From my Sketchbook: Harvest Home..

I have such a fun quilt to share with you today - which you can find in the new issue of Todays Quilter (number 131) - inspired by the arable fields that surround our garden and a vintage rug I saw on Pinterest.

the view from Lyth Hill; vintage rug from Wickle in Lewes, found on Pinterest...

The design was wonderfully graphic and the chevron motif representing the heads of wheat was my starting point. For a long time I just had sheaves of wheat alternated with barns - and that would make a lovely quilt - but the soundtrack harvest time around here is the hum of tractors working away all hours of the day and night to beat the weather, so I had to add those too. Plus a mini version of the chicken block from Count Your Chickens.

The fabrics that always come to mind when I think of autumn are by Fig Tree for Moda. Designer Joanna is a firm fan of autumn and likes to combine classic oranges, tans and browns with the perfect warm reds and greens and a touch of soft aqua. I have a healthy little crop of Fig Tree fabric in the cupboard of loveliness and I harvested some older collections - mainly Farmhouse with a few prints from Stitched - to make my quilt.

There are lots of prints to organise when making those scrappy wheat sheaves, so I kept all of the smaller cuts in little piles so I could pick up the right print when I needed it.

Pascale quilted it with a soft, leafy meander, which suited the theme perfectly and has become a bit of a favourite. I chose a red bias gingham for the binding, also by Fig Tree, which echoed the little red barns and tractors.

My finished quilt was photographed in a new spot in the garden, which is actually at the back of the studio. With those pin-friendly wooden boards, I’m not sure why I haven’t thought of this before!

The quilt's name is taken from a favourite Harvest Festival hymn that I'm sure we all remember singing:

"Come, ye thankful people, come,

Raise the song of harvest home!

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin;

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied;

Come to God's own temple, come;

Raise the song of harvest home!..."

Henry Alford, 1844

But when those storms do come, you can retreat to your sewing room and piece a chicken driving a tractor, which is sure to raise a smile.

with love from the studio,