I designed a quilt pattern a few years ago for a local shop, using a specific fabric line (Kumiko Sudo was the designer). The line included one fabric with a very large pattern. So the resulting quilt design, which I called Garden Windows, looked like this mocked up in Electric Quilt:

Garden Windows in red from Kumiko Sudo fabric line

And here is another version, using a smaller scale focal print:

Garden windows quilt in purple and green

I hadn’t actually made this pattern up in fabric, since I wasn’t getting paid for the design. I like the pattern enough to rework it, so this is my first report on the re working. I am labeling this post part 1 because I am not totally happy with the quilt yet, so I expect to change it a little.

I found another fabric with a large design at my local quilt shop, and selected several fabrics to accompany it. The fabrics are shown here.

Initial fabric choices for the Garden Window qult

The red and blue solids bring out the flower colors in the focal print. I hadn’t decided on the fabric for the borders and setting triangles at this point, but thought I would try to find a blue and black print. I couldn’t find one that worked, so I had to go another direction. I went back to the shop and bought a coordinating leaf print in the same line as the focal print. The completed quilt top is shown below.

Garden Windows red and blue flowers version

In retrospect, I think the solid blue is too bright, and I should have used a darker blue or switched to the red for the block sashing rectangles around the white/green blocks. Fussy cutting the large blocks consumed an incredible amount of fabric – not good in this day of rising fabric prices. I also think the blue sashing strips are too narrow. I will go back to Electric Quilt and mock up a new version of the pattern with wider strips — if that will work geometrically. Don’t know yet. Stand by for further developments…