Sunshiny Day Quilt

It's always a great sense of accomplishment when you finish a quilt, often tinged with a little sadness knowing the journey is over. I definitely feel this way about my Sunshiny Day Quilt which was completed yesterday.

I'm incredibly grateful Jodi (Tales of Cloth) approached me about being one of her volunteers to stitch some blocks prior to the release of this quilt, her club/quilt-along for this year. I'm also pleased she is happy for people to add their own twist to her designs. The original pattern has 48 blocks and no borders. As you can see, mine has only 25 blocks and a fun border.

This is my first ever quilt with circles, yet there are NO curves to stitch! Each block is hand stitched using English Paper Piecing (EPP), then appliquéd by hand onto a background square, with the squares later being machine sewn into a quilt top. A wonderful combination - all the fun of creating EPP blocks, without the arduous task of stitching them together. Not only that, but this quilt includes three slightly different circle patterns - Dawn, Noon and Dusk, allowing for even more possibilities.

I chose fabrics from my collection which met my 'sunshiny' criteria, aiming for a quilt to give a little sunshine every time I look at it. Early in the year I settled on a border option, so I made a start and cut fabrics for these 2" eight point diamonds and 2" half-square triangles. The border stitching was perfect for those times when I needed a more portable option and didn't want to be making lots of fabric choices.

Lustrous silk thread in sapphire blue (Gutermann R 753 silk, colour 960) was my choice for hand quilting around each circle and little square, as well as one internal 'star' row of stitching inside each circle block. At this point I decided the centres of the Dawn and Noon blocks needed some definition. I used any colour matching fine thread, making tiny stitches along the seam line to be 'invisible'.

Eventually I settled on Perle 8 cotton in a deeper golden shade (DMC 741) to hand quilt the borders. This is a thicker thread than I usually use (often a Sulky 12 wt) however I thoroughly enjoyed the stitching and the effect. I can see more Perle 8 in my future!

 

I do believe Sunshiny Day is my favourite quilt ever - and my husband's also. Another great design by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. Remember, her original varies from this - it has 48 blocks and no border. My background squares are slightly larger too. Jodi has mentioned the possibility of releasing her Sunshiny Day Quilt as a kit/pattern in late November this year - I would highly recommend it.

PS If you look closely you will see the same fabric in my centre block used for the mini corner circles and the backing. You may also notice a little 'cross' of four sunflower blocks and other minor features to keep one looking 😊🌻🌞

Quilt Details

Sunshiny Day Quilt 

Designed by Jodi Godfrey - with my alterations as mentioned above

54"/137cm Square

Started November 2020

Completed August 2021

Legacy natural cotton wadding with scrim

Filigree Stars Quilt

This quilt is the result of curiosity and playfulness. It is another quilt combining hand stitched English Paper Piecing (EPP), appliqué and machine stitching. Each star is made from only two shapes, 2" point diamonds and 2" five point diamonds, the same shapes Jodi used in her Rosemary Quilt from The Seedling Quilts book. 

For the star centres I fussy cut pieces from two different patterned cotton poplin fabrics. With 10 points meeting in each centre, a lightweight fabric worked much better than regular weight quilting fabric. These stars came together quickly and I greatly enjoyed the process.

I machine sewed low volume four-patch backgrounds for each star. After hand appliquéing each 'filigree' star, I cut away the centre of the background block to allow each finished block to sit more evenly. Then it was time to quickly machine sew the completed blocks together.

The four internal intersections of the completed blocks are covered with hand pieced and appliquéd 4 point stars (long sides 3.5"). The quilt seemed too bare without something in these large open areas. I will admit it was quite tricky to fold and appliqué those four star points neatly!

A colourful, narrow, pieced border was added followed by a wider pieced border of low volume prints. I really like the finish this gave the quilt.

The hand quilting was another opportunity to explore new ideas with some embroidery style stitching. This effectively secured the quilt while adding a little embellishment too. I outline quilted each large and small star, then ghost quilted the partial four point stars around the edges of the quilt.

The autumn tones of this quilt deserved a thicker wadding/batting for added warmth. For now it's another wonderful household addition, very useful in the cooler days. The generous sized stars add lovely visual warmth too.

Quilt Details

Filigree Stars Quilt

my own design

61"/155cm square

Started early March 2021

Finished late May 2021

Legacy Natural Wadding with scrim

Rivendell Quilt

It's time to share some recent quilt finishes! Sewing is a thread which winds through most of my weeks, whether it be making myself needed clothes, or more often, working on a long term quilt project.

In mid December Hayley of Spring Daisy Stitchery approached me about pattern testing for her upcoming Rivendell Quilt, a machine pieced and English Paper Piecing (EPP) appliqué combination quilt. It's a design which can look quite different according to your fabric choices and placement. 

The no-fuss, EPP component was just right for the busy holiday season ahead so I said 'Yes'. Being mid-summer I decided on a cool gelato palette set against clean white. All the colours are homespun fabrics selected at my local Spotlight, however I chose to use sturdier, higher quality Kona cotton for the white background. 

The simple stitching of the EPP flowers was a pleasure, just right for the busy Christmas season and also for our trip away to Tamworth for the girl's cricket in January. I'm much more content spectating for four days of cricket if I have some stitching to keep my hands occupied! I also took some other quilting projects with me - more on that soon. (The blue fabrics were purchased at Stitches Between the Bridges, my treat for the week.)

 

I chose to hand appliqué the EPP flowers to their backgrounds instead of machine sewing. Once appliquéd I carefully cut away the background fabric so it wouldn't show through the EPP and to remove the extra bulk, especially with regards to the machined seams.

In keeping with the summer feel of the quilt, I used a new white flannelette sheet for the middle layer, instead of batting/wadding. I machine quilted the outline of the block stars, then hand quilted the EPP flowers.

"We'll use it until it's old and faded and stained" said one teen daughter. "I hope so" was my reply 😊 The plan is for my Rivendell Quilt to be an everyday quilt for the media room. Just the right size for one or two and a lovely light weight quilt, perfect for at least half the year in our climate. This is a pattern which comes together very quickly compared to most EPP quilts - which also means I am more than happy for it to be freely used however the family wishes.

Quilt Details

Rivendell Quilt pattern by Spring Daisy Stitchery

57"/145cm square

Started December 2020

Finished February 2021

Homespun solids and Kona White

Cotton flannel (new bedsheet) for middle layer

Hand quilting - Sulky 12wt in white