Where Do You Get Your Design Inspiration? Appliqué Inspiration From Interior Design Fabrics

I'm still plugging away at my Spirit Song quilt top, albeit intermittently.  So far I have four of the twelve 16" blocks completely assembled:

Four 16 Inch Blocks Assembled, Eight More to Go

It's tedious piecing at this point because I'm matching up triangles with seams that don't nest.  Lots of unpicking and finessing to get those triangle points to match up to my satisfaction!  But meanwhile, my mind is on other projects, inspired by everything I see around me.  If you're one of those sensible people who has made a resolution not to start any new projects or buy any new fabrics in 2020, you should probably stop reading this RIGHT NOW.  You have been warned...

So this gorgeous photo landed in my email in-box the other day in a newsletter from the interior design fabric supplier F. Schumacher: 

Linen Print Roca Redonda in Carbon and Multi from F. Schumacher, Retail $248/yd

I love how fresh and current this 18th century French botanical pattern looks in this colorway, updated with shades of coral, emerald and turquoise against that carbon gray background.  Wouldn't this be a fun color palette for an historic or traditional appliqué quilt pattern?  I especially love that dusky background color.

Moda's Ombre Confetti in Soft Black, available on Etsy here (affiliate link)

Moda's Ombre Confetti in Soft Black, available from an Etsy seller here, would give me a similar effect as a background fabric.  The black and gold metallic dots are clustered most densely near the selvages of the fabric and are much more sparse in the lighter parts of the fabric, so I'd likely use the middle areas of the fabric for my appliqué backgrounds and then use the areas along the selvages for borders or in pieced blocks.  

If you're not a fan of the metallic dots and you want to stay truer to the background in the inspiration print, you could try Sketch in Charcoal from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here:

Sketch in Charcoal from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here

Then, for the applique elements themselves, there are all sorts of delicious possibilities.  I could see this Jade Green Batik Blender from Timeless Treasures for some of the leaves:

Jade Green Batik Blender from Timeless Treasures, available on Etsy here

Kaffe Fassett Collectives prints from Free Spirit Fabrics would also work well for the appliqué elements.  

Philip Jeffries for Kaffe Fassett Collectives Bundle, available on Etsy here

I love fussy-cutting for applique from the oversized prints from Kaffe Fassett.  An emerald and turquoise flower or feather can make for a striking appliquéd leaf.  So much fun!  Back to the inspiration fabric from F. Schumacher:

Appliqué Inspiration Fabric, Roca Redonda in Carbon and Multi from F. Schumacher

Although I like Kaffe Fassett Collectives for some of the green and turquoise elements, the other colors in this palette are a bit more subdued.  To recreate the corals, aquas, and ochre shades found in my inspiration fabric, I'd probably turn to prints from Anna Maria Horner's Conservatory collection for Free Spirit Fabrics:

Anna Maria Horner's Conservatory collection for Free Spirit, available on Etsy here

Of course, I wouldn't be using ALL prints for my appliqué   I'd want plenty of solids and tonal solids as well.  I feel like I'd need to mix in a handful of luscious shot cottons for this project:

Peppered Cottons from Pepper Cory, available on Etsy here

In the photo above of Pepper Cory's Peppered Cotton swatches, you can see that different color yarns are used for the warp and weft of shot cottons, which gives them their fabulous color-shifting properties.  They're much more interesting than plain solid fabrics, yet the colors aren't hyper-bright to the point of distraction.  The effect is subtle, especially in an appliqué composition where the shot cottons are combined with batiks, prints, and true solids.

