Joyfully Quilt - Cornflower Quilt

I have a new favourite quilt, just finished on the weekend! In fact I love it so much I have chosen a special name for my smaller version of Jodi's Cornflower quilt. It's my Joyfully quilt. Just like my previous finish (Ice Cream Soda Quilt), it is entirely hand sewn using the traditional English Paper Piecing method and was designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

This design, along with many others, can be found in Jodi's book, The Seedling Quilts. I love the design of each of the two different blocks, and the interplay of pattern and shape when they are placed together. The sparkling petals of each cornflower block are surrounded by bright near-solid prints, while their various deep blue/black centres provide unity and an anchoring point. Set against two shades of aqua they make my heart happy. The smaller star blocks are so cute, measuring only 10cm/4 inches per side. The deep teal green of the star blocks and binding helps ground the quilt. 

As Jodi began sharing her new quilt designs around the time of her book's release in August 2019, this one stood out to me. I ordered a copy of the book from Jodi, along with the Cornflower kit, which contained all the paper pieces (some were unusual sizes and not available individually), and a set of templates - my first ever quilt kit purchase.

The freshness of the colours in Jodi's Cornflower quilt greatly appealed to me, so I ordered the same Free Spirit solids as she had used - Aqua, Caribbean and Baltic. Then it was time to start searching through my fabric collection to choose suitable pieces for each section. As usual, some of my original choices were removed as I perceived which shades and prints best aided to the overall effect I was aiming for. It's a great project for selectively using small scraps as only tiny bits are needed.

Having two shades of aqua to choose from for the outer ring of each large flower block allowed for a more harmonious finish. Most blocks looked far better against either the lighter or darker shade. There were a few blocks which looked good against both aquas, so I alternated both shades around their edges. The use of two shades through out the quilt adds more colour options as well as providing a greater sense of movement - and keeps the eye guessing as it looks for patterns and points of interest. Similarly, I chose eight blue/black prints from my stash for the deep blue centres of the large blocks - and one of those fabrics (Land Art - Fairy Circles in Navy) provided many different looks with a little fussy cutting.

Another fun aspect of creating this quilt was the opportunity to be totally scrappy or creating unity amongst the 'petals' of each large block. For some I used eight different colours and fabrics, others had two main colours, some had two feature colours with alternating petals of contrasting low volume. Two blocks have all petals of the same fabric. The centre block is one of these 'mono-fabric' blocks, however the fussy cutting again creates a unique block.

Several of my EPP projects have been started in response to upcoming travel/holiday plans. I like to do something creative with my hands every day, even if only to wind down for a few minutes before bedtime (hello basting). When I know there will be time away from home, one of the the first things I like to plan is a portable creative project- and for the last 10 years, EPP has been my first choice. We knew we had a long family road trip commencing late October 2019, so the race was on to have my fabrics were selected, cut and ready to take with me. The small star blocks are especially compact and portable and were my companion, not only on our road trip, but also when away for our children's state and national cricket championship weeks as well as their regular half day matches. I soon designated it as my 'away from home' project. Kitchen containers of various sizes are my project storage choice, keeping everything neatly protected and packable with their lids doubling as a lap tray.

However with the arrival of Covid-19 our times away from home all but disappeared. This project was too cheerful to let linger, waiting for life to return to normal. After finishing one long term EPP quilt (Ice Cream Soda Quilt) and completing another to its current hand quilting stage (Tilda Birds quilt), I decided it was the right time to pick this one up again.

The pattern for the Cornflower quilt finishes at six blocks square. Aesthetically I prefer to have a definite centre block with this pattern and I was beginning to exhausting my on-hand fabric options. I also was more than happy to have a lap quilt size with the option of it being a wall hanging, so it was an easy decision to finish it at five blocks square.

Gathering some momentum, the piecing of the top was finished just in time for our two week Spring homeschool break (a realistic deadline is good incentive for me). The task of completing the quilt was a great at-home holiday project, spurred on by wishing to complete the hand quilting before the heat of our long summer arrives. Again I followed Jodi's choices in hand quilting - with an all over uneven diagonal grid, quite a fast option too. I selected a wadding/batting with scrim to provide stability for the larger quilting free areas. Thankfully I had yardage of a suitable backing fabric purchased years ago - in fact it was almost too pretty to use as a backing, yet a good way to include it as part of a loved quilt.

It was a great feeling to complete the binding over the weekend, before school term begins again today. My Joyfully quilt will live in our main open plan living area all year round - adding pops of joyful colour to my surrounds every day. Thankfully it seems to be a favourite with the rest of the family too. 😊

Quilt Details

Joyfully Quilt

Quilt designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth

Adjusted to be 5 x 5 blocks instead of 6 x 6 blocks

Finished quilt measures 49 inches (125cm) square 

Started: September 2019

Finished: October 2020

Wadding/batting: Legacy 100% cotton with scrim

Quilting thread: Sulky 12 wt cotton #1046

December 2020 UPDATE:

 I had a recent email enquiry regarding order/process of making this quilt. Here is my response which may be helpful if you are wondering how to start your own Cornflower quilt.  :)

 I began by buying the solids I planned to use, then sorting through my fabrics and making piles for possible petals and star segments, another group which were patterned ’solids’ for the squares around the outer ring and a third group of dark blue candidates for the centres. I cut and basted maybe about a third of what I would need then began stitching, fine tuning as I went. 

With the smaller star blocks I mostly alternated a low volume with a bright colour as I stitched the pieces together - or a variety of colours for contrast in each star. I soon saw which fabrics worked best to give the effect I wanted while setting some others aside. The stars proved to be the perfect project to work on when away from home.

For the larger flower blocks I would work on each one individually - starting with the patterned ‘solid’ squares, I would then select which fabric petals suited the ’solid’ squares best. I would lay them all out together on a flat surface then choose which of my dark blue centre pieces looked best in that middle. I would often take a photo to double check it looked good and to remember which order to stitch the petals. Then I would stitch the petals to the centre and work out from there.

I hope this provides you with an idea of how you can stitch yours, however you may find another order suits you better. Happy stitching!