Wild Oranges Kismet quilt

Cue the trumpets! Wild Oranges quilt is finished, and I can’t wait to share it with you!!!

Honestly, I’m totally smitten. Sometimes, and it’s rare, you begin with a fuzzy idea and end up somewhere that is even more perfectly delightful than you could have predicted. That magic comes to life in the process - listening to and responding to the fabric and the colors and the patchwork shapes so that the finished piece is a sweet melody of multiple artistic voices.

This is beautiful because of Sharon Holland, who designed the melodious Kismet fabrics, and because of Art Gallery Fabrics, whose basics and solids provided the means to accentuated my favorite tones, and because of my vision for this particular quilt song and because of the oodles of quilters who have gone before me making orange peel quilts.

I enjoyed every minute of designing this quilt. In my view Wild Oranges turned out very special, and I am equally excited to bring you the pattern this coming Friday! I’m excited because the pattern maps out the quilt so that you can reproduce it exactly like this or with your own fabrics, following my layout of values and prints. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t follow your own inspiration when it strikes. By all means! Each sew-along you makers wow me with original interpretations and fresh ideas! But when you’d like a hand to hold, the pattern will be there for you too.

Wild Oranges is an applique quilt. Each orange slice is an applique layer of fabric sewn on top of a background square. With a few pins to hold things in place, I machine appliquéd each slice with a fine 50 wt thread and a simple straight stitch. It’s both speedy and secure. Still, if you prefer to hand applique, that’s no problem at all. You can follow my quilt pattern and join in with our upcoming sew-along, but opt for meditative hand sewing. All styles are very welcome!

Last Friday I indulged in a day of custom longarm quilting. I chose to accentuate the orange peel curves with simple and minimal quilting. Because I used two layers of low-loft batting, this quilt is extra warm and the orange peel slices feel extra thick. Yum.

I found it more difficult to choose how to quilt the empty background squares. Eventually I settled on this paisley-ish design because it mimics one of my favorite Kismet prints called India ink Parchment. I also chose it because the paisley design is much more dense than the orange peel quilting. As you can see in the above image, where the quilt is lying on our living room floor, the contrast between the minimal quilting and denser quilting draws even more attention to the orange peel shapes. They all but spring into focus!

Gosh, I love this quilt just as much crumpled up as spread out. I couldn’t stop taking photos!

For the quilt back, I opted to use yardage of India ink Parchment. Like all Art Gallery fabrics, it’s soft and silky.

The quilt is bound in the solid called Cinnamon, which I used copiously in the quilt top as well.

Kismet fabric Wild Oranges quilt kits are now available at two American fabric shops. If you live outside of the USA, I apologize that I was not able to arrange for international kits this time.

Now that the quilt is finished, you can properly see the composition. Wild Oranges has a concentration of dark values and orange peel blocks at the quilt center. The design softens around the edges with a calmer energy. It is a free-flowing mixture of flower shapes and growing vines, with a few round oranges thrown in.

I wanted a dynamic energy, but do you prefer a more orderly orchard? Of course you can opt for more matchy-matchy orange peel quartets. This will give your quilt a calmer, more peaceful vibe. Feel free to tame these oranges!

I hope that you’ll join me this fall.

Wild Oranges Sew-Along

++ Pattern Release September 23 ++

++ Sew-Along Starts October 10 ++

You only need to sign-up and have a copy of the pattern to participate.

Over 5 weeks in October and November, we’ll sew this 60” x 68” throw quilt. As always, I encourage you to do as much or as little as your schedule allows. Those who stay on target will finish well before the holidays!

Next week I’ll share ideas for creating your own fabric palette. I can’t wait to see your pretty orchards in bloom!