A little big ago I was asked by my good friends at Moda if I could make up a quilt for them for Market. And I always love sewing for Market so of course, I was all in. And so the box arrived from Moda and I totally squealed when I opened the box to find that the quilt I would be making was a Union Jack quilt!!!! Eeekkk!!!!
I have always wanted to make a Union Jack. My Mother was born in England and so it has a special place in my heart and every time I saw one of these quilts I would think to myself that I totally need to move that up the "to make" list :) So ya, it was just meant to be for me to make up this particular quilt. I was so excited!!!
And when I realized that I was using the new William Morris Revisited collection that was created in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, (which comes out in October and is absolutely stunning!!!) well I will admit, I might have cried a little bit. It was just like everything was coming together as this perfect memory of my mother's homeland. And so ya, I knew off that bat that making this quilt was going to be special :)
And I just loved that Moda had me do it in all the beautiful blues from the William Morris Collection. I just loved paring up the beautiful lights, mediums, and dark's to really make each flag pop :) And the white is a tiny silver polka dot that just goes so perfect with the blues. Each time I made a block I decided that it was my new favorite block, and when I got to the point of sewing them all together, well, let's just say that this quilt shot way up to the top of the list of all time favorite quilts ;)
When it came time to quilt it, I decided to go with an all over wavy horizontal line. I wanted to give it the motion of flags waving in the breeze. And I am so happy to say that it fit perfectly for what I had in mind. I just love the way it adds to the design but also doesn't take away from each block ;)
And I used a beautiful Chambray for the cornerstones, binding, and backing and it just gives it the perfect finish. I love the little extra weight it gives it in the backing and really lets the quilting stand out ;)
And oh my, talk about some super yummy texture in that quilting. I tried to keep the quilting about 1/4" to 1/2" apart so there is a lot of lines. But I can't say how awesome it feels to run your hand down this quilt and feel all of that texture. So fun!!! I just love it.
And the biggest, most awesome surprises of all . . . My quilt ended up center stage at the Schoolhouse Opening Seminar!!!! I totally freaked out when I started seeing pictures pop up on facebook and there was my quilt, Eeekkk!!!! I knew that the main seminar was Moda and the V& A Museum but I thought I had been making the sample for the booth. So ya, it was a total treat for it to be part of the opening debut of the line. A treat indeed :)
Thanks for popping in today to share this special finish with me ;)
I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!
Yay this is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love love love your quilt ! Well done!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your quilts adventures! So cool! Have a wonderful day!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome quilt!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a 'Rule Britannia' quilt! Perfect!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, What a fun surprise to work on the quilt. It turned out beautifully. And it's especially a hoot to see it pop up on Facebook feeds. --Andrea
ReplyDeleteIt's a gorgeous quilt, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteWow Melissa!!! I absolutely adore this quilt!!! It's perfect!!! I need to do one! My grandparents are English on one side and on my other side we were part of the first fleet (haha convicts), and I've always wanted to make one of these quilts. I love your blue version!!!
ReplyDeleteThis has got to be one of my favorite of all time quilts that I have seen on a blog!!! I love the blues and the Union Jack design just makes it such a unique quilt!! Congrats on the Moda Center Stage! What an honor but then this is a great quilt!!
ReplyDeleteDelightful, so lovely in blues. Congratulations on the center stage feature! Moda fabrics are such fun to work with.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is beautiful from the pattern and the fabrics to the quilting and workmanship. I am sure Moda was delighted. I have made blocks from the Fig Tree mini jacks pattern, and they were challenging to say the least. Good for you for creating templates to make things go more easily.
ReplyDeleteAll those blues and that perfect pattern. Add your family story. Score!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE that the wavy quilting gives reference to the "flags" flapping in the breeze!!
ReplyDeleteThis is just stunning! You made me go and buy the pattern, LOL!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. How exciting for your quilt to be the center of attention! Your heart was in this quilt! :)
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful. I have Union Jack on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt in blue colours!
ReplyDeletelove your quilt, love your enthusiasm and just love to read your blog, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow! This is beautiful!
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