Last but certainly not least, I adore the tiny detailed elements of the F. Schumacher inspiration print fabric, many of which would be too small to execute as applique.  Those delicate vines, tiny leaves, and other details would be exquisite if they were embroidered using Sue Spargo's beautiful threads from Wonderfil:

Sue Spargo's Eleganza Threads from Wonderfil, available on Etsy here

And, while we're at it, some of those flower centers would probably benefit from a smattering of seed beads here and there, so long as our quilt isn't going to be used on a bed and frequently laundered.  My pick, to keep the palette true to my inspiration fabric while adding just a subtle bling, would be these size 11/0 Czech glass seed beads from Etsy seller lanabeads2:

11/0 Czech Glass Seed Beads in Taupe, available on Etsy here

Have I inspired you to start a new project yet?  Here are a few patterns that would be beautiful in this color palette: 

Love Entwined, Historic Reproduction by Esther Aliu, pattern available here

Like the F. Schumacher inspiration fabric, Esther Aliu's masterpiece historic reproduction pattern "Love Entwined" was based on an 18th century antique quilt, so I'd expect it would look amazing rendered in the updated Carbon & Multi colorway of the linen drapery fabric.

However, this color palette would also be delightful for one of Sarah Fiehke's whimsical applique patterns such as her 2017 Down the Rabbit Hole BOM, for which patterns and instructions are available here:

Down the Rabbit Hole by Sarah Fielke, pattern available here

Ooh, and imagine using this color palette for Karen Kay Buckley's Majestic Mosaic appliqué quilt, pattern available on Amazon here:

Majestic Mosaic by Karen Kay Buckley, pattern available here

One last peek at our inspiration photo:

There are a lot of books and workshops out there on color theory, but you really can't go wrong if you choose your color palette based on a mix of colors that speaks to you immediately as soon as you see it.  Interior design photos, fine art paintings, travel photos -- all are terrific sources for selecting colors for your next quilt.  

Where do YOU find your best design inspiration?  Let me know in the comments.

Meanwhile, there are a bazillion coral-colored Birds in the Air blocks waiting for me to sew them together for my Spirit Song quilt...

Still In Progress, my Spirit Song Dress Code Quilt

Happy weekend and happy stitching, everyone!  I'm linking up today's post with:

·       Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts  

·       Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

·       Moving it Forward at Em's Scrap Bag

·       Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at Clever Chameleon

Three Favorite Traditional Applique Quilts From AQS Paducah Quilt Week + Vintage Quilt Repair Update

Okay, my lovelies -- I know you wanna hear all about my adventures at AQS Paducah Quilt Week, but you're only gonna get this in dribbles because my brain is overloaded, there are 500+ photos on my iPhone, 45 pages of notes from the TEN classes I took (those are just my own notes above and beyond the handouts) and UPS won't be delivering my big box of show goodies until Wednesday.

Best of Show: Muttons and Buttons and Pearls, Oh My! by Janet Stone, Overland Park, KS, Photo by AQS

You may have already seen this AQS photo of the 2019 Janome Best of Show winner, "Muttons & Buttons & Pearls, Oh My" by Janet Stone.  Isn't it gorgeous?  You can find out more about this quilt and watch an interview with the quilter on the AQS website here.  I was not able to get a good, clear photo of the front of this quilt myself without anybody's head in the way, but I did get some close-up shots of details that caught my eye:

Prize-Winning Quilts ALWAYS Wear Labels...

Ah, yes -- we are going to look at the BACK of the quilt with the darling little sheep print fabric, and the quilt label.  The label is simple but elegant, conveying the relevant information in permanent ink, embellished with a narrow striped border and a smattering of pearls.  As long as Janet labored over this amazing prize-winning show quilt, this label did not take long to make at all.  And it's PERFECT!  (There is a moral to this blog post, y'all -- LABEL YOUR QUILTS!  No more excuses!)

Check Out the Nifty Binding Details

Janet's crisp, overlapping prairie points are adorned with contrasting blanket stitching and hand stitched pearl beads, and they are ingeniously sandwiched between two different "binding" fabrics, as you can see comparing this photo to the previous one.  

The other detail that called to me was the quilting in the white border between the appliquéd flowers:

I Love the Sweet Leaves and Berries Quilted In This Border!

This is simple connecting curves with a little "pearl" or pebble or whatever, nothing fancy, but it complements these simple folk floral appliques beautifully and the execution of the machine quilting is nearly flawless even with your nose 3" away from the quilt.  No galloping horses needed for THIS quilt!

