The lovely people at Today’s Quilter have included my latest project in issue 38, which you can find on newsstands now or download digitally, here.
The idea for this quilt has been sitting in my sketchbook for a while and is inspired by an old Laura Ashley wallpaper design called Cottage Sprig , which many of us - of a certain vintage - will recall from our teenage bedrooms. It had a lovely hand-drawn feel which I wanted to reproduce in my block. I’d experimented with bias strips on the bird blocks in my Spellbound Sampler and I realised using bias strips for the stems could give just the impression of flowers dancing across my quilt that I was aiming for.
Chain-piecing my stems...
The little bloom is pieced but, if you had a larger print to showcase, I think this block would work equally well with an simple un-pieced flower. Or you could use solids for a more graphic quilt. My wonderful quilter Jayne, from Quilters Trading Post, suggested a classic stipple design for the quilt, which adds plenty of crinkle without distracting from the simplicity of the design. I absolutely love how it looks and will definitely use it again.
Having used machine appliqué on the quilt I decided to hand appliqué the stems on the matching cushion and then hand quilt it too, which was so relaxing to stitch despite the deadline.
I used a charm pack of Sweet Prairie, by Sedef Imer for Riley Blake, as a starting point for my blooms. The background is an old Tilda favourite. I'm down to scraps of this fabric, but Tilda are releasing some more basics in this lovely soft, warm grey this autumn, so I can stock up again. I'd hate to run out of fabric ;-)
Nicola xx