh amazing curves girl! your stitching is soo neat. learning curves are good, especially giving yourself permission to make mistakes. lots of love G x

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  4. how funny... i only just saw that you had posted on my blog after i had left a comment here. we must be in synch today : ) thank you for your comment and yes... go play with that macro lens xx

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  5. oh it looks wonderful finished!

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  6. It's lovely and yes, very summery.

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  7. It is breathtaking Tracy, BREATHTAKING! What a wonderful thing to wake up to each morning - if it was on my bed, I'd find getting up in the morning even harder! I love the hand stitched detailing around each coloured section - that works so well and the fabrics and colour choices are everything we have come to expect from you - absolutely perfect and completely inspired! Yes, pillows are necessary I think :)

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  8. Oh good gracious. It's utterly wonderful. You must be THRILLED with it. The colours are so bright and cheery and the curves are voluptuous and swoon-making.

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  9. Speaking of Youtube videos - since you've convinced me to handquilt this Liberty stars quilt - ALL YOUR FAULT - you could at least give me some idea as to HOW.

    I am over here browsing thimbles online and damning your name to hell.

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  10. Flickr isn't showing me the top image. I'm sure the quilt's lovely because that's what the details show, but I'm guessing I'm not seeing a pic of the whole thing :(

    I am always in awe of you quilting girls with a prodigious output, i.e more than one quilt in a year, I struggled to manage one quilt in ten years!

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