It all started with a tassel…

Besides the pillow cover that I showed you in my last blog post, I have recently been testing another quilt pattern, “Strudel”, this time for Xanthe from Wife-Made. I have baked several strudels in the past, this was the first one I stitched up!

I never felt a need for tassels in my home before (they make me think of tie-backs for heavy velvet curtains which are nice in an old theatre but nothing I thought I’d ever appreciate in my own house) but when I saw the first draft of “Strudel”, I immediately knew that I HAD to turn it into a wall-hanging and accentuate that flag tip with one of those old-fashioned dangling beasts… 😝 And now it’s actually my favourite element of this newly finished mini quilt!

It found its permanent spot over our dining table – which I removed for the picture, because I couldn’t succeed in getting a nice shot without funny reflections in the surface of the table or our hanging lamp sneaking into the picture… So instead, I got this bench from our basement (which we use as a couch table down there) and since I unfortunately didn’t have a piece of real apple strudel at hand, I used Paul’s glasses as a prop. But it sure looks like the coziest reading spot, doesn’t it?! 😉

But back to the actual project…

Usually I’m not having too much trouble making decisions, but this time I needed several attempts to settle on a colour combination. I just didn’t like any of them enough to start cutting them up. And I’m so happy I waited a few days and then started over because I really LOVE the teal and caramel that made it into the final quilt!

I have only made a few mini quilts so far, and I am still just amazed how quickly they come together. Cutting the pieces, sewing them together, then basting and marking the quilt sandwich for quilting really only took a couple of hours!

The simple quilt design and the solid colours were calling for some hand-quilting accents. I chose to follow the braided strips in a v-shape and alternated the thread colours with adjacent strips and I really like how that contrast makes the stitches pop! I do prefer working with pearl cotton, but I have a decent collection of embroidery floss (partially inherited from my grandmother) that I am trying to use up for smaller projects like this.

It is also the first time that I used a white/cream binding – I tend to choose a dark frame for my quilts – but there were already enough darker shades in the quilt top that I wanted to brighten things up a bit. And I really like how it turned out, almost like the typical white trim around a door or window.

Do you see these little acorns?! I know it’s just the back and nobody will see them, but I’m all nuts about them (just for the pun lovers out there…)! Of course I also made a little label for the back of the quilt… well, you know, just because… Conveniently I still had enough wooden dowel left from my last mini quilt to hang it. I think for larger quilts I prefer a hidden solution to hang them, but I find those dowels are a little more rustic and go really well with smaller pieces. And I find they pair particularly perfectly with the flag shape option of “Strudel”!

Well yeah, and then I just had to make that tassel that the whole idea started with and ta-dah, here it is!

And if I succeeded in making you want to make your own “Strudel” now, the pattern released a week ago and can be found through Xanthe’s site!

I also had the honour to write a guest post for her about how to get perfectly mitered corners on those 120-degree angles at the bottom of the flag (read it here). The only problem? The quilt above was already done and hanging and I hadn’t taken any pictures of the binding process. That’s when I decided to make a second one…

This time the colour choice was quick – the inspiration was one of Anja’s pairs of leggings. Isn’t that tiny floral just sooo pretty?!

But after I finished the quilt top, I wasn’t so sure anymore about my colour choices and actually left it to rot in the basement for a week…

Can’t say why, but it wasn’t until I hand-quilted this little guy (I went for a similar, but denser v-shaped pattern, this time without alternating the thread colours) that I began to slowly like it again – stitch by stitch, literally!

And now that the whole wall-hanging is finished I struggle to remember what on earth I didn’t like about these gorgeous colours! So, note to self: “Trust your guts and stop second guessing yourself half way through your project!”

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading my slightly excessive “Strudel” documentary! And for those brave ones of you who made it all the way to the end, here’s a little teaser: There will also be tutorials on how to hang a quilt with a wooden dowel and how to make a tassel… so stay tuned!!!