Sunday 21 August 2016

Kaffe Fassett class in Wellington - my quilt top is finished

Many months ago (back in January 2016) I went to a class with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably in my home city, Wellington, New Zealand. We cut out fabrics to make Mediterranean Hexagons from the Quilts in Morocco book.


The quilt in the book is calming and blue like the Mediterranean.  Mine clearly isn't, so I'm calling mine Tropical Hexagons. It reminds me of the hibiscus flowers in the tropics.

I had a great day at the course and learnt so much from both of them.  You can read all about the day here, and see the fabric combinations other people used.

auditioning fabrics with help from my friend Sue on the left, and Brandon on the right

After the course I put my quilt away for a few months, but in June I started to sew the hexagons together.  You can see lots of close ups of the fabrics I'm using in my June blog post here.


This weekend I decided to finish piecing the top while I watched the final weekend of the Olympics from Rio.


I chose Jumble in turquoise by Brandon Mably for the skinny border - as recommended by Brandon at the course.  I did consider other options, but felt this one really was a good contrast.


I then chose Leopard Lotus in Ochre by Philip Jacobs for the wider border.  It has some brown in it, but not quite as much as the original fabric recommended by Brandon in the photo above. You know I don't do brown!


I'm really happy with all of my fabric choices in this quilt.  I started out with the beautiful blue carnations on black - Anne Marie by Philip Jacobs in black.  It really is my feature fabric in this quilt, and all of the other fabrics were chosen to complement that fabric.


So the top is finished and it's 80" x 85".  I'm going to get it basted on a long arm, and intend to hand quilt it myself.  I'm not sure what type of design I'll use it, but I'll enjoy rediscovering all the fabrics along the way.

If you get the opportunity to go to a class with Kaffe and Brandon I'd highly recommend it.  They challenge you to think about new colour combinations, and teach you how to analyse every fabric decision. I would certainly go again if they come back to New Zealand.




11 comments:

Anne / Springleaf Studios said...

I really love it! Well done. I've had this quilt on my to do list for a long time and love seeing all the different fabric combinations everyone uses. I lean toward to the reds with black/white triangles similar to yours. Good luck with the hand quilting. It will be amazing.

Susan said...

This is SO gorgeous Wendy! I didn't realise how big it was, until I saw the photo of it being held by your son(?) And the close-up photos show just how perfect this design is in showing off those big, blousy blooms!!!

Julie said...

How big is each heaxagon? For some reason I thought the quilt was a lot smaller, though I guess it won't take you too long to hand quilt it.

Wendy said...

Wow that certainly us a striking quilt. The colours are beautiful

Jeanne Pickrel said...

Your quilt is absolutely beautiful! I am so addicted to Kaffe, his fabrics seam to jump off the bolts. Your background fabrics forthe points lend movement and light, such great choices!

Nanaofck said...

This is such a beautiful quilt. The colors are just sumptuous. I look forward to seeing how you quilt it.

Brenda said...

So bright! It is a stunning quilt, and quite a contrast to your usual blue/green color choices. I like it, but don't know that I'd have the patience to match up all of the right star points to the right hexagon at the right time.

Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said...

What a stunning quilt. I love all the black, gray and brown fabrics that make the stars. They really are subtle and take nothing away from the Kaffe fabrics which are delicious. I love the pinks and reds. Your inner border is a great break. Thank you for sharing.

Marie said...

gorgeous!

Granny Maud's Girl said...

I love the colours of this. I might have been tempted to use dark grey as the border and overlooked turquoise, but I can see that your choice of turquoise is clearly a better decision.

Heide said...

Beautiful!!