When Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting was putting together a group of bloggers to showcase her new signature collection of batiks from Island Batik, I was thinking of making a new version of Stellar Breeze. Perfect!
This is Stellar breeze in Love and Kisses fabric provided by Sherry and Island Batik. I loved working with these fabrics. They are crisp for cutting and pressing, but the finished quilt doesn't feel stiff. And the colors and prints are so, so pretty. I'm not sure my camera captured the colors quite right, but you get the idea.
I'm sure you notice I quilted this very lightly. This was one of those "quiet" quilts. It just wouldn't tell me what to quilt. Actually, it did say something about all-over swirls, but I'm terrible at those so I told the quilt to go back and think a little longer. Well, it didn't get back to me in time for the blog hop deadline, so I started just stitching in the ditch, hoping inspiration would strike while I did that. Guess what? My mind stayed blank. I let it sit a day, then decided that outline stitching outside the aqua stars might help emphasize the suggestion of curves, so I did that.
The outline stitching did dress things up a little bit, though very simply. When I stood back and looked at it, I rather liked the simplicity. I see so much intricate, beautiful custom quilting online that I often feel like I need do more, but sometimes something simple and quiet is all that's needed. This quilt was a good reminder. Close up, these fabrics and quilt design are pretty enough to shine all on their own. The minimal quilting doesn't look like much in the photo, but it's just about right draped over the living room couch.
That said, I do need to go back and add a little bit of quilting, because those outside half-octagons are definitely large than the minimum quilting distance recommended for Hobbs 80/20 batting. I'm still not quite sure what I'll quilt there, but I went ahead and bound the quilt so I could show it off share it in the blog hop. Whatever specific design I end up with, I'm pretty sure it will involve simple, clean lines.
Oh! Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot! I had enough scraps left over, with the addition of a little more Island Batik left over from a quilt back, to piece a back. I think I like it as much as the front.
The Stellar Breeze pattern is available for purchase in my shop. It has instructions for 5 sizes, and includes templates to use if your ruler collection doesn't include Tri-Recs tools or similar rulers for making triangle-in-a-square units. If templates make you turn away, check out my recent posted a tutorial on an easier way to cut shapes with paper templates, no scissors required.
I invite you to visit other bloggers on the Love and Kisses blog hop (links listed below). It's always great fun to see the very different projects made with the same line of fabrics. Love and Kisses is in shops now for you to create with as well.
December 11 - Joanne Kerton of Canuck Quilter <<< You are here
Loooove your quilt!! It is Beautiful!! :)
ReplyDeleteOh boy - beautiful quilt and lovely fabrics. I think the quilt is happy with your quilting decisions.... and I LOVE the back too!
ReplyDeletePretty quilt and back.
ReplyDeleteLove your quilt!! It's beautiful and cheery!
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteOh this turned out beautifully Joanne! This is truly a lovely line, and what you said about the crispness but softness of the Island Batiks is exactly right. Terrific back!
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt! The pattern, and the fabrics are just gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThe pattern and fabrics really are lovely. I think the quilting is perfect too. I personally prefer simpler quilting. Some quilt so much that there's almost as much thread in the quilting as in the fabric itself. I really don't like that much. Yours looks great to me! ---"Love"
ReplyDeleteSo cool and calm and comforting! Simple quilting works well for this pretty piece. It's lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful. I agree...sometimes simple is the best. Well done.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors. Simple is good. That back is pretty awesome, too!
ReplyDeleteThe back is beautiful. I am always looking for creative backs. I love yours.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! I favor simple quilting and really like yours.
ReplyDeleteSEW awesome!! I've always loved double-sided quilts.
ReplyDeleteThat's such a lovely quilt. The backing looks just as good as the front. It's agony trying to decide how to quilt a quilt (hence the pile of UFOs in the cupboard).
ReplyDeleteLove your Stellar Breeze pattern design. Great quilt.
ReplyDelete