Woo hoo!
Today I finally get to share Slice of Happiness!
For Slice of Happiness, I was inspired by a picture of a glass of lemonade. The picture reminded me of warm summer days, sitting in the backyard, sipping a cold drink and having nothing else in the world to do but relax. The 3/4 circles represent both the condensation on the glass, and the slices of citrus inside. I chose colors that both made me happy and worked well together, and I decided to use a lot of negative space to have fun playing with the quilting. The simplicity of the design works well with any quilting style-from minimalist straight lines to feathered flourished, and anywhere in between. The 3/4 circles look great as solids, but are also the perfect size to let you show off your favorite prints.
I’m not sure if you can tell from the photos, but I had the BEST time quilting this one! I used a modified motif that I call Zephyr, which is an allover design of swirls and straight lines combines. I first tried it out on Trade Winds, and then refined the design for Flashy. I have used it a few times now on other quilts (to be shown soon!) and its always different every time.
I also tried out a technique I learned from Krista Withers. I am not the best at ruler work, so I tend to freemotion most of everything. I am definitely going to be making more channels and filling them with pretty fillers in the quilts to come, it’s a great way to break up a quilt.
I chose a selection of Oakshott Cottons, sent by the amazing Michael Oakshott himself! HUGE THANK YOU! Oakshotts are a tightly woven crossweave fabric, meaning that the warp threads and weft threads are two different shades or colours, resulting in a fabric with remarkable color, shine, and drape. They are fully washable, I actually prewashed these ( and I NEVER prewash my fabric!). The fabrics are also 53″ wide, so you get way more out of them than normal solids. I absolutely adore the Oakshott cottons, and I have a small stack of cool colours I cannot wait to dig in to. When you order from the website everything is sent overnight from the UK, so it’s as close to instant fabric gratification one can get without physically leaving the house. They are absolutely worth every single penny (or, I guess, Pounds)
Those of you who are members of the Modern Quilt Guild will be able to download the pattern for free from the Community area of the MQG website. For those that aren’t, patience! The quilt pattern will be available to everyone from me in about 3-4 months (just be sure to send me a friendly reminder and I will get it up and running!) I am currently working on editing Sunshowers to be available soon.
My favorite part of the whole process was when I photographing the quilt. Little H wanted SOOOOO BAAAAAAAD to help hold the quilts, that little hand showed up in every single shot. And I love it!
I hope you all enjoy making your Slice of Happiness quilt! I love to see pictures, so make sure you tag me on Instagram @staceyinstitches or send me an email!
I am going on a Texas Adventure this week to Quilt Market, and you can follow along on Instagram #staceygoestomarket
Happy Stitching!
