Monday, March 9, 2020

Topiaries

After many peeks at Topiaries in progress, here it is, complete.


This one is made using a precut strip pack of 2 1/2"strips, plus yardage for background, border and binding. This particular strip pack was a Northcott Shimmer colorway, with coordinating yardage for the border and a metallic gold Moda Grunge for the background.

I finished the top in early November, and slowed to a standstill when I decided I wanted to try quilting the whole quilt with my Westalee quilting rulers.  I knew I wanted to use the rulers, but it took me awhile to decide exactly what to quilt to complement the piecing.


I had to pick out the freehand feathered wreath I had tried in one block before deciding to use rulers.  The wreath turned out OK, but it just didn't pop in that block.  I just was not going to go to the effort of quilting 11 more feathered wreaths if they were just going to fade away and not show up!  It was worth picking it out, because I think the petal motif I came up with using the 6" Spiral ruler is perfect for the space and the piecing.

Check out this picture of the back for a better look at the crosshatching in the background bits. Backing fabric is Moda Grunge dot metallic.


I like how the border quilting turned out.  I made good use of my Westalee stitching line discs with pencil and paper to sketch out what it would look like before I started stitching. This was not my first, or even my second idea, but it was the right choice.  I think Rosie agrees.



I really like how the quilt turned out, and I think this is one I might make again for a quick gift.  It comes together really quickly, with easy cutting and piecing.  I think it would work in any color scheme, or in any fabric style.  I can picture it as easily in modern prints as in Civil War or Thirties reproduction prints.  I chose just one color, but multicolor works too.  Take a look at what my testers came up with.

Topiaries quilt made by Sunny of @sunny_4_now on Instagram

Topiaries quilt made by Tina Fugate

Thank you to Tina and Sunny for their testing efforts and for allowing me to share photos of their quilts.  I released the pattern with much more confidence thanks to their feedback.

The pattern is available in my Etsy shop.

7 comments:

  1. That's a very pretty quilt pattern, and your ruler quilting looks great to me. Maybe someday I'll get the courage to try my ruler; keep on showing us more when you can. ---"Love"

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  2. So pretty! I love how the quilting came out. Those tester ones look cool, too (I really like the colors on Tina's).

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  3. Congrats! I like the quilting, the border looks great!

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  4. Those blues are just gorgeous and the quilting is stunning, perfect for the quilt. That is one beautiful quilt! I like the bright colored ones, too. Great pattern!

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  5. Excellent quilting choices. I really like this in the shades of blue. I purchased a Kim Diehl jelly roll of her Sage and Sea Glass line and I think this pattern would pair well with that,

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  6. Your quilt is really great and the ruler work really works well. Congratulations!

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