Hospitality Quilt

I love it when I can finally share some of the fun stuff I am working on in the studio.  Hospitality is a new design from Lisa Bongean pieced out of her brand new line of fabric called Homestead Gatherings from Moda available here.  It is one spectacular quilt!

This quilt definitely has an antique feel to it.  I wanted the quilting to support that theme.

Alternating feather wreaths, feather motifs, micro stipple, curved line and straight line quilting make up the design elements.

The quilting is all freehand, even the feather wreaths are not a stencil.  This way I can customize the size wreath I want and I love the movement the quilting gives the quilt when the wreaths are just slightly different from each other.

Circle templates come in handy to makes sure wreaths have some uniformity.

This design is inspired from an antique quilt I saw in Houston.  I spend a great deal of time studying antique quilts.  Not only are they inspiring but I find them to be fascinating.  Oh and the talent of those hand quilted designs!!!

 The antique quilt from Houston.  I just LOVED the design!!!  I knew if I had the right quilt someday, I would want to recreate the design.  I first drew out my version or interpretation of the design on my white board.

And then I tried it out on the top. 🙂

Not too bad. 🙂  I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.  With this quilt, I opted to draw out my ideas before I loaded the quilt.

Before quilting.  The black lines represent the design layout.  I wanted the pieced chain blocks to form a frame around the “plain” blocks.  Making it appear as if the background was one solid piece.  Quilting on the pieced block is minimal as to not distract from the “chain” design.

And here is my sketch.  The center is my favorite.  I created a center medallion of sorts with my version of a feathered weeping willow.  A popular theme in antique quilts and the “primitive” look.

 I love it when my vision actually works out. 🙂

All the threads are So Fine by Superior.  Batting is Dream Green from Quilters’ Dream.  Now I will tell you a little secret/tip…did you notice how the quilting in the “plain/ non-pieced” blocks really stands out…the blocks with the motifs?  Those individual blocks all have a second layer of wool batting in them!!  I cut squares of batting for each of those squares.  As I would work down the quilt, before I would quilt each row, I would strategically place the extra square of batting under the place I wanted it before I would baste down the sides of my quilt.  Yes, does this require more planning and work BUT YES, the look is soooo worth it.  It makes it look like trapunto…like an antique quilt. 🙂

The back, also a favorite!

Yes, I love the back of this quilt!!  I love the whole quilt.  There is nothing like seeing the quilt off the frame. The feeling of seeing all my hard work and ideas in its entirety…it is indescribable.

I wanted to take some outdoor shots, but the there was just too much snow on that day.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Everyone around here is sick!