At last! I couldn’t even wait until the quilt was quilted. As soon as this top was complete, I took it to my bedroom to photograph in the beautiful light. I have been frustrated with the way that the colors appear when photographed on my design wall. Now, in plentiful natural light, I hope that you can appreciate the rich autumnal palette of my latest patchwork quilt.

Painted Windmills! These colors remind me of a folksy, vintage palette that you might find in a quaint European village. Since we’ve already decided that the Posh Snowball patchwork looks like windmills, it’s my Painted Windmills quilt.

I’ve used all of my very favorite Anna Maria Horner floral prints, which I’ve collected over the years. Those florals are mixed with soft wovens and gold-flecked basics in a lux color palette that’s near and dear to my heart. In fact, the fabrics were originally chosen for an autobiographical project. Here they’ve been sashed in Wild Rose, a Ruby and Bee Solid from Windham Fabrics. My choice of sashing color is unconventional, I realize, but I don’t regret it one bit. The color is a toasty pink-brown that feels so warmly inviting. I had no intention of keeping this quilt, but seeing it on my sofa almost changed my mind.

The Wild Rose sashing alongside the burnt orange solid I’ve used for the backing? Oh my gosh, LOVE!

I’m a fan of this airy floral quilting. Here it reminds me of fall mums.

Brandon, Elora and I set out to photograph this quilt on a fittingly damp and windy Dutch day. Our walk took us along this tree-lined road, which was perfect except that the wind never stopped! Luckily we found a more sheltered area later on, for a proper full-quilt shot.

Ta da! Painted Windmills on a beautiful autumn day.

Did you notice what I chose for the little squares in the sashing? I played around with a few options, but eventually settled on clusters of four matching squares. I almost went for all-solid squares, but in the end adding more prints for that extra touch of excitement won me over.

I bound this extra-large throw quilt in golden tones and gave her a gentle washing after the photoshoot. After all, it was a (messy) wet day.

Painted Windmills quilt is listed today in my Handmades shop. I really oughtn’t keep her, so someone rescue me from that temptation. Just promise to love all of these fabric favorites like they deserve, okay? I trust I can count on you.

xoxo,

Rachel

Shopping Notes: You can find the Quick Curve Rulers for this quilt pattern in Europe at Nanno Creative and in America at The Confident Stitch. The Posh Snowball pattern is also available printed at Nanno Creative and The Confident Stitch. For the digital version, visit Sew Kind of Wonderful.