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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Pattern spotlights #1

Summer is going fast!  
Full of camping, family reunions, yard work, 
and more fun with the family.  
It's hard to find time to blog, so for this blog I thought I would 
introduce some of my newest quilt patterns.



These pillows come from the pattern, "Flowers on Display".  The pattern also includes a poppy and narcissus flower.  I designed these pillows during the winter a few years ago to get me out of the winter blues.  I needed to see some bright colors and flowers.  I pull them out every year now about mid February -- they cheer me up every year!  The applique is done with fusible web and machine stitched to hold in place.  I made all four flower pillows as a set, each flower is different in color, but I made the borders the same to unify them. 

 I also made a wall hanging with this pattern, using the tulip design 
multiple times and reversing the direction of the flower in a few places.  The applique technique is different for the wall hanging.  I didn't want any rough edges showing and I wanted the project to have an artistic feel, so I used a double-applique method.  I also used cotton corduroy for the background of the tulips and cotton velvet for the border.  Then my quilter Paula Murray quilted all the cool details and a wood grain in the border so it would look like a frame.  



Next up is a very new pattern called "Mosaics".


"Mosaics" is a design I had in my group of ideas for several years but I just hadn't found the right fabrics for it until I found Kaffe Fassett"s 'Millefivre' fabric (the red used throughout).  It was perfect because I had imagined the quilt having the look of a Moroccan rug.  In fact all of the fabrics used are Kaffe's except for the plain black.  It was very fun to blend the prints and colors.  I worked to find the best colors and color balance, I cut and tried and then retried many fabrics until I found the combination that worked.  That's why the quilt ended up so long, I realized I needed to balance the red so I added another row.  The finished size shown is 76" x 110", but the block is simple to make.  More blocks can easily be added to the sides to change the width or taken from the length to make the quilt smaller, or make only two rows for a table runner.  I know I waited until I had the Moroccan style fabrics, that's just what I do, have to have a mental idea to focus on while making the quilt.  Once it is complete I can see so many possibilities!


Find these quilt patterns on my website at juliepopadesign.com, or talk to your local quilt shop about carrying them.