I recently joined the Quiltfolk Adventure series in order to participate in the workshop titled Beatrix Potter: Quilt Tales from the English Lakes. This is an online adventure. The hosts, Kay Walsh and Jenni Smith, travel to the location with a film crew. They air the episodes online over a 2-day period and include a related quilt project with instructions and tutorials. The Beatrix Potter project was a mini wall quilt with a center medallion and foundation paper pieced blocks. The workshop quilt project was based on a quilt that was made in 1863, the wedding quilt of Beatrix Potter's parents. The design for the center medallion was lovely, but I became intrigued by a quilt displayed in one of the episodes, the Mackenzie sister's quilt, circa 1840, and decided to use it as the inspiration for a different center medallion. This quilt is in the archives of the Quilt Guild of the British Isles. Both quilts had the same connecting block, a lozenge. Block size for the Mackenzie sisters quilt were not shared, the block size for the workshop project was as follows: kaleidoscope blocks finished at 5", the lozenges finished at a 2.5" x 5" rectangle.
My Big Mistake:
The cutting instructions required a 12.5" square for the medallion. Assembly instructions required trimming that center medallion to 10.5". I made my windmill blades 11" across.
I understand trimming down is a common step in quilt patterns, if only I had read the instructions all the way through before beginning! Oops.
All was not lost, I ended up adding a lozenge and 5" block to each of the 4 sides, and 2 borders to the medallion. One at 1 1/2" finished, one at 2" finished. It gave me an opportunity to add a hint of the Mackenzie sister's applique blocks.
Here is my version (the unquilted top), made with the fabric collection Birdie, by Libs Elliott for Andover Fabrics (the medallion background is an Alison Glass print). The Birdie collection contains several shapes that were used in the Mackenzie sister's appliques.
What I Learned:
Always read the pattern all the way through before beginning.
I created the windmill blades and heart appliques in Adobe Illustrator and cut them with my Cricut maker. This was the first time I had used either of those tools. I think the Mackenzie sisters would have loved a Cricut.
I also learned that a ruffle is called a frill in the UK, and museum curators prefer a quilt without a frill (frills make them difficult to display). We learned about how quilts are dated and preserved. The interviews at the museums Jenni and Kay visited was the best part of the adventure, they gave us a behind the scenes tour experience.
More Quiltfolk Adventures
Beatrix Potter was my first adventure with Quiltfolk, and I loved it. I have purchased a passport to their future adventures. Learn more about Quiltfolk's Adventure Workshops, including the option to purchase previous workshops on demand at this link: Adventure Workshops - Quiltfolk
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