Monday 14 September 2015

Taupata star mini quilt (a Natty collaboration)

Since I moved to my little suburb a few years ago, I've enjoyed watching it change and come to life with the addition of new shops and eateries. One of these new places is Natty, a workshop and retail space just up the road from me.

Taupata star mini 

Cat and Fiona are the creative forces behind Natty, and together they design and make a range of lovely gifty things.  I popped in a few months ago for a chat and to scope out the shop, and fell in love with this Taupata leaf design which appears on a few products, including this tea towel.  Cat and Fiona were kind enough to print the design for me on my favourite Essex yarn dyed linen in black using beautiful gold ink.

I recently started experimenting with english paper piecing, and thought this fabric would be perfect for some fussy cutting and hand stitching.  To make these shapes, I used 60 degree diamond templates, and paired the hand printed fabric with some Carolyn Friedlander fabric with complementary gold accents.

Taupata star mini 

Once I stitched my star together, I set it on an ivory Essex linen background and machine stitched it in place.  With a nice plain background, I thought some free motion quilted texture was in order.  I've long admired the way Jess from Elven Garden Quilts quilts her quilts, and one of the things I think she does really successfully is to use straight lines in her free motion quilting.  I used lots of straight lines in the quilting of this mini, echoing the star shape and playing with triangles and diamonds.

Taupata star mini

I'm pretty delighted with how the quilting came out on this quilt.  The lines aren't perfectly straight, but I like the organic, imperfect look.  I have a larger quilt ready for quilting and I'm planning to play with free motion quilted straight-ish lines on that one too.

If you're looking for cute, locally designed and made gifts, Natty is definitely worth a look.  If you're visiting in person, make sure you check out my local bakery, Baker Gramercy - their loaves and other treats are delicious.

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7 comments:

Tawa said...

Another foodie place to visit in Wellington.....is it better than the bakery in Moore Wilsons? No trip to the big smoke is complete without a trip there to stock up on grocery items not found in the provinces. I like the organic straight line look to your quilting, looking forward to seeing more of it.

Cassandra said...

Love the way you featured this fabric and the quilting was the perfect complement!!

LethargicLass said...

I am really quite taken with this... everything about it is lovely

SarahZ said...

How fun! And so well done, it is beautiful!

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

It's lovely Adrianne. Good on for you branching out and trying something new. I like that the lines aren't perfect - it shows that it's hand made, and not made in a factory. Well done.

Megan said...

It's beautiful Adrianne. I love those gold leaves and your quilting looks amazing.

Karen said...

This is so pretty! I don't know what I like better - the glittery fabrics, the simple pattern, or the awesome quilting!