Homemade Valentines….Tatted lace doilies…. tulip festivals. Such are the memories that mingled in my imagination to create Tulips & Lace Quilt XI. And all awash in love.

As a child I made construction paper valentine’s to hand out at school.  Perhaps you did too. My Mom used to get at least one pack of the pretty paper lace doilies that I could use for making the really special valentines.  I loved how the cutout designs looked when glued to the front of my red construction paper cards, or how I could use them to add frilly edges to my construction paper hearts with messages of ‘Be Mine’.  

Another memory: Did you ever visit a home that had lace doilies, called antimacassars, on the arms and backs of overstuffed chairs? I did, though I can’t remember whose home. I remember the beautiful tatted lace antimacassars on the antique armchairs, and how pretty they were silhouetted on the chair’s deep burgundy upholstry, and tracing the designs with my fingers. The doilies were delicate and lacy, and making a striking contrast.

And another memory: There’s a tulip festival every spring in Albany, NY where I grew up. After the long, dreary winter, and the gray, muddy spring Washington Park, where it was held, would be transformed and bursting with huge beds of tulips everywhere you looked. It was colorful and magical. And we paraded in costumes in the kinderkermis for a chance of prizes, and wait to see who would be crowned the king and queen of the tulip festival.

These random memories are more than just events from my past, but filled with the intangible feelings of fun, family, creativity, beauty and love that give them lasting meaning. These are what I poured into this design to make Tulips & Lace Quilt XI ,a quilt pattern full of tangible love.

I’ve always been drawn to quilts that mix applique with piecework.  Typically they are quilts full of color and dynamic movement as the applique pictures are set against the angular piecing. Tulips & Lace Quilt XI (61” x 61”) has reverse applique mixed with piecework where we switch these aspects around. Our lacy reverse applique blocks are abstract, playing with positive and negative space, and the piecework tulip blocks create the picture. As an artist I love this playing with the elements to see the world differently.

Tulips & Lace Quilt XI is a pretty, springtime quilt that has 4 blocks of reverse applique lace which the quilter can make by hand or machine with heart-shaped touches of applique.  And the rest is all airy piecework, like sunshine.  Because it has more piece work than reverse applique and is based on blocks it invites quilters into Eye of the Beholder’s world of reverse applique, giving them the opportunity to try it without overwhelming them. And made by machine, as I did with this quilt, you are done in no time at all. As with all our patterns, Tulips & Lace Quilt XI’s directions are thorough, supported by technique tutorials and blogs on the website, and come with full-size pattern pieces. All our patterns are available as print patterns or as digital pdf patterns. (Check out our Machine Reverse Applique and Hand Reverse Applique tutorials, and the blog Making Half-Square Trinagles: HST(posted June 5, 2020), which is particularly pertinent to Tulips & Lace Quilt XI)

One of my joys when I share a new design is hearing my customers’ responses. “The quilt makes me think of Easter”, commented one Facebook follower. I love when my designs evoke a feeling, memory or in some way resonates with a quilter. It means the design is more than just another pattern; its a design that touched their heart and soul.  

When I give a lecture/ trunk show quilters are interested to know the inspiration behind my quilts and I enjoy sharing, but my back stories, are only the beginning. I think that any quilt, any work of art, allows room for the viewer to respond, making it their own.  A quilter’s initial response is the first step to making it their own, because then you get to actually make the quilt, truely making it your own! That’s the unique fun of the quilting art/ craft form.

Tulips & Lace Quilt XI is designed in the Dragonfly Spell collection from Batik Textiles that are new for spring 2020, augmented with batiks from their basics. I loved how these fabrics played together to bring this quilt pattern to life. The purple and turquoise tulips stand strong yet delicate in the airy white space, and create a wind-tossed frame to the lacy center; a nostalgic beauty.  

In my creative process of designing Tulips & Lace I played with design elements and other fabrics from the Dragonfly Spell collection, too, and thought I’d share one of them with you.

Isn’t it fun what color does to a design? Perhaps you’ll want to replicate the purple and teal colorway, even using the exact batiks from Batik Textiles, or the alternative colorway or maybe you’re feeling inspired to make Tulips & Lace Quilt XI in something totally different. Trust your gut color instincts and have fun.

I hope you will enjoy making Tulips & Lace Quilt XI available in print or digital PDF. 

Want to make the pattern in the original batiks? Check with your local quilt shop to see if they carry the Dragonfly Spell collection and the basics batiks from Batik Textiles.

Happy Quilting!

P.S.

As I’m making my quilt samples, my mind often begins to brainstorm other quilts or projects I could make. So after I finish it and print up the pattern I try to find some time to open up EQ8 and see what else I can come up.  (I’ve always been this way, looking at familiar things in new ways to see what I can create. And if I don’t have the computer, I design with paper and pencil.)

So the other day I spent an hour brainstorming some design layout ideas for making Tulips & Lace Quilt XI larger (84” x 84”), still building on the same 12” and 6” block size units and the general concept, and how might I play with color. Just for fun I’ve included some of those designs here for you to get your creative juices flowing, too.