Sorry this is a day late: I have been working hard on completing a commissioned quilt. It is based on one of my favourite quilts ‘Colours of Mexico’.
I made the original ‘Colours of Mexico’ in and wrote a pattern which was published by Quilt Now magazine in 2018.
The inspiration for the quilt was a piece of brightly-coloured embroidery set into a white blouse seen in the Textiles Museum in Oaxaca, Mexico. I loved the vibrancy of the strong bright colours set together and decided to try and put such colours together in a quilt.
Later, I sold the quilt and it went to a new home. However, several photos of ‘Colours of Mexico’ remained on the website.
Some time later, I used the pattern again to make another commission, this time using the large-scale blocks of the Mexico quilt, but using yellows and greens with a distinct floral print (of daffodils) for the centre of each block. This gave it a very different character.
Recently, photos of ‘Colours of Mexico’ caught the eye of another client and a request was passed on for me to make another colourful version of the quilt. Thus, I am once again returning to the vibrant hues of the first ‘Colours of Mexico’ quilt and as I have looked again at the pattern, I have seen ways that it could be improved. The method of making each block could be simpler. The design lends itself to using lots of different fabrics in the quilt, both solids and prints and ways of doing this could be made clearer too.
So, I have completely revised and re-written the pattern, sewed and photographed a new sample block and left lots of room for each buyer to jot down their own fabric choices for each of the 16 patchwork blocks. I didn’t know then what I know now and I think it’s a better pattern. I think it’s OK to learn as you go and as you gain greater experience. So, new purchasers of the pattern should now get a better experience of making the quilt!
The new edition of the ‘Colours of Mexico’ pattern is in the shop now. You can get it here.
Thank you for reading my blog. Quilt Patterns are here, Fabrics are here, Classes are here
There’s a great monthly newsletter full of design and colour inspiration, plus textile news of all kinds – click here if you would like to get it.
Click the ‘Follow’ button to get a blog-post by email each Monday (EXCEPT FOR TODAY, OBVIOUSLY!)
Amanda Jane Textiles 