My Next Quilt: Claire’s Flowers

I have a newly born third cousin, named Claire Marie, and I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for her.

And I was thrilled to hear that the colors of her nursery were not pastel pinky-lilac-minty-sky. They were, instead, deep, vibrant colors–scarlet, deep yellow, true green and bright blue. I was thrilled because I knew the exact fabrics I wanted to use–I wanted to use the fabrics I had used to make one of Kat’s skirts. They are part of a collection of fabrics designed by Deb Strain, called “Fresh” and they include mod-style flowers, graphical flowers, naturalistic butterflies, polka dots, paisleys and hummingbirds, all in brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow and blue.

The design of the quilt was inspired by the traditional “Log Cabin” quilt block, which is constructed of narrow rectangles of fabric sewn around a central square. These individual blocks are arranged in various ways to create a design of stripes, concentric stripes, zig-zags or medallions. This quilt is just one huge modified log cabin block with the centerpiece being a rectangle instead of a square, and all of the surrounding rectangles cut in different widths. I got the idea for this from a recent quilting magazine–I liked the idea, but didn’t like the fabric they used or the execution fo the design–which was quite plain.

The flowers and vines are my addition–they will be appliqued to the quilt top over the next couple of weeks. I like the contrast between the straight, sleek lines of the patchwork and the sinuous curves of the appliques.

I’ll post more pictures as the work progresses.

2 Comments

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1. I have a lot of crafty love for this piece of usable art. Cheers on a design an execution job well done!

   Comment by starrrie — April 4, 2009 #

2. The quilt is fun and a delight. I might use your idea of the flowers and vines in a quilt top made years ago that sits in my closet. This top was put together at a workshop and never really liked the finished colors. Running vines and colorful flowers around the quilt may just add that spark that is missing. Thanks for the idea.

   Comment by Maureen — April 5, 2009 #

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