Ginger Bliss. Mmm, savour that name! It should come as no secret that I like fabric, but I rarely have the kind of reaction I experienced when seeing Amy Butler's Ginger Bliss collection for the first time - it was love at first sight! I just knew I had to have some. It seemed I was rather late in discovering it, because Free Spirit Fabrics had already placed it among their "previous collections" since Amy Butler's Charm range was being launched. The Charm range didn't do it for me, it was that Ginger Bliss I craved. Thank goodness for the internet (Weeell, I wouldn't have discovered it at all if it hadn't been for the 'net...) - several quiltshops later I could sit back with my smoking credit card and wait for those first parcels to arrive in the mail. I only found a few here and a few there, so I ended up buying from five different shops and one doesn't just order one or two pieces of fabric from one shop now, does one? I ended up with yards and yards of the stuff - and it was lovely - pure bliss!
I played around with different ideas for a quilt, but decided to keep it simple to let the fabric shine on it's own. This is what I ended up with: a simple block pattern of squares and rectangles:
It was quite difficult to get a good photo of it from a distance, and this one seems a bit blurred, but I quite like it anyway - it reminds me of that special afternoon light in Italy. And it just occurs to me that there is a kind of Italian feel to the fabric as well - I remember when my grandparents returned from a holiday in Italy when I was five, they brought back lovely floral scarves for all the women in the family, and my gran had bought a new dress in a fabric not unlike that turquoise with the large flowers. They were so thrilled with their holiday and all the things they had seen and experienced, and yet so happy to be back with their family. Maybe some of the happiness of that day far away has something to do with my instant love for these fabrics?
Well it doesn't really matter, just another reason for me to ramble along so I can share as many pictures as I like of this quilt;-) The one above shows the fabric I used for the border on the other side, which is, in fact, not an Amy Butler, but Kaffe Fasset's Lotus Leaf in pastel.
Yes, I'll call it "the other side" of the quilt, and not the back, because after trying out different ideas I ended up with two sets of blocks - enough to make two quilts, really. However, I decided that one was enough, so I made it a reversible one instead. Here's the block I used on the other side, a kind of free cut nine-patch using the stack and slash-method: four pieces of fabric, four random cuts and then I moved the top fabric from the four side pieces to the bottom af the stack before piecing together the four blocks. I machine quilted it all in pink thread with loose florals and swirls, and after going on about it for so long I bet it comes as no surprise that I'm quite happy with the way it turned out ;-)
So now it's ready to be used on my sofa where I can curl up with my sewing in
this basket. Quite stylish, n'est pas?
Ginger Bliss. Mmm, savour that name! It should come as no secret that I like fabric, but I rarely have the kind of reaction I experienced when seeing Amy Butler's Ginger Bliss collection for the first time - it was love at first sight! I just knew I had to have some. It seemed I was rather late in discovering it, because Free Spirit Fabrics had already placed it among their "previous collections" since Amy Butler's Charm range was being launched. The Charm range didn't do it for me, it was that Ginger Bliss I craved. Thank goodness for the internet (Weeell, I wouldn't have discovered it at all if it hadn't been for the 'net...) - several quiltshops later I could sit back with my smoking credit card and wait for those first parcels to arrive in the mail. I only found a few here and a few there, so I ended up buying from five different shops and one doesn't just order one or two pieces of fabric from one shop now, does one? I ended up with yards and yards of the stuff - and it was lovely - pure bliss!
I played around with different ideas for a quilt, but decided to keep it simple to let the fabric shine on it's own. This is what I ended up with: a simple block pattern of squares and rectangles:
It was quite difficult to get a good photo of it from a distance, and this one seems a bit blurred, but I quite like it anyway - it reminds me of that special afternoon light in Italy. And it just occurs to me that there is a kind of Italian feel to the fabric as well - I remember when my grandparents returned from a holiday in Italy when I was five, they brought back lovely floral scarves for all the women in the family, and my gran had bought a new dress in a fabric not unlike that turquoise with the large flowers. They were so thrilled with their holiday and all the things they had seen and experienced, and yet so happy to be back with their family. Maybe some of the happiness of that day far away has something to do with my instant love for these fabrics?
Well it doesn't really matter, just another reason for me to ramble along so I can share as many pictures as I like of this quilt;-) The one above shows the fabric I used for the border on the other side, which is, in fact, not an Amy Butler, but Kaffe Fasset's Lotus Leaf in pastel.
Yes, I'll call it "the other side" of the quilt, and not the back, because after trying out different ideas I ended up with two sets of blocks - enough to make two quilts, really. However, I decided that one was enough, so I made it a reversible one instead. Here's the block I used on the other side, a kind of free cut nine-patch using the stack and slash-method: four pieces of fabric, four random cuts and then I moved the top fabric from the four side pieces to the bottom af the stack before piecing together the four blocks. I machine quilted it all in pink thread with loose florals and swirls, and after going on about it for so long I bet it comes as no surprise that I'm quite happy with the way it turned out ;-)
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3 comments :
Ooh, lovely! And finished...which is even better! ;-)
Mathea, This is just lovely! I think you were right to let the fabric speak for itself. I can understand why you fell in love with that collection.
I love those fabrics too and I think you have used them to beautiful effect.
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