Meet My Gorgeous New Quilt 'Dorothea' !

Finished size of Dorothea Wall Hanging 57 x 61 nches

Oh yes, I'm on a roll! Talk about busy - shirts, quilts, wedding dress... and now another quilt pattern. I love releasing my patterns, it feels so good to 'liberate' them from my design books out into the world.

When I designed Dorothea, I  had a romantic vision of naïve flowers scattered across windy hilltops. I love the simple reoccurring flower motifs ..and the possibility of extending this wall quilt into a bed quilt with the addition of lots of windmill blocks was irresistible. 

The pattern is for both styles - the wall quilt and bed quilt , so you don't have to choose between them. 

Originally designed in red and white, for this pattern I have opted for the ever charming green and pink based palette to prevent confusion. So much red and white is difficult to work with in patterns. Of course, the design lends itself to many colour variations, and I might still re-colour it in red and white just to satisfy my love for that pallette :) 

Finished size of Dorothea Bed Quilt 81 x 85 inches

WOW: Drafting the Pattern

WOW= WIPs On Wednesdays

This week I've been drafting up the adjustments made on the calico wedding dress. I've also been visiting fabric shops looking for just the right texture and thickness of dress material. My DD works full time so she isn't able to come with me on these searches. I actually think this may be a good thing - too many options can create confusion and I know what I'm looking for :) 

I've also started my DHs novelty quilt fabric shirt just for fun (and seriously considering making my own so we can look like the perfectly odd couple when we go out for coffee), have finished my detailed sketch for the next Free BOM and have found 3 more patterns ready for release. What is it they say about asking a busy person to get stuff done? I'm flat out!

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

LE: Month By Month: Part 6

This month it's time to focus on the flowers of the third corner vase. By the time I got to vase three I was a bit tired physically from the manual labor of all that hand sewing - but also newly excited. Each new vase is a new possibility of fabric, embellishments and fabric combinations. Yes, I wanted to to look harmonious, but I was also interested in the idea of introducing something new.

What I ended up injecting in vases 3 was romance. Today, as I type up this post I am making my own DDs wedding dress and it all feels like a nice circle of romance because I used a scrap of wedding dress lace for both vases 3 and 4 (above) and this little detail really made an impact.

This quilt is so emotional in that way. It's so intense and busy that you have every possibility to make every little detail special in it's own way. Today I would set aside lace from my own DDs dress, but I guess that will have to wait for another quilt. Fittingly, the lace I found for vases 3 and 4 had belonged to an unknown woman and the polka dolt lace was older than I am - I just loved the feeling of bringing in another unknown element into this quilt and giving life to a scrap of fabric which had once been worn as a wedding dress by an unknown woman over 70 years ago.

Isn't that just the nicest kind of detail? How will you make vase 3 your own?

An InLinkz Link-up

'Month by Month' is all about sharing the original Love Entwined experience with new makers. On the first Friday of each month (or thereabouts) I'll be re-visiting the blog posts that detailed my ideas, tips and techniques which cover how I went about making each part of the coverlet as well as listing a post archive for new members to browse and read up on. 

Love Entwined is a historic heirloom applique quilt now available as a monthly BOM. You can take part in Love Entwined as a monthly BOM for $9.95 USD per month. You can start any time. Visit my online pattern shop for more info by clicking here and whether you're starting out on a new LE journey or picking up where you left off, be sure to join the Love Entwined Quilt BOM Group.

WOW: Custom Fitting Time

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I completed the wedding dress mock up in calico last week and on Saturday I started custom pinning it to my DD as you can see here. The adjustments mean I am going to have to re-align seams in the pleat and all that kind of business. I'll blog more about this process just as soon as I'm over this sewing hurdle. There's a lot to adjust to get the fit adequately tight to hold up the skirt. Today I'm awaiting for the imported lace to arrive by courier so we can move past the lace curtains stage.

It's an exciting time in my household and I'm really enjoying each stitch.

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up