I walked past this piece of fabric not once, but twice.
It wasn’t one that really grabbed you, but there was just something about it. The certain familiarity of the piece reminded me of the back step of my house growing up.
It was there that I have such fond memories of my Mom giving me twin pops. I couldn’t get enough of them! Cherry, orange, grape, banana & root beer! I bet I went through boxes! I decided to do a quilt reminiscent of those memories and rename my quilt “popsicles on a cloudy day”
I knew that I could coax some amazing colors out of what seemed like a ho- hum fabric. I also knew that it needed to be a beautiful quilt pattern by the incredible designer Jacqueline de Jonge. I chose her “Joy” quilt. It’s kind of ironic because I had chosen the word “Joy” with my Niece last New Years for my “word” of the year…. I guess I found it- wink wink!
With colors picked, I love to put them on my “quilting clothesline” Much easier to see the possibilities of what could be done.
I use my wall to build my thoughts in fabric. It’s always good to hang the fabrics you’re trying to work in along with your base fabric. It helps me to remember my original idea and see where I want to go next.
Sometimes you might just have to leave your room and get a treat… I love it when I walk back in and then 9 times outta ten I got it figured out.
If you haven’t figured out by now, I have a thing for checkerboards… I was sooooo excited to tackle this next section! Patience and tenacity is key. This is the section that would have me up till the wee hours- just too much fun!
With the center pretty much done, it was time to work on the outer corners. My instincts really really wanted to pop everything with a vintage white. I dared to finish the out most areas in the white knowing that it would really be eye-catching and it would give my quilter , the very talented Norma Riehm an incredible blank canvas to go wild in (which she did!)
With the outer corners complete, next was to appliqué the center circles. And then I get to stand back and see the thoughts in my head in fabric form. Cherry, orange and grape popsicles, yep! Miss Truffles loved it!
Next to make the final decision of the binding color. It was an easy one… periwinkle and polka dots were my first and final pick.
Off to my quilter, I was especially excited for this one! Here is a cool picture from Norma as she’s doing her thing. Someday I would love to watch her work!
But until then, I can tell you that there is nothing quite like opening one of her packages!
I was so excited to finish this one! Bittersweet, because I really enjoy this whole process and sad to see it end.
With the edges sheared its time to hand sew the binding. Thank you Jacqueline for another amazing design and thank you Norma for quilting it so absolutely beautiful!