You can see even MORE gorgeous detail photography of this quilt over on The Quilt Show's blog here.  

I'm only going to show you two more quilts tonight, because I'm tired.  Like Janet's Best of Show quilt, these are also very traditional designs and colorways but created using the best modern machine techniques.

Coxcomb Nouveau, by Wilma Richter and Leah Sample, Little Rock, AR

What I love about this quilt is how at first glance it's a straight-up antique reproduction, but the very modern geometric longarm ruler work quilting sets off the traditional appliqué and makes it feel fresh.

Geometric Ruler Work Quilted Background Sets Off Applique

Of course, since I was overloading on longarm quilting workshops at this show, I was especially focused on the way each piece was quilted.  After taking ruler work classes with both Judi Madsen and Lisa Calle, I have a much better idea of how to accomplish quilting like this -- after some additional practice, naturally!

1790 Love Entwined by Marlee Carter, New Gloucester, ME

The last quilt I'm showing you today is one I was delighted to recognize -- it's the first version of Esther Aliu's Love Entwined pattern that I've seen "in the flesh."  This is Esther's painstaking pattern based on an antique British quilt that she has only seen a black and white photo of in an old book, referred to simply as "1790 Coverlet."  That is some insane appliqué, don't you think?  Marlee did an amazing job with the appliqué.   

That's all you get for today, though.  I've got to get the binding on my vintage repair quilt so I can get it back to its owner, and I need to get Lars's graduation quilt loaded on my longarm frame and start quilting it -- I've only got a little over three weeks now to get it completed before graduation weekend and Quillow Sunday.

Just realized that I forgot to show you how the quilting and machine embroidered label came out for the vintage quilt!  The first time I shared this quilt with you it looked like this:

1960s Utility Quilt Top, Acrylic Yarn Ties, Poly Batting, and Backing Removed

The backing was in shreds and the quilt's owner requested a change in color, so I snipped away the acrylic yarn ties to free the quilt top for patching and seam repair.  You can read more about my process for repairing the quilt top in this post.

Quilting Allover Loopy Meander to Draw In Excess Fullness

I'm using new backing fabric (prewashed in HOT water to maximize shrinkage, since the fabrics in the quilt top have been laundered many times over the years) with 80/20 batting, Superior's King Tut cotton 40 weight thread in a variegated pinky-orange that reminds me of cotton candy or sherbet, and off-white Superior Super Bobs prewound 60 weight polyester in the bobbin that just melts into the lavender backing fabric and disappears.  I chose the loopy meander because I thought the random curvy quilting lines were a nice complement to the random straight(ish) piecing lines of this utility quilt, and the double loops were good for drawing in excess fullness in areas where that was a problem.  I wanted to quilt this close enough to marry the fragile vintage quilt top fabrics to the new batting and backing for strength, but didn't want to do anything with the quilting that would draw too much attention to itself and scream "Rebecca was here."  I am VERY pleased to say that this quilt came off the frame nice and flat and SQUARE.  Hallelujah!

My Patched Sections Blend In Even Better After Quilting

My goal with this quilt is to be as invisible as possible, so it still "looks like grandma's quilt" to my friend when she gets it back.  I digitized this quilt label in my Bernina v8 Designer Plus software and stitched it out in cotton embroidery thread on my Bernina 750QE sewing machine, matching the thread color to the original acrylic yarn (the original backing was that same Day Glo orange, too).  The orange dots on the new purple backing fabric and the loopy circles that I quilted in are supposed to be suggestive of these little yarn pom poms, too, since they are not going back on the quilt.  

Machine Embroidered Label Ready to Attach

I chose binding fabric in that same orange:

Label Attached, Awaiting Binding

GOSH I hope she likes this.  I am SO FAR PAST the point of no return!

