A Process Post: Innocent Crush

Another overdue finish; I hand-bound this quilt on the weekend (the quilt top was completed in Nov '10). A long time for a baby quilt that's only 100cm x 90cm (40'' x 35'').

When Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush came out I planned to buy a half yard of all the non-purple fabrics (I don't like purple) and leave it at that. However when I saw what Ashley of Film in the Fridge had done with the line and knowing that one has to grow as a quilter, darling, I decided to buy the FQ set.

Backed with one of Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels

When it arrived I freaked out a bit. How was I going to make all these amazing fabrics play nicely together? I didn't want to just copy Ashley's design, but then again I didn't want a quilt that looked like an explosion in a crayon factory.

Ooh look: a quilt in a tree

As always after a while an idea came and I started to cut and sew. The pinwheels didn't last long.

Then came a design closer to the final layout.

With a few adjustments the quilt top ended up like this- the idea being that patchwork rectangles were formed along the diagonal.

It was still kind of an explosion, only in a good way. But it needed something else. More cowbell.

I asked myself What Would Rita Do? You know, Rita from Red Pepper Quilts, the doyenne of modern quilting. Is is often the case, whenever I ask WWRD the answer invariably comes back: add more white.

Right. White. Then I got it in my head to try some appliqué. A simple shape repeated in white to tie the whole thing together.

I auditioned stars.

Bow ties, or reflected hearts, however you choose to look at it.

This one was a winner for a while until I realised it looked like an armada of little swimmers looking for an ovum (I was just pregnant at that stage...). I couldn't have put a baby on that with a clear conscience.

So I figured I'd ask WWAMHD? Anna Maria Horner actually sorta spoke to me because I found the answer in her fabric design.

See the flower surrounded by dots in both the blue and mauve fabrics above? That became my applique motif.

I decided I would zig-zag my shapes to the quilt top before I made the quilt sandwich.

The lady at my local quilt shop put me onto this stuff.

Thanks stunt peg, what would I do without you?

I have no idea what it's called as the whole conversation was in French and there is no writing on the product's paper backing. But it is a very light and flexible iron-on glue in a lattice pattern.

I ironed it on the quilt top seams directly behind where I wanted to machine sew my appliqué shapes. After it cooled, I peeled off the paper backing and the lattice held my seams down neatly. Then I could twist and turn and appliqué the quilt top with gay abandon, not having to worry about the seams getting all caught up.



Nice and neat. Just try not to iron over it again as you apply it to your seams as it goes gooey.

Only a few more decisions remained. How to quilt it? I wanted to make the rectangles more obvious.

So I quilted in a grid pattern highlighting the rectangles. I used white thread on top so it couldn't be seen on my Kona White appliqué, and a cream colour on the back to blend into the flannel.

I also tossed up appliquéing on another flower motif but in the end decided it might have been overkill.

Lastly, I needed to decide whether I would bind in white to match the applique, go with a single Innocent Crush fabric or to do a scrappy binding. The later won and I think I like it most, it adheres to the explosion theme.

That was the Potpourri palette, I still have the Petal palette to use.

Rita's telling me to use more white.