Moroccan and Maple Leaf Quilts

It's back to work around here and, before I shower you with talk of the new makes, I want to share these quilts I made earlier this month. These featured as part of a 'trip around the world' theme on Sewing Quarter.

This design has a Moroccan tile influence, the colours and patterns give a rich jewel vibe too. The pops of pink add another dimension and create an interesting pattern themselves. It's a simple block I created using Creative Grids rulers. An important step in my quilt making process is to lay out all the blocks before piecing them together. With this quilt I rotated and moved the blocks around to create different looks. In the end I chose to have the corner blocks turned, it made interesting waves in the background. 

The focal prints are Avalon by Joel Dewberry and I really like the mix of floral and geometrics, striking but also gentle. 

The quilting emphasises the diamond pattern - straight line and cross hatch quilting with Aurifil thread. It's such a satisfying quilting pattern! Seeing those lines cross and meet. I always use my hera marker for this type of quilting, you can see my tips for cross hatch quilting here.

And, always a favourite for me, a Maple Leaf quilt. This one has such pretty colours, ranging from light pink to brown. Made with batiks, not my usual style, but the effect is super pretty! I don't pre-wash fabric but I always warn people to wash batiks (and vintage fabrics) carefully because they are notorious for colour bleed. I should have heeded my own advice because as I pressed the blocks I used some steam/spray of water and my ironing board now has red marks on it as a reminder!

I'm also obsessed with the border print, a great wood print by Lecien. It gives the quilt such a homely, rustic feel.

It's back to school next week, we are making the most of the days we have before the regular routine returns. Today we went to visit my Dad, had lunch and went picking blackberries. We actually did that a couple of weeks ago but now there were more ripe ones! We've come home armed with bags of berries, along with fresh veg from his garden. It really does taste so different from regular supermarket produce. I wish I had green fingers (or an inclination to want to garden!) because it would be lovely for us to grow our own. But then I've got even more reason to visit haven't I?! And I think I'll stick to sewing! Tonight I finished binding another quilt and so there will be more finishes to share with you soon.