Louise

Louise is in the current, 20th Anniversary, edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting (Vol 24 No 2), and is one of my favourites:

It was rather appropriately inspired by a lovely weekend Simon and I spent here in the Barossa Valley for our wedding anniversary last year, but I chose the name because it's also my middle name. We were there in early summer, but I chose these lovely autumnal colours which make me think more of sitting in front of a roaring fire!

I started the quilt with a selection of creamy text and map prints, augmented by some tone-on-tones - including, of course, a snowflake print! Perhaps I should make it my aim to include something snowflakey in every quilt...

Then I added the applique pieces, including about 130 of the grapes. Thankfully my planned applique technique was quick! But when I pinned the top up it became clear that the orange plume towards the upper left was far too bright, Fortunately I hadn't fused them properly at that stage, just enough to hold, and was able to heat the offending piece and peel it off to replace it with something more fitting.

The applique was done after sandwiching,a double line of free-motion quilting in matching coloured thread right at the edge of the applique. To save my sanity I used the same variegated purple for all the grapes.

The background is filled with dense quilting that took ages, but I love it I'd been wanting to try it for a while; it's a random combination of swirls, clamshells, pebbles and 'c's. It's a wonderfully flexible design to fit around all the odd shapes, and the only challenge is keeping it balanced. I'll definitely be using it again, although it's not something for huge spaces.

The instructions and pattern are in the current issue of AP&Q if you'd like to make your own version.