Violet Calm: Mini Quilt #24

This quilt continues the color series I have been working on within Mini Quilt Mania.  While other quilts in this series have the color distributed across the piece, the violet circle in this quilt creates a single focal point.  Having a central focus gives this quilt a sense of calm and serenity.  

For the violet circle, I first pieced together several violet fabrics spaced with white strips into a roughly square shape.  From this section I cut a circle.  Then I cut a circle with a 1/2″ smaller radius from the white background fabric.  The smaller opening provided the seam allowance necessary to piece the violet circle into place.

I struggled to determine the quilting pattern for this project.  There are so many possibilities!  Ultimately, I landed on juxtaposing the circular focal shape with straight line matchstick quilting.  The white bars within the focal shape remain un-quilted and extend to the edges of the piece.  The quilting lines going through the violet areas of the quilt are shades of violet and magenta that most closely match the fabric they intersect.  One section of violet stitching runs perpendicular to the rest of the stitching to break up the overall pattern.

The binding for this quilt is created using a variety of scraps from the fabrics used to create the violet circle.

Quilt Stats

Title:  Violet Calm

Size:  20″x20″

Techniques:  Machine Piecing

Quilting:  Matchstick quilting done with a walking foot on a Bernina 1008

Fabric:  Assorted Violet Prints and Batiks, White Kona Cotton

Batting:  Warm and White Cotton Batting

Thread:  Pieced with white Gutermann Mara 100.  Quilted with Connecting Threads 50wt Essential Cotton in Magenta and Grape, Variegated violet 50wt Wonderfil Cotton Quilting Thread, white cotton machine quilting thread

Binding:  Scrappy binding using fabrics pieced into the quilt top

What was new?

Machine piecing a circle into a solid background fabric