flower pot quilt

We are having perfect weather with a slight drizzle every morning this week and a nice cooling breeze. I can almost feel hints of autumn outside. It probably had an indirect effect on me in choosing colors for the flower pot quilt, this beautiful Nani Iro gauze fabric in warm tones definitely sprites up the mood.

I combined it with another double gauze fabric with the sweetest bear print called nap time. In this print is a baby bear taking naps or blissfully playing with his mom and various forest friends, a bunny, bunch of chicks and even a baby porcupine and their favorite toys are mostly twigs and leaves and flowers that are plenty to be found where they live.

Sometime back I got this delicate French ribbon with smiley porcupines from a local shop. I added this ribbon on the side border. It shows how this porcupine family often sneak their way into the garden in the hazy dusk light, looking for treats. They must be super thrilled to have all these plants and fruits for themselves, when pesky humans are soundly asleep!

I have always been in love with Nani Iro dots, especially in this print, they are very cheerful and bright. I couldn't help spreading their joy a little more in the form of big yellow pompoms in the corners. Instead of usual way of quilting and binding a quilt, I was thinking of a different way to finish it. First I layered the quilt top and batting together. Basted them with pins and quilted in the ditch both horizontally and vertically to keep the patchwork squares from shifting later.

Then I trimmed the batting to the exact size of the quilt top and laid these yellow pompoms in the four corners facing towards inside and their threads hanging towards the outside. It is the opposite of what we see in the finished quilt. I basted them in this position by hand stitching and taped the pompoms to the quilt top out of the way, to make sure I don't accidentally sew on them in the next step.

Then I laid the backing on top right sides together with the quilt top. Secured the sides with pins along the edges and sewed carefully with a quarter inch seam. When I was coming closer to a corner, I had to press on the pompom a little with my fingers, for the foot to stitch smoothly and not have a bumpy ride. I hope my explanation makes any sense ;-)

I left a 5" gap on one side to flip the quilt right side out. I pressed the edges neatly and then closed the gap with a slip stitch. I liked how the quilt looked without any top stitching on the edges, so I decided to tie the quilt in the back to keep it secure and avoid any shifting of the backing fabric in the wash. I used Londonderry linen thread for tying.

On the back is this soft organic cotton fabric with a checkered pattern. This happy quilt is in my Etsy shop. 

'Mustaherukka Bears' fabric is by Kokka from Fabricworm shop if you are interested. I got a half yard bundle of four prints from this collection. I also used Quilters Dream low loft cotton batting for the first time in this quilt and liked it a lot. By the way, this quilt measures 33" x 38 1/2".

Thank you for stopping by! Have a pleasant evening! ( ^ u ^ )

House numbers quilt

At long last the houses stand in neat rows..

with blushing roses hanging over their fence and little sneak peaks of happenings visible through the gaps.

There is a secret garden in the back with many unique plants and unknown trees waiting to be explored..

surely a green mist of adventure for any enthusiastic botanist..

 or a dark wonder of beetles and bugs for naughty neighborhood kids!

For the back of the quilt I used this botanical print called Blythe  by Anna Griffin and added a narrow strip of Heather Ross fabric with tall trees to complete the woodland look. I felt these pink and violet flowers in the back complemented the purple binding. This shot cotton fabric was so nice and soft to work with, I feel like getting more colors.

It took some time to get the arrangement right. I did lot of shuffling on the design wall and concluded that some of the outer strips need to be replaced to balance the look. So I cannot say it is purely improv' pieced ;)

I wanted to keep this quilt relatively simple and without any distractions. So I quilted it with stitch in the ditch through all the seams. 

Some of the center pieces in the blocks are little big, so I randomly stitched around doors and windows with matching threads to avoid any shifting of the batting. It also worked as a nice accent. But not all houses were lucky enough to get this decoration.

 This quilt is about 54" x 67" and made with low loft organic cotton batting inside. So it is light weight and perfect to drag around and snuggle up in your favorite corner :)

Hope you are keeping warm and enjoying hot cups of tea! These days making tea in the afternoon and clinging to the hot cup for as long as I can has become a daily ritual. As you can tell by my lack of postings, I am finishing things at my usual snail pace and this cold isn't helping either :)

Wish you a warm and cozy weekend ( ' u ' )