March Madness (NOT Basketball!): New Tilda Fabric + Stonefields Quilts for Nanette (and for Rebecca)

Today I'm sharing Nanette's Stonefields quilt that I quilted for her in January of 2023.  This was one of fourteen quilt tops (out of a stack of many more!) that she had originally planned to quilt herself and had been feeling guilty about leaving unfinished -- you know, like quilters do!  With health challenges multiplying and the stack of quilts not getting any smaller, she decided to scale back some of that self-imposed pressure by having some of the quilts professionally long arm quilted by me.  

Nanette passed away suddenly a week ago, and that got me looking back through photos of her quilts again and thinking about how glad I am to have helped her achieve the satisfaction of seeing and enjoying her gorgeous quilts as finishes.

Nanette's 65 x 65 (Modified) Stonefields Quilt with Filigree E2E Quilting

First things first, let's credit the pattern designer.  Stonefields is an original pattern by Australian quilter Susan Smith, which she was commissioned to make by Paramount Studios for a film that was shot in Ireland.  I have no idea which film; what I've shared with you is all the info I was able to squeeze out of the World Wide Web!  Stonefields is a sampler quilt combining appliqué with EPP (English Paper Piecing) and machine piecing, and Nanette shared that this was the most expensive pattern she ever purchased and that made her feel even more pressure to have a finished quilt to show for what she'd invested in it.  

So, I know what some of you are thinking -- edge-to-edge quilting over hand stitched appliqué?!  I know, I know.  Nanette's original plan was to hand quilt this one, but she realized that she had more quilt tops that "deserved" hand quilting than she would ever be able to complete in her lifetime.  Custom machine quilting was outside of her own skill set and beyond her budget, especially considering the number of tops she wanted to finish all at once.  And so she sent Stonefields to me, and I recommended the simple loops of the Filigree allover quilting design.

That Bunny Rabbit Is My Favorite!

With this quilt, it was really important that the appliqué and patchwork should be the star of the show and the quilting should just be a supporting element.  

Had I gone with the obvious choice of an off white quilting thread, the loopy quilting design would have been less noticeable on the background fabrics, but it would have been very high contrast against the deep, dark colored fabrics in Nanette's patchwork and appliqué.  It would have been like white scribbles across the bunny rabbit and the star points.  Invisible monofilament thread would have been an option, but it didn't feel right for the traditional aesthetic of this quilt.  Instead, I chose Superior's King Tut 40 weight variegated cotton quilting thread in color Sunflowers, which was nearly an exact color match to the variegated gold embroidery thread Nanette had used for the embroidered circle around her star:

Superior's King Tut 40 wt Cotton Thread in Sunflower

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Quilting Thread Selected to Match Embroidery Thread

I used Quilter's Dream Deluxe Loft cotton batting on all of Nanette's quilts.  Here's one more shot of Nanette's version of Stonefields when I finished quilting it for her in 2023:

Nanette's 65 x 65 Stonefields Quilt

And here's a photo of Nanette's Stonefields quilt top before I quilted it:

Nanette's Stonefields Quilt Top Before Quilting

And now, for the March Madness portion of the blog post: In writing today's post and trying to find out more about the pattern, I was reminded how smitten I was with this quilt while it was on my long arm frame and how I thought it would be such an enjoyable project, to make and savor these little blocks one at a time like treasures...  

So when I found the Stonefields pattern for sale in an Etsy seller's shop, I ORDERED IT!  

(?) Original 96 x 96 Stonefields Quilt by Susan Smith

I *think* the photo above is of the original Stonefields quilt by Susan Smith, but I apologize if it's actually someone else's version made in similar fabrics.  I was surprised by how little I was able to find online about this quilt designer, so if anyone out there knows more, please share!

Nanette called her version of this quilt "Stonefields Redesigned" because she only made 81 of the 121 blocks from the pattern and she eliminated the inner flying geese border and that wide outer border of EPP flowers.  I think she lost interest in the project or got bogged down with it or just became more interested in some other project along the way, as happens to us quilters!  But I liked this quilt even more when I saw the full version in Susan's original colors, and I thought of those Tilda fabrics I've been quietly hoarding collecting:

New Tilda "Sunday Brunch" Collection Snuck Home to Join My Stash

Some of you may remember that I bought fat eighth bundles of these earlier Tilda collections a year ago when I was mid-move, in-between houses, and the entirety of my fabric stash and supplies were locked up in prison.  Okay, not actual prison -- they were wherever your boxes get stored in between when they leave your old house and before you have your new house to move them into.  

Moving Therapy: Tilda Fabrics and a New Project

I wanted something easy to work on that I could cut with scissors and a couple AccuQuilt dies, so my intention was to use the pretty Tilda prints and coordinating solids for a version of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine's "Scrappy Celebration" quilt:

APQ Scrappy Celebration Quilt

It's just an assortment of four- and nine-patch blocks and I thought it would be pretty in those soft floral prints, but I've been mixing in other fabrics from my stash and there will be LOTS of leftover fabric.  Wouldn't those Tilda fabrics be a lovely jumping off point for the Stonefields quilt as well?

I am planning to share more of Nanette's quilts in the coming weeks (and hopefully I won't feel the urge to remake all of them myself!).  I'm also going to have a little "come to Jesus" talk with myself and take a good, hard look at my projects in progress, including patterns, fabrics and kits that I've purchased and not yet begun, and draw up a list of any other "Big Bucket List" quilts that I've hoped to make someday.  More and more I'm realizing that Someday is not guaranteed, and only today is certain.  I'm also realizing that the quilts I'm drawn to and the way I procrastinate work on them is a slower process than many other quilters.  That's okay, but maybe I should be choosier about which projects I undertake and give myself the grace to either simplify (as Nanette did with Stonefields) or even walk away from a project if I'm not enjoying it anymore.  As polite as my family members are about my quilts, I don't think anyone is going to be fighting over them when I die and it's not going to matter to anyone whether I finished every project that I started.  Time to dust off that Marie Kondo book and ask the magical question of tidying up: "Does this bring me JOY?"

Don't worry; I'm still working on those last nine blocks for my Deco quilt (not bringing me joy at the moment!).  My OMG (One Monthly Goal) Part I: Patchwork for March is going to be completing the remaining blocks and sewing that quilt top together.  My OMG Part II: Quilting for March is FINISHING the custom quilting on my friend Marybeth's sampler quilt!  And I'll be watching my mailbox like a hawk for a pattern from an Etsy seller in Minnesota...

I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:

ONE MONTHLY GOAL

Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework