Sweet Life Large Block Quilt

While I have not had a ton of time in my studio these past few weeks, I have been making some patched of time to work on a quilt for myself. I could not believe that waited this long to make myself a bed quilt to keep even though I love snuggling under my North Star Quilt on our couch. To rectify the situation, I decided to use a group of Anna Maria Horner fabrics from the Field Study collection from several years back that I have been hoarding. The prints are rather bold and large and cutting them up into small pieces did not seem like the right way to honor or showcase their prints. I had been looking for the best use of the large prints for a long time and was happy to finally find the Camille Roskelley pattern “Sweet Life” from her 2013 pattern book “Simply Retro.”

The “Sweet Life” block has a large square center perfect for the larger scale Anna Maria prints as well as to showcase some of my other favorite fabrics I have collected over the last several years.

Luckily, I have a really cohesive color pallet and subject interest that appeals to my aesthetic. I love gray, aqua, and blue tones to wear and as accents in my home. And, as you may have guessed from my La Rue de Fleurs tagline “Handmade, Nature Inspired,” I love all things nature like flowers, butterflies, trees, birds, etc., that also feature in the Field Study and other collected prints.

For the background, I decided to use up some of the collected low volume prints that I love which also heavily feature nature themes. Even though I know this will not produce quiet the same pop for my feature prints when they are set into prints as well, I love mixing prints and low volume prints do compete less that prints containing any additional color.

Once the fabric is all cut and combined into the various pieces needed for the blocks, the blocks come together extremely quickly. I love that Camille adds lots of suggestions for how to use scraps or adjust sizes for most patterns, giving that flexibility with patterns I find so desirable. With each block finishing at 18 1/2 in (47cm), I had a high impact for effort after only a few days of piecing the blocks. The total quilt will finish as a small-ish queen, which is probably more than what I alone would need for myself, but I love to be wrapped up in my quilt and still don’t plan to share even at that generous size!

Here are the blocks I have so far. I plan to add the sashing, a Maureen Cracknell floral print, later this week and hopefully have the whole quilt finished in the next few weeks before the weather turns chilly!

I highly recommend the “Sweet Life” pattern and Camille’s book overall as a great resource to have in your quilt pattern collection!

Stay creative and inspired, friends! Janice

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