Lanterns

In my last post, I mentioned that I would explore each of my new patterns in more detail.  Let’s begin with Lanterns:

This quilt was designed to feature many medium/large scale prints.  I wanted to make each block big enough that the print wasn’t chopped into small bits.  Since there are many busy prints included, the blocks needed to be separated by a quiet background, so I chose a solid.  And with everyone using white backgrounds lately, I thought it might be fun to try a pale green for something different.

After finishing the quilt, I found that my favorite part is the vertical sashing, which I’ve named my “Barbed Wire Sashing”.  I plan to do more designs with this feature.

Now let’s talk about the quilting.  With so many busy prints, contemporary style, and a repetitive block layout, I chose an all-over pantograph.  OK, the fact that pantographs are fast and easy was part of the decision too!

The quilting adds so much to the finished quilt.  This is a very simple swirl design.  I like that it’s an evenly-spaced smaller scale motif, so it has balanced density.  Here’s a close-up:

I like selecting prints for the backing fabric, based on my show-quilt experience that it helps to hide quilting imperfections from the judges.  But for blogging purposes, I think I need to start choosing fabrics that are better at showing off the quilting.  Here is the back:

I think this simple design complements the quilt top very nicely.  I hope you agree!

For more information on this pattern, see it here on my website.