I set to work with pen and ink and drew patterned
butterflies, moths and other winged creatures that all seemed to be searching
for some color. Then I pulled out my highly neglected watercolors (I typically
do most of my design work on the computer) and had some fun with a multitude of
colors, and the first pattern, Dappled Migration, came to life. The other patterns followed, all keeping a sense of movement
evident throughout.
The collection is printed on Michael
Miller Fabric's gorgeously soft Cotton Couture base cloth. That means it is
an heirloom quality cotton that has a luxurious silky hand, it drapes
beautifully for garment making and it is a dream to piece or quilt with.
And because of the range of colors I
included in so many of the prints, if you are in need of some solids to work
with them, the line co-ordinates wonderfully with a high percentage of Michael
Miller’s vast range of Cotton Couture solids. Here are just a few
suggestions. I will be doing a much more complete post on this over on my blog in
the weeks to come.
I created a small quilt that I think effectively shows how the prints work together harmoniously and I wanted to share a simple tutorial for it with you.
The Dancing Light Quilt uses all eleven
prints from the collection. It would be perfect as a baby quilt, but I actually
designed it to be used as a play/reading mat in the little spot in my
daughter’s room where light comes in the window in the mornings, where I often
find her curled up reading, enjoying the early morning sun.
Dancing Light Quilt
Finished size: Approximately 40” square
(mine is 39” x 40”. That’s just the way I tend to sew … imprecisely … I’m
working on it).
Materials I used:
- A fat quarter of each of the 11 prints
in the collection
- A 42” square of quilt batting (this
gives you a bit of “just in case” extra all around that will be trimmed at the
end)
- Thread & white quilting thread
Here’s what to do:
First cut pieces for the quilt top as
follows:
- 45 pieces 4½” x 8½” of Flight Patterns
fabrics (that’s 4 of each of the 11 prints, plus 1. I cut 5 of each, then when
laying them out, decided which I would keep in). I tried to choose areas of
each fabric that were interesting on their own for randomly flowing patterns,
or centered for more geometric ones. The patterns should be running vertically
on the rectangles.
- 10 pieces 4½” x 4½” of Flight Patterns
fabrics (again, I randomly chose which of the eleven to omit).
Lay out the pieces randomly in 10
vertical rows as follows, keeping all patterns facing the same vertical
direction (See Diagram 1):
- Row 1: Lay 1 square, then 4 rectangles,
then another square end to end
- Row 2: Lay 5 rectangles end to end
- Rows 3 to 10: Repeat first 2 rows.
Then play with the arrangement, moving
patterns around, trying to find a balanced, random look.
Diagram 1
Working one row at a time, start sewing the
pieces together (using ¼” seams), right sides together, across the 4½” ends. Press
seams toward the bottom end of each row. Pin and sew (from the top of each row
down) the rows together (again with ¼” seams). Press all seams in one direction
across the back. Quilt top … done!
Cut the piece of Lipstick Couture Cotton
to be an inch or two longer than the quilt top. Lay this piece on a large flat
surface and smooth out any wrinkles. Lay the batting on top (smoothing again),
and then the finished quilt top (right side up) on top of the batting. Pin
these layers together and then hand baste. Using a long ruler to make sure the
sides are straight, cut the batting and backing to align with the quilt top.
I love hand stitching, so I opted to hand
quilt this one following the printed patterns on each fabric piece as much or
as little as I felt like for each one.
For the binding, cut:
- A full width (45”) of the remaining
Lipstick fabric, 4” wide.
- 2 pieces 4” x 22” of each of the other
3 solid colors
Randomly cut these lengths into shorter
pieces between 3” and 12” in length and then (again, randomly) sew them
together, end to end, to form 4 strips of equal length. Press all seams open.
Do the following steps (A to E) for all
four binding strips, referring to Diagram 2:
A - Right side facing out, press the
strip in half along its length.
B - Then fold one long edge in to meet
this fold line and press.
C - Right sides together, using the long
edge of binding that was not folded toward the center, pin the strip to an edge
of the quilt top, centering it. Measure in and mark 1” from each quilt edge.
With a 1” seam allowance, sew each side from mark to mark, making sure not to
catch the binding from the adjacent sides.
D - Trim the short ends of the binding strip
to ¼” outside the edge of the quilt on all sides. Temporarily unfold the folds
you made in steps A & B, then press this ¼” to the wrong side of the
binding, flush with the quilt edge.
E - At each end, measure & mark 2” from
this folded edge along both long edges. Fold & press from this point to the
center folded edge point. Refold folds A and B and flip the binding toward the
back of the quilt. You should now have nicely mitered corners.
Diagram 2
Using an invisible stitch, hand stitch
the corners to each other on the front and back. Hand stitch the binding in place all along
the back using an invisible stitch. Finito!
In hopes that I have inspired you to make
this quilt or to create something of your own with Flight Patterns, Michael
Miller is generously offering a bundle of Flight Patterns to one
lucky randomly drawn individual. All you have to do is leave a comment below to
try your luck.
Thanks for spending a wee bit of your day
here with me. I will have more tutorials, giveaways and other fun events on my blog over the next while to celebrate Flight Patterns & Les Monsieurs . I’d love
it if you’d stop by to take a peek from time to time … You can also find me here on facebook.
See you back here soon for Les Monsieurs!
Tamara
And the winner is:
Kris said...
Love the fresh designs. Pen and Ink and watercolor effects are something I love and this gives that impression.
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