After 30 hours of longarm quilting workshops, I have a much better idea of how I want to quilt Lars's Mission Impossible graduation quilt, and I have new longarm rulers and thread coming for that in the UPS box that I shipped home from the show.  And no, that doesn't mean I overspent -- I have a bulky quilt sample from each of the 10 classes that I took and I wanted to keep them all because I didn't finish any of them and I want them for reference.  They go with my notes

And so, without further ado...  my To-Do On Tuesday Goals for this week are:

1. Bind this Vintage Quilt & Return to Owner
2. Test Spoonflower backing for colorfastness & deal with any dye instability, then piece Mission Impossible backing
3. Load Mission Impossible and start quilting!

I'm linking today's post up with:

TUESDAY

·      Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at http://www.cleverchameleon.com.au

·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com

WEDNESDAY

·      Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/

·      WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/

In Which I Shamelessly Flaunt My CCD: Compulsive Creative Disorder

My Math quilt remains untouched on my longarm frame (perhaps today or tomorrow?).  My Tabby Mountain quilt remains on my design wall, since I had to order a couple Kaffe Fassett prints to replace the creepy Cat Eyes fabric (maybe by end of this week, or early next week the fabric will get here?).  I don't feel like making a pineapple block right now, I'm bored with my eight identical in-progress Frankenwhiggish Rose applique blocks, and I'm not in the right mood to finish the Jingle BOM applique top or to make more Farmer's Wife blocks or clam shells or to start any of my one patch project ideas.  But I was just over on Esther Aliu's blog and saw her free BOM applique project for 2018, Queen's Garden.  I am in love.  Not too easy, not too difficult, not too repetitive, and perfect for all my bright, splashy scraps of fabric.  I HAVE TO MAKE THIS QUILT!

Queen's Garden, 70 x 70 Free BOM by Esther Aliu

I have been reading on the Internet, folks, and it has come to my attention that an awful lot of quilters out there have an awful lot more projects-in-progress than I do.  You can call them WIPs (Works In Progress), UFOs (UnFinished Objects), or Proof of Mom's Poor Work Ethic (what my son Anders calls MY projects-in-progress), but I'm pretty sure that it's not an actual SIN to start a new project before finishing an old one.  And if it IS a sin, well, at least it's not a MORTAL sin.  Certainly nothing I need to confess in church and pray for forgiveness, right?  

You know, as I'm thinking about it, God Himself, the Creator of the Universe, has more WIPs than anyone.  Every human being on this planet is a WIP and UNICEF estimates that over 350,000 new babies (God's new projects) are being born every day.  

Infrared Portrait of God's WIPs and NewFOs in the Small Magellanic Cloud, Credit: ESO/ESA/JPL-Caltech/NASA/D. Gouliermis (MPIA) et al.

The Earth itself is a WIP, and the Universe is a WIP with new stars being born before all the old stars have burned out...  The picture above from Science Daily is of a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way.  The blue areas show God's WIPs (stars that have been around awhile, but haven't yet burned out) and the red dots are all brand new stars being born, like so many new projects going on simultaneously in the heavens.  When I read in the Bible that we were created in God's image, to me that means God created us to BE creators.  

And so, based on this new Quilter's Theology that I have just invented (you're welcome), there is no such thing as Quilt Guilt because we were MADE to work on lots of different projects at once and to be CONSTANTLY STARTING NEW PROJECTS even though our other projects aren't finished yet, just like all those new babies being born and all those red dots in the Small Magellan Cloud dwarf galaxy.

Which just shows you the lengths that I am willing to go in order to justify my reckless decision to add YET ANOTHER new project, when all the other quilters on the Internet are making resolutions to finish what they've already started!  Hah!  But seriously -- this is my HOBBY.  It's supposed to be fun and it's supposed to be relaxing.  If I'm having fun and I'm relaxing, it doesn't matter if I EVER finish a quilt.  Finished quilts are happy accidents that occasionally happen in my studio, not regular occurrences or obligations.

Join me on the Dark Side, Ladies and Gentlemen -- and start a NEW project today!  Might I suggest Esther's new applique BOM?

Today I'm linking up with:

• ·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com  
• ·       Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/
• ·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
• ·    Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: https://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com
• BOMs Away at Katie Mae Quilts: https://www.katiemaequilts.com
• Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/