Friday 16 November 2012

Cottage Windows

In case you have seen enough of the Liberty 'Stile' prints then just skip this post (but really who would ever have enough of Liberty fabric ?).

I still had a fat eights of prints left from the commission and wanted to make it into a quilt right away rather than letting it disappear in my stash. My intention was to make something entirely different to the appliqued quilts. But I also wanted to do something that worked with the noveau art movement on which the collection is based. So I did a bit of research and found that stained glass windows were used as part of the art movement. That got me thinking and let me to create a simple pattern using squares that are set as little four part windows.


I kept the colourways together rather than mixing them up within the windows. Each window has 4 prints and hence each colourway yielded 16 windows. These are obviously not as sophisticated as art noveau stained glass windows with all their curves. In fact they do remind me a lot more of English cottage windows (hence the title) that really have next to nothing to do with the art noveau movment....but there you go. One inspiration usually leads to another.


I framed the individual windows with a wider sashing strip to separate them a little from each other. The arrangement is entirely random though I made sure the colourways were nicely mixed up.


I quilted in straight double lines which took for ever and used about 8 bobbin wheels. But it was well worth it. This is a huge quilt with 72' x 82" and thus needs stability. Another reason for quilting it narrowly along the seam lines was to keep the individual prints largely free from quilting lines.


The back is simple. I used Kona Ash, a strip of left over 'Stile' squares and some off-white cotton. As much as I love a print quilt back I do appreciate that the quilting lines come out much better on solid backgrounds.



I bound in exactly the same prints as I used for the first quilts. I simply scraped every last bit of it together and joint all the colourways which gives it a slightly scrappy look.



And that was the last of the 'Stile' prints, all used or given away, nothing left at all BUT the good news is that Annie from the Village Harbedashery just got a shipment of 'Stile' in before anybody else!!



This quilt can be found in my on-line shop here has sold.




13 comments:

  1. Oh Judith it's stunning - can't believe you are prepared to sell it!

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  2. I would NOT be able to part with such a beautiful quilt xx

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  3. It is lovely! The art nouveauers sure did like stained glass windows! *sigh* If I were you, just looking ar this beauty would get back my mojo! The blend is crisp and beautiful, and I like how you combined kona ash and offnwhite for the backing. The scrappy binding is exquisite and couldn't be any other way!

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  4. Beautiful, and inspiring. And thank you so much for my prize - I love the fabrics, and the parcel turned up on Wednesday, which had been a really stressful day, with a doctor poking holes in my arm - I gave up and left work early because it was hurting, and it drove the fact that I'd won a prize straight out of my head. I couldn't think was the package was at first - surely I hadn't bought something in my sleep? It was really great to suddenly remember I'd won your giveaway. Thank you again.

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  5. Beautiful quilt! I love how simple it is and the design really mirrors the AN style! Lovely :)

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  6. This quilt is so lovely! From a distance I would never guess that the fabrics are Liberty but they all really work with each other. Great work as ever Judith x

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  7. There is nothing like white sashing to make a fresh quilt!!

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  8. What a beautiful quilt. I love your cottage windows and how they showcase each of the Liberty prints. Lovely! x

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  9. This is a lovely way to show off the prints and to make a scrappy quilt. I love it.

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  10. a beautiful quilt to showcase some beautiful fabrics.

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  11. Absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful work!

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Thank you for your comments! I love reading them and will answer every question you have on my projects. But I have a very busy daytime job and am therefore not able to thank each and every comment. Please don't be offended if I won't reply.