Halcyon Daze Blooms In A Row Liberty Quilt

Veronica, one of the Lewes Sewing Bees has made this divine quilt using our Halcyon Daze Exclusive collection fabrics. The gorgeous combination of prints, flowers and Suffolk puffs for the flower centres makes this the perfect quilt.

Veronica tells us about her make. “As soon as I received the nine fabrics of this beautiful Exclusive range, I knew the direction I wanted to go.  The colours are so deliciously soft and pastel, reminiscent of days passed and youthful prettiness.   On reading Alice’s inspiration for the collection, from her mother’s Laura Ashley dresses and her own childhood dresses, I wanted to design a small quilt that was nostalgic, slightly old fashioned but with a fresh twist.  I wanted pots of blooms, a trellis of leaves and lots and lots of Suffolk puffs, some ribbons and lots of little buttons.”

Beautiful fussy cut EPP flowers

“I loved the names of the fabrics, Capel Mint Choc Chip, Betsy Splash, Felicite Sherbet, June’s Meadow Dolly Mixture, Wiltshire Funshine … my favourite of course being Betsy Lady Di.

The quilt is sewn using the techniques of English paper piecing and needleturn applique.  The flowers are made using papers and the pots and leaves are cut, placed and needleturned.  The stems are made into bias strips, cut and hand sewn into place.  My chosen background is Wiltshire Shadow in white.”

“The blocks are machine stitched together, along with the sashing sections.  The main centre section was then bordered with a thin framing border in Mint Choc Chip.  The border of snowball blocks were cut, machine pieced and attached in four strips. A wide white border of Wiltshire Shadow was cut and added with mitred corners.  The long trellis stems were hand stitched in place, along with the leaves, Suffolk puffs and buttons.”

“The Suffolk puffs were made simply by cutting circles and drawing into the middle with a little turned edge and running stitch.   I adore Suffolk puffs and could make them all day long! The quilt was finally machine quilted with a Aurifil 12 which gives a nice finish being a thicker thread.  This quilt would also be lovely hand quilted which is my preference … but machine quilting is a quick option.  I chose a quilting cotton for the backing and binding as it is a little heavier in weight than the fine Tana Lawns® and maybe a little more durable for an edging.”

“Thank you so very much for asking me to make something with this delightful range.  I have loved the process and am thrilled with the end result.”

This quilt is simply gorgeous. It has the perfect vibe for the exclusive fabrics designed as a throw back to when times seemed less complicated. Sewing gives me a hobby that, although has moved forward in leaps and bounds when it comes to techniques and tools, it seems that much of the actual sewing seems the same as when I first started sewing. Thank you Veronica for sharing your beautiful project with us.