Project Seeds
Earlier this spring I received a package in the mail from my publisher, Lucky Spool Media. The box was filled with fabric cuttings and quilt blocks I had prepared for my book and sent to Lucky Spool for photographs.
Opening it was like unlocking a vault of ideas. Each carefully labeled plastic baggie contains a color story, fabric lesson or quilt block. I didn’t know what I would do with this well-spring of inspiration, so I closed it up and allowed it to be moved to Europe just so. Project seeds all of them, waiting in the dark for just the right moment to sprout and grow.
When I heard from Lucky Spool that my books were finally leaving the printers, I decided the time had come. My first project seed comes from page 10, the Flower Pod block example featuring FreeSpirit Designer Solids Malachite and those charming Tiger cats by Cotton + Steel, now Ruby Star Society.
Fall arrives in September in Enschede, The Netherlands. After fourteen years in South Carolina, this feels luxuriously early. In the hot, humid southern United States the summer grinds on and on. We would eagerly await a cool breeze, the shorter days. Sometimes we would have to wait until the very end of November or start of December to enjoy the changing of the leaves.
Autumn is my favorite season. What better way to celebrate its arrival than with the start of a new quilt! I pulled fabrics that spoke to me of autumn - bright orange, rust, peach, warm purples, brown, golden yellow and a smattering of leafy greens.
All the better with sweater motifs too! Sweaters are one of the best things about the change of weather.
The Flower Pod block consists of three focal fabrics and the background. Each one becomes its own little story. I would have been happy to use the malachite solid color as the background for the entire quilt, but I only had enough to make a few more blocks. I didn’t have the inclination or the funds to order more and wait, wait, wait for it to arrive.
No matter - boundaries foster creativity. A variety of moody blue backgrounds is my path forward. Keeping it cohesive has proved challenging, but that’s part of the fun. I’m happy with how it’s developing.
Happy sewing, all!
