Posies and Plaid - lots of pictures to finish this one off

time to stitch the blocks together...

pin basting with cotton batting ...

a variety of hand quilting threads selected for 'Big Stitch' hand quilting...

we had a good run of rainy quilting-and-binding weather...

and my favourite photo in the garden... sunshine after rain is extra special isn't it?

And a bit of a blurb about the quilt? 

I started it in May 2016. It measures approx 70 inches by 78 inches and is my own design. I was initially inspired by an antique quilt spotted in Jane Lury's book (about her antique quilt collecting). The design went off on a tangent - a bunch of tangents really! A few unpickings and alterations later it has ended up as a blend of a few ideas, and a mix of reproduction and modern fabrics. I especially loved experimenting with Big Stitch quilting and a mix of different colours and weights of threads. 

I'm hanging Posies and Plaid in the entrance hall at home and that meant a shift around the house of other quilts. It's always the way that one change leads to another! The guest bedrooms have had a makeover and quilts as bedheads provide a cosy finish. 

I've now got a space on a wall that is just the right size for my Hexagon Star quilt. So it has zoomed up the quilting queue and has just gone in the hoop for hand quilting - again with thin cotton batting. These are half inch hexagons so I think best suited in size and style to traditional (small stitch) quilting. But I'm not planning on dense quilting so am hoping for a relatively quick finish (fingers crossed!). 

 

How many hexagons?

Someone asked but I've no idea. If any body knows a quick formula I might try it but am not going to count them the slow way!

Hexagon Star - top finished.

I have a hand full of hexagons (half inch) left over but am calling this a finish at 56" by 62". It will be a good size for a wall quilt . For now - off to join the others awaiting hand quilting. 

 

I really enjoyed the portability of this project - using zip lock bags to store and organise the pieces. I know some will think it quite mad to be stitching half inch hexagons by English paper piecing (stitch basted), but I found it very relaxing and quite manageable. In fact I found this size hexagon was quite a bit more comfortable to handle than the large 1.25 inch hexagons in my Grandmother's Garden quilt .

Chapman Coverlet

On the rare occasions when I feel like machine stitching I make it a marathon session! The last one got me a bit further ahead with this quilt. Still have a box full of appliqued squares to join and quite a few more rows to go...so here's hoping for another "rare occasion" soon.

Posies and Plaid

I've not posted on my applique quilt design since May last year, for various reasons. A lot of changes have been made and the unpicker has been very busy. For example I have scrapped the original broderie perse centre - it was just too dark and distracting. 

Unpicker at the ready

In keeping with mixing modern fabrics in with the repros, I'm trying to interpret a lot of different traditional elements with a more contemporary feel.  It's not coming easy for me but I'm happier with it now. Don't you hate it when there is a vision but poor execution!

I've had fun with various applique techniques:

But mostly I have needle turned with back basting prep:

Just a little more applique to go and then I'll be stitching the blocks together. Hopefully there won't be too many more changes (LOL) as I'm really looking forward to Big Stitch hand quilting this ...maybe with coloured perle thread. 

Posies and Plaid

I've been slightly obsessed by this quilt at the moment. But the motto has to be "While inspired, grab the moment!". So all other projects have been collecting dust (along with the house). As quilters we've all been there haven't we?!

Just a reminder here's the inspiration for my design. 

from Jane Lury's Meanderings of a quilt collector

Thinking it would be efficient to divide this sort of quilt into sections for ease of construction, I sketched a small plan on graph paper, worked out the sizes of each section and cut pieces of background fabric to match. It will go together like a jigsaw of 19 block pieces. Hmm now where to start? The the fabrics in the centre and in the baskets may dictate the colour/fabric choices for my whole quilt, so I'm working on those first.

I'd selected this urn as my quilt centre and was going to just cut a rectangle like this and plonk it in the middle. But I think the green is too dark for the look I want here and would dominate the quilt. 

So I 've given the urn a lighter background by appliquing ( broderie perse) onto a lighter plaid fabric. 

A little cut out and reverse applique on the urn to remove the initials that were on the print. I'll ink something on there later - maybe a date, maybe my initials? 

Still not sure I love the irregular outline but will leave it for now till more quilt grows around it. 

So that's a start to the centre and gives me a 'look' to work around for the rest of the quilt plan. 

I sketched some preliminary applique designs. Then, using my lightpad, traced the design onto the back of the background fabric - ready for back basting and needleturn applique:

I made oodles of 1/4 inch bias (with a Clover bias maker ) and pinned a basket. This was fun weaving all the unders and overs! 

I've been mixing some modern fabrics in amongst my repros and love the look of them - including oldish Kaffe Fassett's and a Liberty print. You might be able to pick them out in the close up flower pictures?

That's one basket done. There will be three more to go on my quilt but I'm moving on to work on another section now...

The antique quilt has a plaid border (with a strong, dark stripe through it) around the central design - and I particularly like that feature. Well, I searched high and low in the stash, and found quite a few little green pieces to use elsewhere on the quilt, but none seem quite right for my border! How often does that happen?! 

But I did find a stripe repro that will suit me very well - phew - crisis averted! There was just enough in the piece to cut the four borders - double phew!

More bias was made - 3/8inch this time. 

I pressed the creases at quarter spacing along the border strip to help with placement of the bias vine. No design drawing is needed this way - you just decide the spacing of the peaks/troughs and press the creases at those points. It's quite easy to wiggle the bias into a curve and pin it in place. 

These borders will forever be associated with the Giro D'Italia (bike race) - I have been watching hours of recorded replays while stitching. Wonderful scenery makes it hard to beat the 'armchair touring' through the Netherlands and Italy!

It is almost farewell to Autumn in the garden. With a series of very windy days  the colourful leaves are disappearing fast! Hopefully the red and green King Parrots will still visit to brighten things up through winter :)