Erin completed this pretty amazing Meadow Quilt. The pattern is by Lizzy House and you can only get the pattern if you take the class....Lizzy House was in town this year and the results of Erin's quilt are pretty awesome:
Erin knew a few elements she wanted on her quilt. She loved the cross hatching and the quilting on the petals that she saw in a photo here: Mel's Quilt. She wanted something different done in the centre yellow circles as well as the background. As soon as I saw the background fabric and the theme of the fabric, I thought 'grassy lines'! The centre yellow circles, I had a few ideas and auditioned them on paper first...
and then had another idea so tried it directly on the quilt top using my plexiglass:
I quilted the grass as I advanced the quilt...once I got to the flowers, I went through and did all of the petals first. I used my curved rulers to stitch in the ditch around each flower and echo lines.
Next I stitched all of the figure 8 designs on the centre of the flowers - I alternated directions on each block. I then went through and quilted the rainbow 'octagons'. The double cross hatch was actually fairly simple after a few blocks as there were registration points to keep everything nice and even. I colour matched the thread for each of these blocks....
Tip: when doing the cross hatch - working from the bottom to the top or left to right (if possible) is much easier for ruler registration lines....
Aren't the rainbows so pretty! They look like gemstones!
The backing fabric is a double gauze cotton. Double gauze is a thinner and looser weave than regular quilting cotton. It is GORGEOUS stuff and makes super soft quilts. Because it is a looser weave, I learned that it is a bit finicky, and by the nature of gravity - will just 'give' and loosen on its own when on the frame. So I had a nice flat top, and a backing that was sagging due to the nature of the fabric. A few of my longarm buddies gave me a tip to spritz the backing from underneath and use a hairdryer from under the frame to shrink it back into place. A steam iron doesn't work upside down..trust me. the water spills out all over you and the auto off feature kicks in. LOL I just had to spritz and walk away for awhile, and that worked too. I then pinned the areas a lot to make sure everything was even, and then quilted the grass....
I love how the waves lines of the grass show up on the backing!
The way the backing was pieced - I was able to centre it almost perfectly with the quilt top. Pretty chuffed about that :-)
Details!
The Meadow Quilt - Lizzy House
Pieced by Erin F.
83'' x 95''
Superior Magnifico Thread on top, Wonderfil Decobob thread in bobbin
Hobbs 100% heirloom wool
Hand guided quilting by me on my APQS machine
If you have any questions about this quilt or process always feel free to ask!
