Auntie Green’s Quilt meets Island Batik

April’s Challenge: Vintage Quilts Inspiring New Creations

My April challenge quilt is still in progress, but I thought you might like to see how it’s going. It’s a William Morris/Auntie Green (con)fusion that has been dragged into the 21st century. Possibly kicking and screaming. But I’m pretty optimistic it is going to turn out ok. 🙂

The Why and the What

For April, the Island Batik Ambassadors, including myself, have been challenged to create a new quilt that has its roots in a vintage quilt or block. I decided a while back that my main muse would be Auntie Green’s Floral Appliqué Coverlet. Or more specifically, the centre panel of this quilt.

You can read more about my quilt history research, and why I fell in love with Auntie Green’s quilt in a recent post here. And also about how William Morris has ended up in the mix.

As for the method to my madness – I decided that I would create my Auntie-Green’s-Coverlet-inspired quilt with a technique called shadow appliqué. My intention is to give the new quilt a more vintage feel than standard raw-edge appliqué would achieve. While still showing off the beautiful batik fabrics I was given by Island Batik for this project.

I had never done shadow appliqué before, so I did a test run on a cushion first. If you’d like to know more about shadow appliqué, the cushion post also has an explanation and tutorial for you.

Behind the scenes of the all new Morris & Green

To create the fused appliqué shapes, I have been using five rolls of pre-cuts sent to me by Island Batik…..

These are 5″ strips, and the instant I saw them, I realised what a fabulous idea they are. What a great way to get your hands on lots of different fabrics for a scrappy project. These are way more versatile for me than a jellyroll or charm pack. I am  already a huge fan! And they are perfect for my Morris-& Green quilt project, where I want small amounts of lots of colours. 

I have also added a few stash builder fabrics I was sent by Island Batik to round out my colour pallette. The background of my Morris-Green appliqué is the fabric shown here in the foreground…. it is called “Egg white”.

It happens to be perfect for this project. Subtle, but textured.

I have had a lot of fun so far, combining the hares, birds and strawberries from William Morris with the informal floral appliqué of Mary Ann Wellen (Auntie Green). Auntie Green’s basket arrangement didn’t really appeal to me, so I have gone with more of a garden feel to my arrangement. I have also tried to not overthink the colours and positions of each element, as the variety and loose symmetry of the original Auntie Green’s quilt is what appealed to me.

I am planning to finish cutting the appliqué shapes for this quilt in the next day or two. So hopefully I will have more progress to show you very soon.

In the meantime, I’d love to know…. what are you working on this week? Anyone got an orange teddy or block in the works for the April color challenge? Head over to my facebook page and leave me a picture if you like! Or tag me on Instagram @CleverChameleon. Whatever you’re up to, I hope to hear from you.

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