Quilt garden
This quilt
has a long history. It started out at least 12 years ago. I had seen a quilt
called “Leanne’s House” on an Australian site and thought it was lovely, with a
combination of embroidery, appliqué and pieced blocks, but the colours weren’t
quite “me”. Then I came across a booklet of garden themed embroidery patterns
and decided to make my own.
For years my take-along sewing to quilt meetings
and such were these little patches backed with a thin layer of batting and
embroidery floss in bright pastels. I was teased relentlessly about my
never-ending work, but was determined to enjoy the process and not rush
anything.
At the same
time I was plotting and planning the layout of the quilt itself. I had
originally planned on making 12 20” blocks, but after lots of revising and
redrafting I ended up with a 9-block layout, making it a 60x60” square quilt.
Once the embroidery blocks were finished I started on the appliqué and the same
teasing ensued – what never ending quilt was I working on now? – nobody realized
it was the same one! I plodded on and went along with the jokes on my behalf,
but eventually I got to the point where all the appliqué was done and the
piecing could begin.
That part didn’t take that long, and using a drawing app
on my iPad as a tool to keep track of what I had finished and what needed to be
sewn next, I finished my nine blocks and put them together. I used fabric to
match the floss I had used in the stitched blocks.
The leftovers were pieced
for the backing. I did a lot of freehand quilting in green rayon thread, making
up patterns as I went along. After finishing it with a dark green binding I
should have been done, but no, I wasn’t quite there yet.
Now on most
of the quilts I have seen with stitchery on them, the stitchery-blocks have
been left unquilted, but with my dense quilting on the rest of the quilt, this
didn’t seem right, so I ended up adding some more stitches by hand. A
scattering of seed stitches in cream floss on the cream coloured background
gave just the effect I wanted, and I got there in the end.
When I
started this quilt I had my middle sister in mind. She’s a keen gardener and
the theme seemed just right for her. However, her decorating style changed
along the way, going into the gray and neutral spectrum and I began thinking
that her tastes had changed so much that she wouldn’t like it. I needn’t have
worried though: when she happened to see it while I was working on it this
spring she jokingly said: “I hope that one’s for me!” Bingo! The surprise and
joy when she opened her birthday present from me was really worth all the
effort. It was hard to give away such a labour of love, but I know it has gone
to the right home!
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