The Seedling Quilts book, english paper pieces

I want to make every quilt in this book. The Seedling Quilts book is one to be savoured. I was thrilled to be asked by Jodi of Tales of Cloth to join the book tour as she has been an inspiration to me since we became blogging friends. I have always admired her sewing style, the way she combines fabrics and I LOVE her writing (so much I have actually embroidered a poem she wrote). She is endearing, interesting and very talented. 

It's no surprise then that this book is full of all that - gorgeous quilts, excellent advice, tidbits and stories of the herbs that the patterns are based on. There are 11 quilt patterns in the book but it's more than that, you can easily just make blocks or create sections based on the designs to use in other projects too.

I made the Peppermint pattern using Jodi's paper pieces, you can order kits of the papers for all the quilts in her shop. Choosing fabrics was not hard, they just jumped out of my stash at me. The grid print was the starting point because I thought the background of the pattern could look like a trellis for the plants to grow up.

modern quilting fabrics

The block were simple to sew, pre cut papers mean the pieces are super accurate. I took basted pieces with me on a train journey and snuck in sewing a block here and there. These could get addictive. Once I had made enough it was time to arrange the blocks and sew them together.

paper pieced blocks layout

The Seedling Quilts book Peppermint blocks in envelope

As I was making the blocks I realised that I didn't want to have to cut them top or bottom, which the original quilt pattern calls for. For a larger piece it makes sense but as this was a cushion I didn't want to lose any edges to the seam allowance. Appliqué is the best answer for me. I can keep the piece complete and it was a way for me to tame the (slightly busy) use of grid. The perfect background fabric was the one I picked up at the festival of quilts. Then there was the decision of how to do the appliqué and quilting. My favourite way is to quilt the background and then add the appliqué. It's something about the texture of doing it that way that I really like.

Machine quilted lines and Aurifil thread

The background is 1/2" lines quilted with Aurifil 28 weight #2423. Then I added quilted crosses on just the grid print squares using Aurifil Forty3 #2310 . The advantage of quilting a cushion cover is I can use the locking stitch on my machine and don't have to tie the ends in, since the back is hidden it doesn't have to be neat.

appliqueing the epp block to the background

machine cross quilting

After that I secured the edges with a narrow blanket stitch. I didn't want it to stand out but blanket stitch is one of my favourites and don't mind being able to see the stitches as it looks quite delicate.

english paper piecing applique on background quilted fabric

quilting and applique

quilting and applique

quilting and applique panel

close up of cross quilted

From the back the quilting reminds me of some sort of monster from Stranger Things, it actually looks cool - a modern whole cloth.

quilt back

Next was the cushion backing and binding. I'm not going to lie, my sewing space is a big old mess. I grabbed two pieces of fabric from the top of a pile (because I used them recently in another project), they happened to coordinate well and they were also big enough to use to make up the back. It doesn't bother me if the two pieces of fabric are different top and bottom when I'm sewing a zipped back.

sewing notions and tools

Used the chunky zip, that was the only kind I had that was long enough and made a lapped zip cushion back.

ykk chunky zip

cushion pillow back with lapped zipper

The binding fabric is another grid print, I like the bright cheery blue. I was going to go with a duller green print initially but this one makes me smile and it works well with the other prints. The fabric is Rotary Club by Kimberly Kight and has the most adorable motifs on it.

quilted cushion cover

quilt binding motif

hand sewn mitred corner

The Seedling Quilts book Peppermint quilt

I ummed and ahhed about the placement of the peppermint blocks but I am really glad I paired those light grey ones together at the bottom, they almost disappear and I like the effect. Very often I have little stories in my head about the projects I'm working on, sometimes to reason my decision making. This one was as though the pale greys were the seeds or bulbs, the greens are the plants growing and the peach are the flowering blooms. Makes sense to me.

The Seedling Quilts book Peppermint quilt

I am so happy with the finished cushion (well it will only be complete when I find a nice big fluffy insert for it!), it's 20" square.  This gives me such a chilled vibe and it will work so nicely in our living room. 

Do check out all the other fabulous makes on the book tour, follow #theseedlingquiltsbook.

Purchase your copy of The Seedling Quilts book from Tales of Cloth or pre-order on Amazon. And get ready to join the quilt-along starting in October!


Big thank you to Jodi and Tuva Publishing for inviting me on the tour and for very kindly sending me the book and paper pieces for my project.