Sunset Garden Recap

Thank you for the wonderful feedback so many of you have given on my Wholehearted quilt finish shared a couple of days ago which was made entirely of organic hemp/cottons and organic cottons by Umbrella Prints. I do enjoy creating a wide variety of quilt styles.    :)

Today I'm sharing an abridged version of the story of my Sunset Garden quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, entering in the Large Quilt's section. If you are looking for quilt inspiration this biannual online Festival is a great place to start with hundreds of quilts amongst the 11 categories.

You can find the full story of Sunset Garden in this post from last month, written when it was just completed. 

My primary inspiration was this quilt by Blue Elephant Stitches which took my eye quite some time ago. However I liked the idea of using all solid backgrounds and larger blocks. I set to work fiddling with size and construction ideas based on Blue Elephant Stitches' similar 'liberated stars' quilt here. I planned the sizing and cutting layouts to require only a fat quarter of each solid and a fabric piece 10" x 17 1/2" for each print/star fabric (you could cut  two 'stars' from a printed fat quarter). This allows for generous seams too.

My stars are neither 'wonky' nor precise sawtooth stars. I chose to enjoy the journey and eyeball much of my sewing, calling them 'relaxed' stars, while making sure all centre point 'V's' were complete, not clipped off, and ensuring a good margin of solid all the way around the star points for easy seams and later hand quilting. 

Using heavy 12wt cotton thread I machine quilted along the seam lines of each block to secure the quilt well. At this point I trimmed and added the binding.

Then began my favourite part - hand quilting in contrasting silk threads! A perfect winter slow sewing activity.

 The quilt after washing, line drying and finishing on low in the dryer to help soften and smooth the delicious crinkles.

My youngest three children volunteered to hold the quilt for me, for it is quite large. Each finished block is about 14 1/2" square with the complete quilt measuring 58" x 73" (147cm x 185cm).

I had wondered whether to keep this quilt or offer it for sale in my Etsy shop. It was my husband who voted that we keep it, even he likes the saturated colours! So keep it we did! It is currently in use on our bed on top of Sunlit Treasure, our full size queen quilt, to give extra warmth on our cooler spring nights.

Wholehearted Quilt

I have a new favourite quilt! Every fabric used in my Wholehearted quilt is designed by Umbrella Prints, a small Australian textile house which specialises in GOTS certified organic printed fabrics. You may be familiar with Umbrella Prints from their annual Trimmings Competition.

The initial inspiration for this quilt was Shelby's Quarter Squared quilt. However instead of creating pattern from piecing solids I wanted to achieve a variety of effects using a small number of versatile prints. The eye-catching 'Grand Hearts in Smokey Black' by Umbrella Prints seemed a good choice as a focal point. This fabric has been carefully cut and used in four different ways - as the central motif, a thin inner border, a wide strip of chocolate-drop shapes along top and bottom and also for a narrow binding.

Of the seven different fabrics used, two are regular quilting weight (Fanflower on Clay, Brush Strokes on Olive Gold) while the other five have been screen printed by hand in Australia onto a heavier weight organic base fabric of 55% hemp/45% cotton (230 gsm). These hemp/cotton fabrics have a sturdy thick/compact texture with a low tendency to fray. They are also quite soft to the hand and iron well. The Perfect Circles floral above has a slightly rougher/looser texture than all the other hemp/cottons.

Using thicker 12wt threads for all the piecing adds durability to this quilt of mixed fabric weights.

Machine quilting along each seam (in the ditch) holds everything firmly in place. Again I used colour matched 12wt threads, paired with a regular cotton thread in the bobbin for minimal visibility on the back. 

Then the pleasure of hand quilting began. The central heart was quilted using two strands of each DMC 924 and 930 mixed together. All other quilting was done using DMC's strong Cebelia 30 which is often used for crochet. Much of the quilt is simple straight line quilted, accentuating the classic Courthouse Steps design. Other sections are quilted following the lines of the printing to highlight individual fabrics. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to hand quilt the thicker hemp/cotton fabrics. The texture which hand quilting produces is wonderful to the eye and the hand.

