Last April I began working on the Broken Dishes Quilt.  It had been planned since June 2012 and I was waiting to finish the Old Stone House Quilt before beginning this piece.  Looking back, I think (and hope) it was worth the wait.  

The layout and colour scheme of the queen sized quilt was designed by its very patient owner.  The colour scheme is very beautiful and is different from anything I have ever seen.  The original intent of the design was to create a "Country Chic" quilt with purples, greys and a citron accent using organic prints.  I had a very hard time finding purple patterned fabrics that I felt suited the design.  This led to a very interesting compromise in design.  All of the fabrics used were solids and the "country chic" theme would be met by using different free motion designs.  Each "square" (2 triangles) received a quilted border and the center was infilled with an organic free motion quilting design.  Every other square received a leaf "mash-up" pattern, designed by me. The remaining squares alternated between this design by Leah Day and this design by Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts (a favourite blog of mine!).  The border of the quilt was quilted with a free motion pebble pattern.  I envisioned that the inside of the quilt was the garden and the pebble border was the edging of the garden.

Here is a little preview of the queen sized quilt I am currently working on.  This quilt has been on my "waiting list" since last June.  My Client and her Fiance have been extremely patient in waiting for the work on their quilt to begin.

The colour scheme is so fantastic that I wish I could take credit for it.  I can't.  This entire quilt has been designed by the Client.  She provided me with colour scheme, indigos, purples, greys, neutrals and a very "punchy" citron.  The layout is based on a traditional "Broken Dishes" quilt.  The theme of the quilt is "Country Chic" with a hope to incorporate organic patterns. I must say, having these  decisions made for me is such a wonderful treat!  Great Client, great design.  Easy, right? Well, not exactly.

My only hurdle.  Fabric stores.  Or maybe I should say fabric manufacturers?  I am not certain why, and perhaps I am not searching in the right places, but there seems to be a huge disconnect between current home fashion and your typical everyday fabric store.  I've searched in stores and online.  Then in more stores and more websites.  Purples, indigos, greys are all very popular right now in home fashion, but it seems next to impossible to find a suitable purple that is not reminiscent of an Easter egg.  This is not my first search for the perfect purple.  I also encountered the same quest when I was making Fiona's crib bedding three years ago.  

So it was time to get a little creative and think outside the box.  Home decor stores.  More specifically, Home Sense.  There, I found the most exquisite, most perfect purple/indigo/greyish colour in a set of bed sheets! The colour is so incredibly rich.  It will be used as the main colour for the back, border and some pieces in the quilt. Aside from being the perfect colour, there are a couple of reasons why using bedsheets are perfect for a quilt.  One, they are large and can be used in a continuous piece for the back of the quilt. Because of this it is more cost effective.   Two, there is an abundance of fabric to use.  My goal is to not use the pillow cases that came with the set so that they can be passed on with the quilt. 

Once I had found the perfect purple/indigo/grey all of the other purple, wine, neutral colours seem to fall into place.  There were only 2 more items to address.  The first item, the lack of organic patterns.  Since the classic "Broken Dishes" pattern of the quilt contains triangles, the natural overall feel is a bit geometric.  Having solid colours accentuates that geometry.  It was really lacking the organic or country part of the "Country Chic" theme.  To offset this, I proposed using a free motion quilting technique to create our own organic pattern, not found in stores.  

The last item to address, the "punchy" citron colour.  Again, this one was a bit difficult to find.  Everything seemed to be too yellow, or too green to me.  There was nothing really in between.  Nothing matched the colour I had envisioned in my head or the scheme provided.  After another trip to Homesense, I found the perfect citron (with a teeny tiny hint of green and small amount of grey) in a set of pillow cases.   The missing piece!

The work on this quilt has begun.  I am so incredibly excited to continue the work on this quilt!   With the final colour in its place, the quilt top will be complete in no time and the organic free motion quilting will begin.  

To be continued...