Pitmedden Garden – The Quilt

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I will start with the name of this little quilt.  Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is home to the beautiful Pitmedden Garden.  Since I love to visit gardens while travelling, we had planned on visiting this one. The idea was to have lunch there, spend an hour or so, and then continue on to Aviemore.  Little did we know that we would end up spending most of the day there.  When I finished making the quilt top and showed it to my husband, the first words out of his mouth were “That’s Pitmedden Garden!” Henceforth, Pitmedden became the namesake of this quilt.

 

 

Pitmedden Garden Scotland | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I can see why he thought of Pitmedden Garden.  You can see the four quadrants of the garden and the walking path through them in this photo.  I will share a lot more photos of this garden in one of the monthly Wandering Camera linky party posts.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I drew this pattern after seeing a flower through the window of my little atelier, and then combining it with a pinwheel pattern.   Then, inspired by our travel to England – specially Derybyshire and Yorkshire – I made this mini using the pattern.   The Tale Of Two Shires post has more on this mini.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Once I finished that one, I wanted to make a quilt for my kitties using the same colours, prints and quilting lines.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Since I often get asked how I choose colours and prints, I wrote a separate post on that – Pinwheel Flowers – Colours And Prints.

I think the blender fabrics for the flowers make them look like flower-patches, which I like even more than the idea of one flower per block.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I used the same quilting lines as I used for the one-block-mini.  I love using my walking foot, so I try to come up with straight line quilting designs to complement my quilts.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

The parallel lines on the quilting ruler were exceptionally helpful for this.  I drew a line through the middle first, and then made the V-lines from each side meet there.  That was the only way I was able to get a square-shaped diamond in the middle of the sashing instead of a rhombus. 

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I used the same acid green thread that I used for the one-block-mini.  Much to my surprise, it worked really well with all four flower colours.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Finally,  a green binding to mimic a green wall of shrubbery surrounding the garden.

 

 

Pinwheel Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

That wraps up my quilt version of Pitmedden Garden.  It is now being used by our little kitties on one of their many beds.

Now I may just have to make one for ourselves!

-Soma

 

This was also my one monthly goal, which I am happy to say I have accomplished.  I am linking up with –

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal Finish

 

Related Links –

The Tale Of Two Shires – Pinwheel Flower One Block Mini
Pinwheel Flowers – Colours And Prints
Wandering Camera

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

 

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Pinwheel Flowers – Colours And Prints

 

 

I am making a quilt for my kitties using one of my old patterns, Pinwheel Flower.  I often get asked about how I choose colours for the blocks I make from my paper piecing patterns.  For me they are illustrations done in fabric, so most of the time it is very akin to how I paint.  I will try to show my selection process.

 

I use colours and prints together to create a certain style, mood, or even a season. 

 

 

 

 

I took this photo of a little purple larkspur flower during a hike.  I was looking for tiny little wild flowers for photography and my husband found this one for me.  As this photo was my intial inspiration, I chose green for the quilt background.

 

Most of the time though, the background is the last fabric I select.  No matter what the order is, I like the design of the block to stand out against the background colour and/or print.  If I don’t get the right contrast, I change out the fabrics until I am satisfied.

 

 

 

 

I wanted the flowers to pop against the background without being too bright. It was also important to have a balanced ratio of cool and warm colours.  From the very beginning, I was sure about the purple flower from my photo appearing in the quilt.

 

 

 

 

The other cool colour choice would be a shade of blue.  After trying out quite a few mid- to dark blues, I settled on this teal.  I adore that colour, but I don’t get to use it too often.  I also have only a little bit of it left, just enough for my little kitty quilt.

 

 

 

 

I love yellow flowers.  A vase full of yellow Chrysanthemums cheers me up immensely.  Unfortunately, yellow was not dark enough to provide enough contrast against the green, so I picked the next best – a burnt orange.

 

 

 

 

For the last colour, I looked to our garden for inspiration.  We have two wildflower plants with the brightest shade of red flowers blooming in our garden.  The whole plant looks like it is bursting into red fireworks.  That became the red flower in my quilt.

 

The idea for this block came from a combination of seeing a flower through my atelier window and a pinwheel block.  For sashing, it was going to be either white or cream fabric to represent the window frame.  Since the green I chose was a warmer green, I used a yellowish-cream for the sashing.

 

 

 

 

Once I finish selecting the colours, I start on the prints.  I think about what the quilt is supposed to represent.  That helps me decide on the style as well as giving the quilt a sense of coherence while I choose the prints.

When I show you the finished quilt, you will see why I used blender fabrics for this one.

 

-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

 

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