Take a stroll with me on a bright spring morning: the birds are singing, the sun is shining and a gentle breeze carries a flutter of blossom petals. Grab your favourite basket and wend your way through pastel-painted streets. Greet your neighbours and admire their window boxes. Browse for a new book, treat yourself to a bunch of flowers and buy something delicious from the deli for lunch. And don’t forget to stop for an ice-cream on the way home. Spring in the city can be very lovely indeed...
did you guess the layout?
After a year of sewing we have arrived at our destination: the final instalment of the Today's Quilter block of the month, Primrose Hill. A reminder of spring as we head towards winter. Over the past year we've made twenty five blocks and I've tried to keep you guessing as to the quilt's layout by varying their size and scale.
When I started sketching ideas and compiling a list of possible blocks for Primrose Hill the quilt's structure, with it's mix of block size and orientation, was my starting point. The blocks were designed around a 6" grid and I aimed to give the large horizontal blocks - the pots, park railings and market stands - lot's of negative space to give the more intensely pieced blocks some breathing space.
a close up of Jayne's lovely quilting...
In this month's issue you can find directions for assembling your blocks and adding some optional touches of embroidery. If embroidery isn’t your favourite the quilt will look just as lovely without it, but those of you who do love it can have fun adding extra details to your quilt top. Feel free to add more: balconies on your terraces or tiny insects on your flower pots for example.
Jayne found the perfect soft, floral pantograph to quilt it with - which reminds me of a Clematis clambering through the blocks - and I bound it with a tiny raspberry gingham.
the finished quilt inside the studio...
It has been an absolute honour to design and make this quilt for TQ and I can't thank them enough for their trust in me. My thanks also to Lissa and her team at Moda Fabrics for their generosity in supplying the fabric (and to Brenda Riddle, of course, for designing it).
...and outside amongst the apple blossom
You can find all of the fabrics I used and a detailed post about my inspiration for each block by clicking on #primrosehill or using the search box at the top of the blog.
Last, but definitely not least, thank you if you’ve been sewing along (especially if you’ve been teaching a friend as you go!) and for sharing your progress with me on social media, I can't tell you how special you've made the whole experience,
Nicola xx