Willoughby Quilt - Made with Harmony Fabric

I often ponder on how there are quilts made for holding up and quilts made for scrunching. I'm not sure how I feel about this quilt held up, but gosh, I love it up close! I love it scrunched and snuggled under and covering my youngest girl on the sofa while she takes her time waking up in the morning and deciding what she has for breakfast.  Held up, I think I didn't quite pull off enough contrast. I like the black and blue backgrounds but maybe the other colours should have just been sprinkled in rather than the main event? 

I've come to really enjoy asking a quilt what it can teach me once I'm done. I used to do it with every quilt, because none of them quite turned out the way I was hoping. And that got pretty discouraging at times. But through that process and through encouraging myself to keep making more, I've gotten better at wielding colour and form, and many of my quilts now turn out just as I hoped. 

I didn't really face this one with a plan, but more with an explore and play approach. I was given the beautiful Harmony Fabric Collection coming September 2023 by Carolyn Gavin for Free Spirit so I could make something with it. The timing suited when I wanted to be making my Willoughby Quilt, so I dove in and started basting diamonds. Once they were sewn together, I needed to decide which backgrounds to use. I was limited by the need to stick to Free Spirit fabric, either from the collection, or from solids, so that the quilt photos could be used in promotions. I was given a few half yards of solids with the fabric, and decided to try those, adding a few more from stash. 

I love making a quilt this way, waiting to see what it looks like, steering it as I go. I don't do it as often, because with how long quilts take, I've put more pressure on myself to make quilts I know will fit with how I want to sell the pattern. But this was FUN! And reminded me I should make things for play at least a little more often.  

My mum helped me make these stars and sewed the border triangles once I basted them. She helps me a lot these days, which has been wonderful, but during this quilt particularly, she kept commenting on what a difference it makes to really love the fabric you're working with. Not sure if that's a slightly backhanded comment about the other projects I share with her! But I'm glad she loved this one so much. I'm giving this quilt to her. 

This is the 3rd version of Willoughby that I've made, and I've stared a 4th! Hand-sewing the stars and then machine sewing the square blocks together makes it a great quilt for play and exploration.  Grab the pattern and kit below!