Monday, May 11, 2020

Night Blossoms

I've been fortunate to be friends with Amy Friend since the early days of blogging, so when she asked if I would be interested in participating in the sew-along for her new book, Petal + Stem, I said yes right away.

The quilt she chose for the sew-along is Whimsy Garden, a row quilt.  The thing I enjoy most about the book is that it can be a "choose your own adventure," because the blocks are easy to mix and match.

I have long been intrigued by "night gardens," gardens planted with flowers that bloom at night. A lot of the flowers chosen for night gardens are white, but not all. These were some of my inspiration photos.




For the background, I chose Blossom by Christopher Thompson (the tattooed quilter), navy with white, as it mimics the look of a star-filled night.

While I am using solid fabric for nearly all of the flowers and foliage, I decided to go with a little "glitz" for the white flowers, as if the moonlight was particularly shining on them. "Fairy Frost" in white by Michael Miller and another soft very subtle white pearly metallic-on-white fabric make the flowers look moon-struck.


While I only "signed up" to do Row 2, I'm having so much fun that I intend on completing the whole quilt. There will be some more white flowers, and the rest will be very pale solids in yellow, peach and lavendar.

Here is my one hint for foundation paper piecing: I always make an extra copy of each block, and I cut apart all the sections of the block (right on the line--no need to add seam allowance). If I encounter an odd shape--you know the ones: usually involving an odd angle or weird triangle--I place the section in question right side up (i.e., the side you would be sewing on) on the WRONG side of the fabric, and cut a generous 1/2" around it. That way, when I sew, I end up with the fabric going in the proper direction. There is a more detailed explanation here, with photos. It not only conserves fabric--I wasted SO much fabric before I started doing this--it will save a lot of frustration.

Here is Row 2 (individual rows tend to be tricky to photograph...)

Then, since we needed to buy some tomato plants, I took it to the local nursery for some beauty shots.


Amy designs very beautiful quilts and this is no exception. I'll be deviating somewhat from the pattern for the remaining three rows--exactly as the book is designed.

If you are sewing along, I'm sure you are enjoying this quilt. If not, you should definitely join. Did I mention that there are prizes?!
Happy gardening. :)

5 comments:

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Amy Friend said... #

Thank you so much for sharing your row as inspiration! I just love the night garden concept. I can't wait to see the rest of your quilt evolve. You are right, it's very challenging to photograph single rows of the quilt!! I agree. You did a spectacular job though. Those nursery shots are so fun.

Charlotte M. said... #

Love your concept. This is going to be a stunning quilt.

Robby said... #

I first heard about night gardens in a mystery I read. Such an interesting concept! Your night sky is inspired and I'm looking forward to seeing what else grows in your garden.

Thanks for the FPP tip, too. This is an area that continues to confound me, so we'll see if I can do better armed with this tip.

Debbie said... #

Very pretty and I like your night blossom theme!

Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

Beautiful row. Can't wait to see the full quilt. I'm glad you've found something to sew that motivates you right now. I love flowers but always go for full on color so was unfamiliar with night gardens. The flower collages you shared are beautiful.