Friday 14 March 2014

Radiant Orchid


Life in a big Asian city is crazy, chaotic, noisy ..... in fact anything but calm and peaceful! 

As I was making this quilt I was wanting to bring some calm into my life, some rest.  

So I deliberately chose lots of neutrals with just pops of colour. 


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I didn't have a definite plan or idea when I started, I just cut 2.5" strips and started sewing. I made

some larger blocks, and some smaller, and added in some extra strips of colour where it was needed. 


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I didn't want to draw too much attention to the quilting as I felt it would take away from the blend of colours and neutrals, so I just quilted vertical wavy lines about 2" apart and added some extra hand quilting in each block with some purple perle cotton.



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The back is pieced together from the rest of the purple fabric in my stash. I am now completely out of purples! 

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The binding is a scrappy mix as I thought any one colour on its own would pull the attention away from the rest of the quilt

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This quilt is a gift for my sister who is truly a lover of purple! 
It measures 40" x 47"

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Linking up with

2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge: Radiant Orchid


and TGIFF at Quilt Matters

This was also my March goal for ALYOF 

A Lovely Year of Finishes

29 comments:

  1. I love the improv nature of it, Deborah, and I agree that a non-scrappy binding would have drawn the eye. Good luck for the challenge! And surely being all out of purples is a reason to do a little retail therapy of the fabric kind.

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  2. This is just adorable, I love the fabrics! Funny to hear you are in a busy city, somehow I'd always thought you were in a peaceful setting, somewhere rural...

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  3. It is pretty! I like the addition of hand stitching.

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  4. Really nice finish! I love purple so this quilt is right up my alley! :-)

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  5. Great entry and super that you are out of purples. I wish I was as they are not my favorite.

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  6. Oh, I love this! It's super fabulous! I love the mix of neutrals and the pops of purple. Yum!

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  7. This is beautiful quilt! I love your design, colours and quilting! x Teje

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  8. This is just beautiful Deborah! It really gives me a sense of peace and calm so I think you carried off your concept really well! I agree Sarah @ mila + cuatro - surely you have cause for some fabric shopping now :-D

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  9. This is beautiful! Good luck in the Challenge :)

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  10. A beautiful quilt. I am envious of your improv skills!

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  11. Ooh, love the purples against those greys and neutrals. Great job, Deborah! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!

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  12. Beautiful improve pieces! I love the low volumes with the purples!

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  13. Love the hand quilted bit. Your chose for the background/neutrals really makes those purples shine. Such a beautiful quilt!

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  14. Love the improv! Thanks for sharing and giving me some much-needed inspiration!

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  15. Beautiful Deborah - I think it has a really serene vibe.

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  16. A stash without purple is a sadly depleted stash! Good luck in the challenge it is a wonderful entry.

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  17. The colours, improv piecing and the addition of purple perle quilting all add up to a wonderful finished quilt! I love it!

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  18. Deb it looks gorgeous - and great binding!

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  19. Bravo! This is just lovely. The calm colors and the improv style with just the right amount of quilting...very, very nice!

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  20. I love how peaceful this quilt is and the little bits of hand quilting are genius!

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  21. it's lovely, you did a great job! I have hardly any purple in my stash

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  22. This quilt looks amazing! I like the scrappy binding a lot. You got this done quite fast too!!! Good luck:)

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  23. You definitely captured a calmness with this quilt. The neutrals are subtle and beautiful, and the various purples look so lovely with them! I love the touch of hand quilting, as well. :) And yes, definitely go buy some more purples now! ;)

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  24. I like the background fabric. It does look like a gloomy day and then you have the pops of purple.

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  25. I love the colours you have used together here and the touches of hand quilting look perfect.

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  26. Deborah, it's stunning - but in a very calm way. what a wonderful finish! I love how that radiant green just screams against your serene eye-of-the-storm quilt in the photos. very lovely. what a lucky sister to be receiving this quilt. I'm not a big purple fan, but I think I could easily live with and even love this quilt. =)

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  27. As a fellow lover of purple I have to say that I'm willing to be your sister is going to absolutely love this.

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