Quilt Reveal: Calamine Lotion Swoon
This has to be one of the quilts that’s been the longest in my “to be finished” pile. I started the Calamine Lotion Swoon back in January 2014 and so it seems only fitting that two years from that post I’m sharing the finished quilt. It’s been finished for a couple of months now, I’ve just been too swamped to put the binding on and then I decided to wait for this anniversary to share it. In some ways I still can’t quite believe it’s finished. I remember so clearly starting the quilt and sharing my first block on Instagram. I was so excited making this quilt.
It was the first time I’d had that wake up in the middle of the night have to make what was in my head. My goal with this quilt was to use big bold patterns and show that you could use them altogether and the quilt would still be cohesive. I wanted to use big punchy colours and a non-traditional background fabric (the background fabric is the black and white text print from Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures range). I wanted to make a black quilt because no one makes black quilts (pardon my hyperbole).
I called this quilt the Calamine Lotion Swoon because making it scratched an itch I had to make a big arse punchy quilt. And that’s exactly what it is. It’s solids, it’s prints, it’s textures, it’s colour, it’s unexpected and it’s everything I was hoping for when I started it.
It’s funny how a quilt can get under your skin and this one did in the most delicious of ways. I’ve made so many more quilts and projects since I started this quilt and when I was finishing it up I could see how I’ve grown and changed since that first block got into my head. (Not to mention how much I’ve improved in the accuracy department!)
Some times you just have to make the quilt that excites you and has no real purpose other than to allow you to combine pretty fabrics together. The quilt is over 80″ square and makes the perfect size for our bed. I love the weight of it and how I can wrap myself up in the fabrics I love.
It’s backed in one of my all time favourite fabrics from Anna Maria Horner. I think over the course of my sewing I’ve purchased over a bolt of this fabric altogether. There’s just something about that big rose that makes my heart sing. The quilt has been quilted in Aurifil 50wt #2545 and even though it’s a deep purple it was the most perfect thread colour for this quilt. It sinks into the black, it adds a nice shimmer to the backing fabric and it’s the perfect accompaniment to all those busy busy fabrics and colours in the patchwork.
Looking at this quilt makes me nostalgic for the last time I was really excited about doing something. It seems like a long time ago and I desperately want to change that. It’s funny how a quilt can evoke feelings in you just by looking at it. I’m really happy to have this finished and I’m looking forward to years of happy times spent cuddling under this quilt.
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