Its Island Batik challenge time and March is “Vintage Reimagined”.
The Brief:
- Vintage quilts inspiring new creations
- 36″ x 36″ or larger
- Any technique
As soon as I read the brief for this challenge my mind wondered straight to my favourite vintage quilts of all time and they are the Harriet Powers Bible and Pictorial quilts, both quilts are stunning! and if you haven’t seen them I definitely recommend you give them a search! I hope to one day see them in real life at their home in Boston.
I love that you can instantly tell these quilts are handmade, they have such a wonderful charm about them and I love the idea of a quilt telling a story, so with this as my inspiration I decided to tell my own story of all the things I love……
This first block is my family, my Dad, my Mum, my older brother, myself and my younger brother.
Block number 2 is animals, I love all animals but pigs especially and I also couldn’t resist popping my pet chihuahua in this block too.
Block 3 is my love for sewing! I’m not sure what I would do without my sewing now, its my calm and my escape. I added a spool of my favourite thread, Aurifil and scissors because without sounding like a crazy person, I love them and I have quite the collection growing.
Block 4 is my sons music, he is studying music at college at the moment, his instrument is piano, I love listening to him play and I am so proud of him xx
Block 5 is about our wedding day, me and my husband got married in Cuba in 2014, its such a beautiful place and we cant wait to go back. The aeroplane in this block not only represents the flights there and back but also a charm my husband gave me just before we boarded the plane.
Block 6 is flowers, another firm favourite of mine.
I had to add a unicorn into this quilt! anyone that knows me, knows I love unicorns. We have so many of them about the house.
Block 8 is my favourite quote in short, the actual quote reads…”Some people feel the rain, others just get wet” I’m forever referencing this quote (especially living in the UK) and I like to think I feel the rain too.
Block 9 represents all the love in my life.
Block 10 is another family block, my husband, myself, our son and our pet dog.
The final block is J for me, I love anything personalised so had to add that it there too.
The finished size of my quilt is 30″ x 44″
For this project I used:
- Custard from the neutrals range for the background, backing and binding
- a selection of the 5″ x WOF strips for all the applique and inner borders
- Solid white for the outer borders
I used Thermoweb Heat n bond Lite to fuse all the applique pieces down, and a blanket stitch on my sewing machine to secure each piece to the fabric. I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 bleached batting and quilted with Aurifil 12wt, colour 2024.
This quilt has been a true labour of love, the quilting alone took almost 4 spools of thread and 30+ hours to complete. It’s a very personal quilt, it takes me back to lovely memories every time I look it. It’s definitely going to be cherished and I think I need to find a spot on one of our walls for it in our home.
And just think…. All these quilts we are making now, will one day be vintage too! x
Thankyou so much for reading guys! Until next time….
Happy Sewing!
Jo x
Unicornharts 