Maria’s Pink Peonies Quilt
Hello there,
I’m very behind in blogging, because I’ve had some fun things I’ve been working on, that I’ll share with you soon. I first want to thank each one of you who bought designs during my birthday sale!! It was the best sale I’ve had! Thank you!! Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes.
I quilted this beautiful quilt back in the middle of April. It was such a fun one to quilt. It was made by Maria. The pattern is by Teri Christopherson from her book called Mulberry Lane and the pattern is called Pink Peonies.
The medallion block pieces are all needle turned, so there aren’t any raw edges. They also seem to have a dresden look to them.
I used 2 layers of batting, Winline’s bamboo on the bottom and Hobbs wool on the top. I also used two pink threads as well as a natural white for the background, all Superior Threads Omni thread.
When I first saw this quilt, I knew I wanted to quilt those curves in the background to highlight or frame the block, while also doing something pretty in all the negative space. I used my 11” Circle2™ machine quilting circle ruler to quilt the arcs, with a 1/2” space between each arc.
These are the clear versions of my Circle2™ rulers. They come in a set of 6…two sizes of circles per ruler, with circle sizes ranging from 2” to 13”. They also come in green acrylic, too. (Scroll down) They come in 1/4” thick high quality acrylic and are made in America. Here is a link to learn more about this set of rulers. https://www.quiltingit.com/blog/2018/10/10/introducing-my-circle2-longarm-circle-ruler-set
My Circle2™ machine quilting ruler sets are available in my shop.
- Design Patent D875,574 -
I used the 3” Circle2™ ruler to quilt the 4 petals inside the center of the arcs. The combination of the arcs and petals, beautifully frame around the medallions.
For the medallions themselves, I tried to highlight the shape. I went around the center circle several times to help the center pop even more, especially with the double batting. In the star portion of the block I simply quilted a circle with a 1/2” line, which adds some variety to the overall design. I added a few petals in each of the scallop petals, and then finished off the dresden pieces with some simple pinstripe lines, using the 8” Edge rulers from Linda at The Quilted Pineapple. Then to enhance the pink pinstripes, I just quilted a line along the edge or in the ditch. It helped the batting pop even more.
I love the overall look of this quilt. And…I may be a little bit biased but I think the quilting makes this quilt shine!! Thread, rulers, and a little bit of creativity can work wonders.
This is why investing in some great quilting rulers is so important to increasing your freemotion quilting. I was very particular when I created my Circle2™ rulers. I wanted you to have 2 rulers per ruler, so you only need 6 rulers to get 12 sizes of circles. I also took into consideration the 1/4” hopping foot on your machine. If you quilt a circle with the 3” circle, it will be 3”…not 3” like all the other circle rulers I’ve come across. Which is something that frustrated me with the previous set I used. My Circle2™ rulers are 2.5” wide which fits nicely in our hands. There are also some very helpful 1/4” lines to use as you quilt, and measurements along the straight edges. Here is a look at me using one of them on a table runner… https://youtu.be/GWyDTymyzoE
See that scalloped diamond design in the inner border? I used the 8” Circle2™ ruler to create those beautiful curves, which also frames the quilt beautifully.
This is the 2”/8” Circle2™ ruler. The previous rulers, pictured above are the 3”/9” and the 5”/11” sizes of circles.
I finished off the outer border with my freehand swirly feather design. If you’d love to learn this design, stay tuned. I have something coming very soon to help you do just that!
Thank you for coming on by!! Happy July and I hope you’re getting some sewing done. Take care, • Leisha