Grand Hearts in Smokey Black was my first choice for binding but I had reservations about binding in this heavier weight fabric - would it give a finish which was too stiff? Then I had the idea of using single fold binding instead of the usual double fold! It worked perfectly giving the thin line edge I was after, firm enough to support the edge yet soft enough to still drape nicely. 

I find the screen prints quite fascinating to look at. The colour of the Smokey Black Grand Hearts can appear black, green, indigo or blue according to the light and angle. The white print of the Perfect Circles floral can blend in, being almost invisible, or stand out as if glowing, depending on how the light hits it. 

It took the longest time to decide how to quilt these grand heart/drops. The expanse of screen printed ink makes the fabric a little stiff and I didn't want to spoilt the luscious puffiness of smokey black. I chose to hand quilt around the outside of the heart/drops in the Cecelia, however as my organic batting has no scrim, a little more quilting was needed to hold it securely. In the end I have decided to blind quilt each one (is that such a thing) using doubled regular cotton thread to echo quilt from the back, stitching through the backing and batting only, not penetrating the front/top at all.

So that's the story of Wholehearted. There is so much about this very Australian quilt which I treasure and I have thoroughly enjoyed creating it from start to finish - definitely a keeper!

Sharing at Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival:

Small Quilt section (Finished size 54" x 56")
Just completed, it's been my creative focus for the last four weeks.

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Pink Ohio Star Quilt

My Pink Ohio Star quilt has been a pleasure to sew. With soft pinks and greys and highlights of golden mustard, these organic fabrics have been a delight to work with. A huge Ohio Star block provides enough focus and structure without competing with the delicate prints. I chose to gently machine quilted all over with a 2 1/2" grid, fitting perfectly with the size of the star pieces. The addition of a quilted diamond in the centre of the star emphasises the design. 

A perfect toddler/baby girl quilt in a generous crib/cot size of 41" x 61". Although I have been blessed with six daughters of my own, they were all past toddler stage before I taught myself to quilt. I do love sewing baby/toddler quilts, they are so satisfying and beautiful. This quilt was made for my Etsy shop so another family can love and use it. All certified organic fabrics and organic batting of course.  :)  More details are available in the Etsy listing here.

Sunset Garden Quilt

These warm, rich colours are the ones I long to be surrounded by during our cooler winter days. It was the July school holidays and I was itching to sew, to create something from fabric. Digging deep into my stash, reliving memories of past quilts, I teamed up favourite warm prints with rich solids (some of which I had just bought on a Spotlight sale of $1 per solid fat quarter). There was a mix of organic and conventional cottons, shot cottons and plain solids - whatever I had on hand. Soon I had gathered enough for around 20 pairings (the lime green black moths on the left below was the only block to not make the final selection).

My primary inspiration was this quilt by Blue Elephant Stitches which took my eye quite some time ago. However I liked the idea of using all solid backgrounds and larger blocks. I set to work fiddling with size and construction ideas based on Blue Elephant Stitches' similar 'liberated stars' quilt here. I planned the sizing and cutting layouts to require only a fat quarter of each solid and a fabric piece 10" x 17 1/2" for each print/star fabric (you could cut  two 'stars' from a printed fat quarter). This allows for generous seams too.

My stars are neither 'wonky' nor precise sawtooth stars. I chose to enjoy the journey and eyeball much of my sewing, calling them 'relaxed' stars, while making sure all centre point 'V's' were complete, not clipped off, and ensuring a good margin of solid all the way around the star points for easy seams and later hand quilting. 

Using heavy 12wt cotton thread I machine quilted along the seam lines of each block to secure the quilt well. At this point I trimmed and added the binding, finishing the back by hand, so it was more manageable to hand quilt and preventing the batting leaving light cotton lint all over the dark fabrics.

Then began my favourite part - hand quilting in contrasting silk threads! A perfect winter slow sewing activity. Last year I had bought many Gutermann R 753 Buttonhole silks at greatly reduced prices on eBay, stock from a small  fabric shop which had closed. As far as I know these silks are no longer sold in Australia at all, which is quite sad. Magenta was the only colour I was missing for this quilt, so I used three strands of DMC stranded embroidery thread in that colour from my cross stitch collection of years/decades ago. Perle cotton would work just as well.

