Friday, November 18, 2016

Liberty Color Wheel {Quilt}


This quilt.  It has quite a story!
 In 2009, I bought the book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts at the store when I was about 12 weeks pregnant with our Jamie Lynn
 I never imagined when I picked it up that I would end up laid up a lot during that pregnancy and reading that book.  Over and over. Some of the projects gave me such a feeling of productivity by making quick quilt items when I was feeling super low and unmotivated.  
 It was, basically, the book that made me see that quilting might bring me solace during my grief journey.  A therapy of sorts.

The one thing I always knew is that I wanted to really make the color wheel quilt!  I always envisioned a scrappy one, but never seemed to be particularly motivated to make one because didn't really have a home for it.


Then, on my 40th birthday, my husband sent me to New York City with our oldest son, two years ago. It's a super long story, but it worked out for him to go with me and we have now established that our family will be doing a Mother-Son trip with each of our sons when they turn 18, just like we do a Father-Son trip when they are 16.  

Josh and I did all the normal sightseeing, but I had to stop at Purl Soho knowing how much that book meant to me. I also always try to pick up a little bit of fabric as a souvenir when I travel.


I was delighted to see that they had bundles all worked out for a Color Wheel Quilt! I chose the Liberty London bundle because we had just visited the Statue of Liberty.
And lets be real,  its beautiful!


After we moved into our new home last year, I realized I had the perfect wall just for the quilt in my studio. After renovations started dying down and the dust settled? I felt compelled to finally make the quilt, one beautiful spring day. 

It was painful to break up the bundle, but I persevered and cut the pieces keeping them in order.


But the good news?  I still have enough to do another quilt!!! 
I'm planning a Flowering Snowball for our "pretty" room since I rainbowtized my library bookcases!!


After cutting, assembly went really well.
I used Kona Snow as my background because the white finishes in my room are a soft, not harsh, white. And it seemed happier with the prints. 


I was surprised how quickly I had a finished top! It seriously goes under the "quick" heading.
I then wondered why I hadn't started it sooner?


I did some quilting sketches for quite a long time.  I really wanted it to be "right" before I ever loaded it up on Ole Betsy.


I knew right away that I wanted to emphasize the quadrants with geometric versus organic themes.  But always using pebbles as a consistent background.



I started at the top left making free motion flowers.
Hindsight, I wish I had looked for more flower motifs and had made sure I did some really solid echo lines around them because some really got lost in the pebbles.


I moved over to the top right to make circles.  I thought it was going to be the most difficult quadrant, but it proved to be the most fun for me!

 
Geometric versus organic...


In the bottom left corner I chose squares, but with the consistent background of pebbles throughout.  I didn't really think about how tricky they would be, but I let go and tried not to be too perfect, because the more perfect I tried to be, the more wonky they got!


I went with feathers in the bottom right corner.
 I love the nod to traditional, but the ability to make them fun and crazy.


The wheel itself was a close to the seam, but not quite in the ditch quilting.  


I was looking for a trapunto effect.


Which certainly helps when you use double batting.
 It was the first time I layered two cotton battings for a quilt and I have done it again since.
I can't resist.  All the texture!!!!


I chose a backing that was a french text/pictorial print.  I really wanted something that felt like a long ago London gal picked up some French Parisian textiles for her home.  The binding was more Kona Snow.


I just adore it in my sitting area in the studio. This is where Button plays (see toy house above), where I sit and unpick my quilts (a lot), occasionally do my hand-stitching and crosstitch. More often than not, where Button and I snuggle and fall asleep.

  It's amazing to see it up on the wall, right where I wanted it ever since we moved in this new house. A testament to my quilt and grief journey since 2009. 
Delightful, really. 


8 comments:

  1. Heidi, this is a beautiful story. I have found quilting to give me solace in times of both grief and happiness.

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  2. I LOVE this and the story behind it!!!! And liberty is just amazing!

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  3. Heidi, it is beautiful. The story is as well. How lovely to have special trips with Mom and each son.

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  4. What a lovely, lovely, lovely quilt. And a lovely story as well. I wish you many, many afternoons of happiness gazing at your beautiful work!!

    Happy Thanks Giving, my friend.

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  5. What a gorgeous quilt! And the quilting is awesome too. Really love it!

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  6. Heidi, What a stunning quilt, the quilting is AMAZING! It looks wonderful on your wall, so eye catching. Wonderful work.

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  7. That is a fantastic quilt and I love the different quilting in each quadrant. What a lovely story behind the making of your quilt too - I think it will be perfect in your sewing room and always give you good memories to think about.

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  8. Such a beautiful colour wheel - lovely fabrics and fabulous quilting. May you get comfort from your little quilt, and thank you for sharing the story of your sad loss.

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I cannot wait to hear what you have to say! Seriously! It makes my day!

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