Southern Amaryllis in Fableism Forest Forage
Meet Amaryllis! This quilt was the first true collaborative pattern between Cait and I, rather than improving and re-launching historical RebaLeigh patterns. We had so much fun playing with the block design, layouts, choosing fabrics, and then tweaking the design to include all the options we could fit in a single pattern!
Aside from being the pattern cover quilt this beauty is also the scrappy version with the more advanced curves option, but fear not - you can make this pattern in a uniform version (all the blocks match) and change the curves to half-square triangles instead, we included all the options with this new pattern!
I decided to take on a challenge with this quilt - not only was it my first time sewing curves (!!!) but I chose lusciously soft but fickle linen for the background and accent fabric with Fableism Forest Forage wovens for the prints. This caused a lot of stress in the already stressful process of launching a new pattern, but what can I say, when I fabric calls to you you just gotta embrace it. So yes it was cantankerous, but in the end all the fabric behaved with help from a pre-wash, Mary's Best Press, and sewing sloooooow.
Pre-washing is never a requirement, there is no right or wrong when it comes to this, but pre-washing seemed the right course of action for this quilt. I had read other reviews of quilters working with pre-cuts of a loosely woven fabric like Fableism and their experiences with pre-washing on the final product as well as being prepared for the significant shrinkage. I still had enough to cut my pieces out, but always check your cutting diagrams and determine if you have the tolerance for shrinkage!
Look at that difference!
Okay, lets talk curves - this was the next challenge I faced with this quilt. But truthfully they ended up not being nearly as hard to sew as I thought. Which I had heard from everyone, but still - I was intimidated at first. After much practice on our end we put together an Amaryllis Curves Tutorial for those of you in the same boat! Amaryllis is a great first-curve pattern with forgiving sashing built in so you don't have to line up any points or curved seams.
I backed this quilt in Shannon Cuddle Minky in Merlot and quilted it on our Bernina Q24 long arm with a free motion, low-stress, organic wavy lines. Bound with Ruby Star Society gold and white Speckled.
With the linen, a mid-loft cotton batting, and minky this became quite a heavy quilt - I truly can't wait to snuggle under this on the couch with my girls when the weather takes a dip this fall. For now though in the full heat of summer this beauty is has been set aside so we can enjoy the much lighter weight of the second version I made of this new pattern.
Happy sewing!
- Rebecca
Pattern Details
Whether you're ready to tackle curved piecing...or not...Southern Amaryllis has an option for you!
- Curved or triangle piecing options to tailor the difficulty level
- Two variations - scrappy (all blocks are different) or uniform (all blocks match)
- 20" blocks with large pieces for featuring favorite or large scale fabrics
- Sashing for forgiving alignment - a low-stress introduction to curves
Four sizes included: baby, throw, twin XL, king
Difficulty: Intermediate (triangles)/Advanced (curves)
