Winter Wonderland Part 1

After two months of work, these blocks are starting to look like a quilt!

In case you’re just joining us, this is Winter Wonderland, a quilt I started working on in November.

This quilt was started for many different reasons. Firstly, I wanted to produce one more show quilt this year, but I knew I didn’t have the time to start a really big, monster project.

I also wanted to test out my new technique, Reverse Shadow Trapunto, and see if it would work for another show quilt, Emerging from Tradition I plan to start in February or March.

While it might seem really silly to take a whole quilt to experiment with a technique, this is really the best way to know if it’s something you like doing and want to do more of.

I also created this quilt because I suddenly fell in love with snowflakes and wanted a truly winter themed quilt to hang during the holidays.

After completing the quilting, I can definitely say that this is a quick, fun project! I don’t think I’ve ever said that about a show quilt, but working block by block with this quilt has definitely kept it light and moving quickly.

As for the technique I was experimenting with, I’m not so sure that I will be using it on Emerging from Tradition.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Reverse Shadow Trapunto, but I don’t like how the colors of the quilt are muted, even slightly by the silk organza.

Emerging will be another goddess quilt, and like Release Your Light, it’s going to be bright, bold, and dramatic. I just can’t see muting any of the colors I want to use, even slightly.

But even with this limitation, I was still considering it until I realized that silk organza is only made up to 55″ wide. Emerging from Tradition has been designed to finish at 67″ wide, so it’s just not going to work.

I guess I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and get over my dislike for applique. Regardless, it’s still a few months off, so I have plenty of time to think about it some more.

I know you’ve all been wanting to see these blocks up close and even I was surprised by how well some of them turned out! Here’s the first 6 blocks up close:

With this one I just did some very simple lines, like Bright Star, in the center, and then Pebbling in the background.

This background was filled with Basic Spiral.

The center of this block was filled with a spiral like Peppermint Candy, then the background was filled with Escargot.

This block was filled with a pivot design I’ve been playing with, but haven’t posted a video on yet. It’s called Butterfly Wings.

I used the same Peppermint Candy spiral in the center of this block and then used Cucumber Vine to fill in the background.

This block was one of my absolute favorites, so I used my 2 favorite fillers: Pebbling in the center and McTavishing in the background.

Of course, I realize now that it’s hard to tell Escargot, Basic Spiral, and Cucumber Vine apart when they’re in blocks like this and the pictures aren’t very good.

Hopefully you can tell the subtle differences between the designs. In any case, there’s a big difference in how quickly they cover the block!

Escargot was the most time consuming and Cucumber Vine the easiest to noticeably mess up with. As far as all of the spiral designs go, Basic Spiral has my vote as the easiest to use and the fastest to fill.

Pebbling, of course, is the most time consuming of all of them, but it’s also one of the most beautiful, so it was worth it.

We’ll definitely see the next 6 blocks tomorrow with Part 2.

By the way, I’m still working out how I should put all these blocks together in the finished quilt.

I have 2 options for connecting the blocks: I could use this straight binding that will look like a 1/2″ line or I can make 1″ bais binding and do this wavy design.

What do you think? Of course the straight line binding will be easier, but the wavy line looks so pretty.

Also, should the center block be point up (style A) or point to the side (style B)? Pick the ones you like best and let me know in the comments below!

Style A

Style B

Let’s go quilt!

Leah Day