Adaliza

for a lovely lady.

Late last Autumn, I met a lovely lady who stopped at my market stall in Alton, for a chat in the sunshine. She admired my quilts, and asked if I could make a quilt especially for her.  She went away to think about what she’d like to take back to her home in South Africa.  When we met again a month or so later,  ‘D’ asked if I could make her a  quilt in subtle, neutral colours and white with possibly a few focus patches. I said I’d do some research too and send her some photos of possible fabrics.

We experimented with some colour combinations incorporating subtle aquas, taupes, beige and soft pinks. However, D had a colour scheme in her mind’s eye and it was my job to translate it into fabric.  Quickly we ditched the colours, and then met up and went fabric shopping together, deciding to work with large square patches to fit over a double bed.

1st draft – fabrics incorporating some aquas and pinks – soon to be dismissed

2nd draft – patches laid out roughly to get an idea of how they’ll work together

D had an idea that she may like some honey tones, a script fabric and stripes.  We rummaged together through remnant tubs and found some beautiful textured floral fabrics that she loved.  The darker script worked well, the stripes were awesome but somehow those honey patches and a darker floral didn’t fit in- so out they came!

A further hunt – now going solo – I discovered a beautiful gingham that I thought would be just perfect.

3rd draft – looking good (it came on holiday with me in October)

We’d agreed on a wide white border all around and it always amazes me (even after making over 100 quilts), the transformation that occurs between rough patches and a finished quilt with borders, puffy quilting and smart hand-stitched binding …

finished quilt – clean and crisp – tranquil colours

beautiful neutrals, floral and pure white border, a narrow stripe and pure white binding

soft neutral tones

and finally – a special name for a special quilt – named after D’s grandmother

My special moments from this commission:

• chatting away in the Autumn sunshine, in beautiful Alton
• meeting up in Winchester, with a bag full of fabrics, a cup of coffee and doing a spot of fabric shopping
• discovering a beautiful fabric that worked well in reverse (light flowers on a dark background, then flipped over, dark flowers on a light background) – brilliant fabric
• working together to make those fabrics work so well together – a real team effort
• deciding on the name – something to remind D of her time in England, to symbolise an English summer
• a Ta-Dah moment at the beginning of December – one I’ll always remember

Adaliza x