MY CHARMALONG AMH PROJECT

A couple of months back Melissa (of Ms Midge) ran another of her charm square swaps, this time she was swapping Anna Maria Horner charms. I had watched on from the sidelines (with envy) the last time Midge had run a swap and berated myself for not participating when I started to see all the amazing projects that were being made. I had never thought about the impact that certain designers ranges have when used all together and it got me thinking… Then when she announced that she was going to be swapping Anna Maria Horner charms resistance was futile. I was in.

There’s something magical about receiving 112 random charms all from one designer. I didn’t even bother waiting to get into the house to open my parcel when it arrived, I actually used my teeth to get into the packet. I rushed straight to the design wall and put up all 112 charm squares on the wall, stood back and fell in love. Now, I’m not normally a fan of using a whole line of fabric in a project. I much prefer the mix-and-match fun of playing with just my favourite fabrics and making it work. But I have to confess to a certain amount of envy every time I see one of Kelby Sew’s Anna Maria Horner quilts and so the idea was planted to make one of my own… I just needed to decide on a pattern. 

Back in 2014 when I was trying to come up with a winning idea for round one of Sewvivor I was thinking about star patchwork designs that I could use to represent the North Star and I was flipping through 5500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone when I came upon #2903: Double Star. I loved the design and I immediately sketched out how I would make it, shame it was just too big for the time I had. I loved the design so much I ripped it from my design book and pinned it to my design wall because I was determined that I’d make that design the minute I had the time.

So as I stood there looking at my 112 Anna Maria Horner charms I happened to gaze over at my super sized scrappy double star design and hatched an idea.

I’d seen a quilt shared on Zen Chic’s Facebook Page that had used value to create pattern from simple patchwork and I loved it. (The quilt I’d seen was Modern Ohio Star by Mary Claire of Splendorfalls and it’s perfection!) I loved the idea of being constrained to just using the 112 charms I’d received and then using the value of those squares to create interest.

Now this is where having a really large design wall comes in handy because I set about using my design wall to sort the charms. (I did all the placement and decisions on value by eye alone, but if you’d like to do it you can use your camera phone to take a picture and convert the image to black and white to ensure you’ve grouped them correctly.) I had so much fun playing with the charms, it was like a massive game of Tetris and it just made the part of me that loves order sing.

Once I had them sorted I needed to decide on a background fabric to use. I didn’t want to go with white; I love the crisp look of a stark white but I really wanted something softer. I auditioned a number of prints and solids before deciding to go with Robert Kaufman’s Essex Linen in Natural. I’d made a quilt back in November (which I’m yet to share on here, but I can’t wait to… just a couple more months of waiting for it to be published and then I can!) which used the Linen and it was sublime. It just feels so lovely and heavy to snuggle up into. (And there’s something slightly decadent about sleeping under Linen… it’s like going to bed with Don Johnson when he was in Miami Vice!)

I used all 112 charms and then supplemented with a couple of charms from my Anna Maria Horner stash to help make up the numbers needed. This quilt is 80″ x 80″, which is my all time favourite quilt size (although I’m toying with an idea for making one 100″ x 100″… imagine all that snuggle room for you and your Boo…).

I was so excited making this quilt top that I made it in just over a day of straight sewing – I started on a Friday night and did the final stitches Sunday afternoon. I literally couldn’t sit still as I sewed the final seams, I was just so excited to see it fully revealed. (Am I the only one that gets like that? It was like I had ants in my pants!) I am totally head-over-heels smitten with this quilt and I can’t wait to see it finished and on our bed.

I’m calling this quilt “Opus”. I don’t know why but the name came to me while I was working on it and I just can’t shake it. So Opus it is. (Probably helps that the definition of Opus is “an artistic work, especially one on a large scale” because that’s exactly what this is!)

I’m hoping to release the details on how to make your own version of this quilt very soon, but if you just can’t wait and you’d like to make a patchwork quilt using repeats of this block then check out Fresh Lemon Quilt’s Radiant Splendour. The Radiant Splendour block finishes at 20″ x 20″ and is more in keeping with traditional patchwork and less scrappy like my giant version. It’s a fabulous block and it’s one of my favourites and I’m in love with the version that Faith has done (like most things Faith does, I adore it!).

I’m linking this finish up to Ms Midge’s AMH Charm-Along & Charm Dash Blog Hop Link Party that’s happening tomorrow over on her blog. But while I wait for that to happen I’m just going to sit here and think lovely thoughts about the wonderful that is Ms Midge on this the day of her 40th birthday. (Can you believe it! She looks like she’s in her early 30’s, lucky duck!) I hope you have a fabulous day Ms Midge – you’re one good egg.