Spring Fling quilt

This pattern is now available in my shop as the Melody Quilt pattern - click HERE!

I'm so lucky that I get to have SO MUCH FUN creating designs with bright and beautiful fabric. For this quilt I picked out prints from Zuma by Tula Pink and a range of colours from Tula Pink solids.  A classic block in the centre and medallion style borders made with a mix of regular machine piecing and foundation paper piecing, make for a modern and dynamic quilt. My Spring Fling quilt pattern is in Issue 71 of Love Patchwork & Quilting - out now!

The detail in the prints is just amazing, there's so many that I thought were nice but it was only when I started working with them that I noticed little subtle elements. One of my favourites is the Glitter Litter print with the dots and cute anchors, seahorses and stars thrown around like confetti.

The quilt pattern features some foundation paper pieced elements, which gives those nice points and makes accurate piecing so easy. They are very simple paper pieced sections and if you are new to fpp this would be a great first pattern to try.

As is often the case when I'm drawing out patterns, the starting point of the quilt design was really the fabric itself. Zuma is full of sea life, swirling tides, blooming anemones, jellyfish, and magical sea horses. It is a tribute to the crystal waves of Zuma Beach and, like the California weather, the pink and orange Glowfish colourway gave me those golden warm vibes.

It was the White Cap print in particular that really influenced the look of this quilt. I realised how striking it was, the clamshell pattern made by the breaking waves is even more cool from a distance. I have basically turned it into a cheater print and it is the perfect way to add movement to the quilt used as a wide border. The saying that's printed on some of those waves "a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor" is a gentle reminder to keep going and ride those waves. Seems like having nautical themed positive messages is my thing.

I would love to see this quilt created in the Aquamarine colourway of Tula's prints and it would equally be awesome to see people dig out some large scale prints or graphic patterned prints to use in those bigger borders. The pieced borders are a great opportunity to shop your stash because they don't require large pieces of fabric and it could look brilliant in a scrappy style.

The backing is Tula Pink's extra wide Freefall in Creamsicle, it's so soft and lovely. Also the perfect colours for this quilt. I quilted a simple grid pattern using Aurifil Forty 3 thread in a natural cream, this has to be my favourite quilting thread. It stands out just enough and creates nice definition without being overpowering. I will be getting more colours soon because I think it might have ruined me and other weights don't quite cut it for the straight lines I favour for quilting.

Being completely honest the mint 'background' solid (which doesn't show in the pictures quite as minty as it does in real life) wasn't actually my first choice, but it was available and rather than add in blue I thought I would take a risk and use the mint. I'm so glad I did, it adds to the sherbet colour palette and tones down the warmth just a little. It was accidental and yet I'm so pleased it pushed me away from my initial 'safe' choice. Despite being called Spring Fling, this was made last Autumn and we took a trip to the park for a quilt shoot.

As a companion this mini quilt was made using 16 fpp blocks, it would also make a great cushion cover. The colour placement of this one creates cool effects (squint your eyes and different shapes stand out, or is that just me?!) and I spent a while deciding on which fabric to go with for this. I didn't want to chose something obvious and while bright red, purples and neons might not be a choice I would ever make again - this somehow works. The pops of neon tie it together and my eldest daughter in particular loved this - it could be the jellyfish.

When creating mad mixes of prints I tend to calm it down with a pinch of solids. I liked keeping all the prints together when creating this one so the binding is the only understated bit. It's been an adventure making these quilts and I will be continue making brave fabric choices in the future.

This pattern is now available as the Melody Mini Quilt / Pillow pattern - click HERE!

This is Spring Fling as featured in Love Patchwork and Quilting, such great styling - I'm off to add  quilt coordinating pom poms to everything!