After trial and error I found it best to draw my quilting lines with a ruler and Sewline Air Erasable Fabric Pen, one small section at a time. The lines disappear somewhere between ten minutes and two days, depending largely on the amount of moisture in the air. This pen worked well, even on the darker colours, which were easier to work on by daylight. I reserved quilting the lighter colours for night times.

Monday morning I completed the quilting, Tuesday the quilt was washed, line dried and finished on low in the dryer to help soften and smooth the delicious crinkles.

Yesterday my youngest three volunteered to hold the quilt for me, for it is quite large. Each finished block is about 14 1/2" square with the complete quilt measuring 58" x 73" (147cm x 185cm).

The batting is Hobbs 100% Organic Cotton made in the USA. The backing is a combination of two Sarah Watson prints for Cloud 9 Fabrics, GOTS certified organic cotton. The feature print, one of my all time favourites, is Biology which is now sadly out of print. It is bordered by Wild Strawberry in Gray, part of Sarah's current Garden Secrets collection, which is thankfully available at Spotlight in Australia. For the binding I chose Butterflies in Navy from Geninne's Moody Blues collection, also now out of print but still available in some Spotlight stores, including our local store  :)

Late yesterday, just after sun down, I had a wonderful time taking photos of my Sunset Garden quilt, in my garden. I do believe the name suits it well. I have been wondering whether to keep this quilt or offer it for sale. This morning my husband voted that we keep it, even he likes the saturated colours! So keep it we will.  :)


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Peaceful Night Complete - Again

Today

October 2014

Have you ever put countless hours of thought and effort into a special project only to later discover that it had a 'fatal' flaw?  Every time we air or wash the twin's Musical Stairs quilt I berate myself for having used a soft polyester batting (middle layer) as its fibres gradually work their way through the quilt front and back and make an increasingly ugly furry, pilled mess. Quilters refer to this undesirable attribute as 'bearding'. It was some months later that it dawned on me that I had used the same batting in my treasured Peaceful Night quilt - the one I designed, carefully cut the papers for, painstakingly hand stitched together and proceeded to hand quilt with precious silk threads! I triumphantly finished Peaceful Night over 18 months ago, with the two photos directly above shared in October 2014, as the jacarandas bloomed.

After trying to ignore the bearding issue, hoping it wasn't really true, I contemplated not using Peaceful Night, instead keeping it pristine, as a one-day wall/display quilt. But that wouldn't really do. I want my quilts to be used and loved for decades, not hidden away or thrown away due to becoming an ugly bearded mess. With great reluctance I finally acknowledged this quilt deserved to be remade with organic cotton batting, ready to confidently face being used and loved.

The hardest part was actually beginning to undo all those beautiful stitches..... I knew the backing fabric wouldn't quite fit again, I had questions about the binding and wondered if I even had enough silk threads for a second round of hand quilting. I plunged in, determined to cross each hurdle in time.

I found a beautiful fresh piece of organic fabric in matching colours for the backing, a length of Nancy Mims' Pick a Bunch which I had bought from the US back in 2011- a very happy realisation! I also discovered I had bought extra silk threads in my favourite colours back in 2014, plus I still had a little more of the binding fabric on hand. As I tucked the 'old' backing neatly away on my fabric shelf for another project, I quickly fell in love with the 'new' quilt, hand quilting with silks all over again.

It has actually been quite a pleasure to spend time with this treasure again. The binding needed extending by about an inch when it was reattached - I guess the quilt top must have relaxed and stretched just a little through the remake process. The quilting is exactly as before except that I added a round of single stitches to the centre of each star, like little spokes, to help secure these diagonally cut pieces for long term durability.

This afternoon Master T served patiently as quilt holder in front of my favourite local Moreton Bay fig tree which is close to the centre of town, while appearing to be a million miles away in the domain of gnomes and hobbits.....Wishing everyone a Peaceful Night! I know I sleep a little easier knowing Peaceful Night now has the happy ending it deserves.