Wednesday 31 October 2018

'goodnight moon' quilt

I've been faffing around with lots of different projects lately, including another old WiP


You may remember some tea towels I bought ages ago, hm-m-m way back in November 2016? {see this post} While out for a cafe coffee one day, I did a little thrifting in a nearby opshop, and found a lovely selection of tea towels. A lady had put her special collection up for sale, all Irish linen, each one with crotchet edging, and I couldn't believe my luck.


I had a little play with a few trial log cabin blocks, mixing up some bright scraps with the vintage colours of the tea towels. However, I hit a roadblock. Something wasn't gelling quite right, so this WiP got put away, and I moved onto something else, as you do.

Recently though, I re-found this little bundle of glorious teatowels. I needed to make a decision
. . . quilt? . . . or kitchen? I decided to have another little play.


I loved the look of this unquilted vintage quilt, and I was able to track down and purchase the pattern for "Goodnight Moon" by Sheena Chapman from from the berryquiltandco in Australia {see here for lots more of Sheena's creative work}.
It's a scrappy quilt with 12 identical blocks, simply turned in different directions to achieve this improv look, great for using up my scraps & some of my favourite fabrics.



I had to ammend the sizes of the components a little to make sure I was using the best of the teatowels and, unlike the pattern, I didn't deconstruct all of my log cabin blocks.

The biggest change I made this time around was deciding to use a peach/blue/teal colour palette. I think it helps create some continuity across the quilt, achieving a nice balance, something that was missing when I first started this project.


I used a real potpourri mix of fabrics, lots of quilting cottons, contemporary & vintage, and of course the linen tea towels.Those tea towels were a little bit tricky as the fabric seemed to shift easily as I sewed, and there are a few different weights with other fabrics I'd added, like the Liberties and some other unknown vintage bits I'd picked up along the way.



Once I'd made up more blocks, I laid everything out on the 'design floor' and had a little play with things. My main aim was for the tea towels to look as if they belonged & not stand out, but I hoped they would be an 'I spy' surprise when you looked more closely. 




I moved a few filler blocks around and added in a few other different ones, and checked that there was enough contrast happening using a b&w photo . . .



. . . but at the end of the day, you just have to jump in and sew. So I've been busy stitching away, determined these blocks would become a quilt, at least before another two years passes by. 



- the final border is 'decadence' by Katarina Roccella, art gallery fabrics.




Just waiting now on some more Kaffe blue spot for the inner border and then the quilt top is all finished. A perfect way to spend a quiet day... lots of fun to simply sew something simple.
And, I've got a couple of teatowels leftover to use in the kitchen too. Linking up with Lorna for 'let'sbeesocial' here at sewfreshquilts and with Kelly for 'needleandthread Thursday' here at myquiltinfatuation



17 comments:

Leeanne said...

So interesting Linda, I love the 'cross hatched' log cabins. And those tea towels what a find! Was it hard to chop into them?

Linda said...

What a good idea to use the restricted colour palette you finally chose. It's interesting how projects "hatch" after you have left them a while.

Janie said...

I love the turquoise, coral vibe, gorgeous.
And I'm a big fan of Irish linen too.
Great ideas and improvising Linda.

audrey said...

So much fun to watch you play. I adore the color palette for this one. I've had a stack of peach and blue for ages now. Will have to get it out one of these days and dig in for good!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

You've used such a fun mix of fabrics and prints here, Linda! I have some embroidered linens inherited from family - this makes me think they could go in a quilt!

Anonymous said...

What a colourful and happy quilt, you have put some great ideas in this quilt design.

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

What a great post! I enjoyed reading it very much and learned from your observations and trials. I think you've achieved your goal to use these tea towels in a unique, beautiful and useful way.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Thanks so much Jocelyn. It was a fun & easy sew, a great 'I spy' kinda pattern. Making the first cut into the tea towels was the hardest part!

pandchintz said...

Adore this quilt! And you achieved your goal - I’ve had trouble spotting the tea towels! Gorgeous fabrics

thatfabricfeeling.wordpress.com said...

What a fun idea to use tea towels. I agree that they are hard to find and totally blend in. Use it well. It's a fun quilt with a neat story.

Karen S said...

Great to see it all come together so well. Sometimes a second look after a break is well worth it. Love the mix of fabrics and colours. I would not have guessed they were tea towels.

Kaja said...

Settling on a colour palette has really pulled all your fabrics together and I love how this looks now.

Suz J said...

Funny how you mention using a specific colour palette... but looking at the finished top there is probably every colour under the sun! But I can see how many of the fabrics fit within your scheme, and I think this does help to create a beautiful balance, only made more interesting by the highlights of other colours.

Mystic Quilter said...

The look you wanted to achieve with the tea towels was definitely a huge success. The quilt is beautiful, very clean and fresh.

Charlotte Scott said...

This is looking gorgeous Linda!

Kleine Vingers said...

What an interesting quilt, I like the idea of using tea towels this way. The quilt has a very cosy look to it. It is beautifull.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Thank you. Only just checked back a few posts and found your comment, blogger has changed things again! My fabric for the inner border finally turned up yesterday so I’m planning on getting this one finished soon-ish. Thanks for stopping by.