I have a new series of posts to share with you this autumn, as we begin to spend more time indoors and generally start snuggling down for winter. Each post will explore a popular theme in home décor and looking at how we can use quilts inspired by that theme in our own homes.
This time I'm focusing on everything botanical: natural forms, block printed linen and plenty of greenery.
This style literally adds life to safe, neutral palettes, with abundant house plants, botanical prints and natural materials.
Neutral décor has always relied on texture to add interest and we can apply the same rule to our quilts. There are some wonderful textile artists producing hand-printed fabric in the UK, including my talented friends Colette Moscrop, who prints onto natural linen, and Karen Lewis, onto muted cottons. But you could also consider soft velvets, fine silks or rustic hessian.
Sewing with a myriad of fabric weights requires some care: lighter fabrics may need starching or interfacing and you should consider breaking out your walking foot to bounce, tigger-like, across those bulky seams. Enjoy experimenting!
I hesitate to suggest a pattern, as an uncomplicated quilt of 6" squares of printed linens, textured plains and soft, natural colours is the essence of botanical style, minimally quilted with simple ties (there is a lovely tutorial for tying here), but I couldn't
resist recolouring my leafy Hazel pattern...
Photo of basket: Sostrene Grene
Your finished quilts should be layered over your bed or sofa, rolled up in a generous wicker basket or hung on the wall as a piece of textile art to soften a simply decorated room.
As the nights draw in and shades of green retire from our gardens, keep spring alive in your homes with a botanically inspired quilt.
Nicola xx
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