BRIGHT SKY ROSE GARDEN

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win the Bright Sky pattern from the fabulous Alyce (of Blossom Heart Quilts). I was doubly thrilled when I won it because Alyce was also hosting a quilt-a-long for those that wanted to make the quilt. Bingo!

A couple of days later on a drive to Sydney, Gemma (of Pretty Bobbins) and I were talking about quilts we’d like to make and upcoming projects we had on when we both mentioned the Bright Sky quilt. I wanted to make one, Gemma wants to quilt anything that’s not nailed down, seemed like a perfect match and so we decided to collaborate with this pattern.

I wasn’t sure what fabrics to use for this pattern as it’s such a big use of print. But while we’d been in Sydney browsing a fabric store I stumbled across two fabrics that I just thought were meant for each other; Souvenir (in Persimmon) by Amy Butler (the outer star points) and Domestic Diva Recipes (in Green) by Emily Taylor (the outer squares). Both of these were on the clearance table and were being sold as they were so I ended up with over 2 meters of each (but at $10p/m it’s a bargain!).

I swear to you, they all thought I was nuts (except Quilt Jane who’s a true visionary *wink*) but there was just something about this fabric combination that spoke to me.

Because I now had 4m of this can’t-not-buy fabric this meant I had more than enough to use them in my version of the Bright Sky, I just wasn’t sure what to team them with.

After much auditioning of fabrics and getting lost in my fabric stash I decided the time had come to cut into some of my most treasured fabric; Anna Maria Horner’s LouLouThi Clippings (in passion). I wouldn’t say that I’m a floral kind of girl, but there’s just something about a classic rose that I can’t go past. I adore this print.

I put the fabrics together and decided that they’d work and that I’d use that big rose print as my feature in the middle star. I fussy cut the centre block to really showcase that rose and capture the two butterflies that are near it in the print.

I cut the star points and arranged them around the centre square in a way that grouped all the purple flowers together to make try and make it look (as much as possible) like the rose was surrounded by purple.

(I loved how the pops of lime yellow in the flowers really stood out when teamed with this fabulous tiled wall!)

Cutting and piecing this quilt top all happened in a day – it only took me a couple of hours (despite my dancing to Neil Diamond breaks). It’s a great pattern if you’re looking for a quilt to make as gift.

I’m so happy I did because it gave Gemma the perfect canvas to play on. We talked for ages (which we do anyway) about how to quilt the middle and in the end we couldn’t decide and so Gemma just started on the outside and left it for later.

We had talked about making the rose and butterflies a feature, but I had no idea she was going to do this fabulousness to it.

Every time I see this quilt this is where my hands are drawn to. I was to run my fingers over the indentations caused by the quilting and just get lost in the curves. It’s like a magical rose garden that I can wrap around myself. I adore it.

My second favourite motif has to be the scollops in the mint squares – they remind me of a chocolate you’d find in a Cadbury Milk Tray.

I used Kona Ash for the background fabric and I like the subtly it brings to the quilt; it’s not as stark as a white can be. I did have to chuckle though, there were a couple of us that used Kona Ash in the quilt-a-long.

The quilt is backed in Clementine Kites (in Multi) by Dear Stella and machine bound in Kona Ash. I really love using the background fabric as a binding (on some quilts) because it doesn’t break the pattern and just lets the eye rest (how wanky does that sound!) on the pattern of the quilt.

I’m really thrilled with how this quilt has turned out and the quilting job that Gemma has done on it is amazing. (You can read all about the process Gemma used and some tips about getting the same effect that she has here.)

Because this quilt is so much a part of each of us neither of us can decide on which one should have primary custody of it, so we’ve decided to find our little Bright Sky Rose Garden a new home.

A home with someone who’ll love her as much as we do. If you’d like to find out more about how you could give this quilt a good home please drop me a line.

I had so much fun with this quilt and I’m thrilled at how it came out. I am so very lucky to have some fabulous quilters in my world (both online and in life) and I’m reminded of that when I look at this quilt.  It’s all about creating, laughing and evolving.