Brilliance

My next quilt to be included as a pattern in Australian Patchwork & Quilting is brilliance, which is in Vol 22 No 2. I got an advance copy when they returned my quilt recently, but I believe it should be available sometime in January.

I've been really keen to share this one, as I really like the way it turned out. It's much easier than it looks - I designed the piecing so there are no y-seams, and the precision comes easily thanks to the foundation-piecing (of course!). I called the block 'Brilliant' - after a brilliant-cut diamond. This quilt makes me think of sapphires, emeralds, rubies and diamonds - which is why I added to its sparkle by incorporating the silver thread in the quilting.

I quilted in the ditch in and around each of the nine stars using mostly Superior Glitter - a ribbon-like holographic thread which is beautiful to quilt with and sparkles brilliantly.

I then added extra, extra sparkle with these diamond-inspired motifs using the same thread. I marked some guidelines by eye, and quilted the whole lot free-hand.

I quilted the swirls all over the background, including the pale pink border - it makes the border really subtle.

I love the way the swirly quilting design fits into these spaces:

Looking at it now, I'm really not sure what thread I used for the swirls. It is fine with the teeniest sheen and blends really nicely (it looks pink on the pink areas and yellow on the yellow areas) so my best guess is it's a creamy-coloured BottomLine.

The only difficulty was a bit of bulk at the corners where the blocks meet; luckily it's really easy on the 820 to raise the foot higher when I need to, to get over these areas, then go back to the previous height.

For the label I used a photograph of my own wedding, engagement and eternity rings sitting on a white quilt - it seemed appropriate.