Miriam’s Twilight Gardens Quilt
So excited to share with you Miriam’s Twilight Gardens quilt, which is by Pamela Curo, and was featured in Quiltmania Magazine. The pattern isn’t available in her Etsy shop, it must be exclusive to the magazine.
Miriam asked for custom quilting and said there wasn’t anything she didn’t like. Which gives me creative freedom to quilt a variety of different designs throughout the quilt.
Using an Omni color swatch card from Superior Threads, I was able to pick the perfect color to blend on all of the lighter fabrics. That color is called Goose. Click here: https://www.superiorthreads.com/omni-3019-goose-gray/p/134-02-3019?show=Cones
I also used black Omni thread for all the darker fabrics, even the greys and navy. I used the black thread on the pinstripe border design that I did. Go to: https://www.superiorthreads.com/omni-3026-black/p/134-02-3026?show=Cones
Don’t forget to use my non-affiliate 15% off code ASTLEISHA at checkout.
With the background shapes in the blocks, I was able to create some beautiful textures like the 1/2” lines going around the shape of the background in the block above and the diamonds in the background below. While both of these blocks have a lot of lines, they also have some curves as well which I created using my Circle2 rulers. More about them in a moment.
My Circle2 rulers can be found in my shop. https://www.quiltingit.com/shop
When I started quilting this filler strip I was thinking of just quilting elongated x’s, but then had the idea after I created a zig zag to echo the zig zag with a 1/2” line on both sides. I’m more excited about the end result than I usually am with filler blocks or strips. I love this texture.
I knew I wanted to do I pinstripe border, and decided to go small because the borders weren’t exactly even and I thought I could fudge it if needed. It ended up working so good. I was quilting up to the first corner when I decided to add 4 pointed stars in each of the corners to add more stars to the quilt because of the star block. I love to pull inspiration from the blocks in the quilt or from the fabric, for the quilting. The inner border stumped me for a little bit because I was trying to figure out something to contrast the pinstripes. I almost did ribbon candy, but had already quilted that design in a few filler blocks that touched or was near the border. I love the diamond shape. I did mark a dot every two inches with a chalk pencil to make it easier.
I decided to do my pebble and pebble swirls in the stars m, which adds softness to the block and helps the stars pop. I teach this freemotion pebble design in the Pebble Video in my Quilting It Freemotion course. You can check it out here: https://www.quiltingit.com/quilting-it-freemotion-course And the pebble video can be individually purchased here: https://www.quiltingit.com/quilting-it-freemotion-course/p/gn8izw5h2m5otf2xkq7zs7fax4vb6p-jbfy3
I love love love how these stars turned out!! Initially I wasn’t going to quilt much in them, starting with just a simple x, but then I quilted a couple of pinstripes…and I couldn’t love them more!! They remind me of the folded paper stars we used to make with notes in school.
I used 8020 cotton poly blend batting from Winline Textiles, which is my favorite!!
One of my very favorite fillers to freehand quilt is my Overlapping Circles. It’s beautiful with a variety of different patterns or appliqué. It’s the perfect design to get around the little spots between leaves or flowers. I can show you the fundamental of this design and others in my Quilting It Freemotion course. Go to: https://www.quiltingit.com/quilting-it-freemotion-course
The Overlapping Circles video is here: https://www.quiltingit.com/quilting-it-freemotion-course/p/gn8izw5h2m5otf2xkq7zs7fax4vb6p-trp7l
Another fun design for me, were these scrappy log cabin blocks (not sure what their official name is). I initially just planned on quilting angle lines from the outside into the center, but then quickly realized the center part is more square so it was another opportunity to add more 4 pointed stars. I really love repeating the same design throughout a quilt in different blocks to make the quilt cohesive overall.
I created all the lines with my favorite Edge rulers from Linda at The Quilted Pineapple. Here is a link to her stop: https://www.thequiltedpineapple.com/shop/
I feel so lucky that Linda’s husband Scott is my Circle2 ruler manufacturer. He has been the greatest person I’ve worked with in the quilting industry.
I love love love this block. The simple lines and curves, create such beautiful textures!!!
I also quilted a stipple in the black background, which I did for another block as well. Which is the first design I teach in my Quilting It Freemotion course. Go to: https://www.quiltingit.com/quilting-it-freemotion-course/p/gn8izw5h2m5otf2xkq7zs7fax4vb6p
More blocks with curves and lines. I love the 1/4” pinstripes around the block in the black background in the block above as well as the angled lines in the block below. I used my 2”, 3”, and 4” Circle2 rulers for the curves in these blocks.
I quilted simple swirls and x’s in the square filler blocks. It’s fun to create a little texture in blocks that may typically be forgotten. They deserve a little attention, too.
I final look at one of the stars in the borders. It’s all about the details. If you need to scroll up and checkout the full quilt again. But first…
Below are my 2”, 3”, and 4” Circle2 rulers that are available in my shop. They also include the 8”, 9”, and 10” circles in the set, because there are two different sizes of circles per ruler. The rulers are made from 1/4” high quality acrylic in the USA. The circles come in a set of 6 and range in size from 2” up to 13”. Check them out in my shop: https://www.quiltingit.com/shop
- Design Patent D875,574 -
Thanks for stopping by!! If you’re interested in having me custom quilt for you, please send me an email with a picture of your quilt and we can discuss the quilting. quiltingit@gmail.com
Or if you’re interested in edge to edge quilting, you can sign up for a day or three on my calendar. Check it out here: https://calendly.com/quiltingit/edgetoedge
Thanks for stopping by!! Happy quilting, Leisha 💕
