Playing with Sunny Isle

August! I can’t even ….. {insert all the hand covering eyes emojis here}

It has been a miserable few weeks of winter – rain, hail, storms you name it! And while I generally am a huge fan of snuggling up with quilts and layers I must admit the frustration has been real when it comes to photographing my beautiful Sunny Isle quilt. I had a vision in my head of blue skies and blue water and I just couldn’t shake it – no other photos would have come even slightly close. Of course trying to get that in Adelaide at this time of the year proved incredibly difficult! Today however I think I managed to pull it off!

Sunny Isle is a stunner! And I really mean that. No other designer pulls off such spectacular colour and patterns into a range like Jennifer Paganelli. I had so many favourites in this range that I literally didn’t know which fabric to choose first and as a quilter I love that because I truly believe every fabric should shine no matter its neighbours. Each colour was so bright and clear and I was honestly in quilty heaven from the minute it arrived.

I have mentioned before that I spend a LOT of time browsing and saving quilt patterns.  While browsing Craftsy very late one night I stumbled across a pattern I immediately fell in love with. When Sunny Isle arrived to my doorstep I knew it would be the perfect match for all the stunning aquas in the range. I purchased the Sea Glass Quilt in the lap size pattern here and got straight to work! The results – well I think are pure perfection.

For the white background I used quilter’s muslin. It is officially my favourite stuff ever! So lovely and soft it will make the perfect quilt to snuggle under. For the back I used flannelette which I prefer to back all our quilts in. I think it may be a New Zealander thing because lots of Aussies look at me like I am slightly crazy. For me though it adds, weight, warmth and extra softness to the quilt. My kids sleep on flannel sheets all year round – we seriously love them!

If, like me, you are someone who generally quilts to sell then this quilt pattern may not be for you. It was super time intensive and incredibly costly. Attaching all those petals was a huge job. I followed the pattern exactly and machine appliqued them onto the top and wadding only. Then I attached the back by hand quilting in grey around the petals and filling in all the white areas with white petal shapes. It was a huge labour of love and while I am proud to say I have now hand quilted a giant quilt I can also safely say I will never do it again lol. If you want a beautiful pattern for your own use or to give as a special present then this definitely makes a statement. Abby turned 16 in May and this is her quilt to keep now – it is perfect colours for her and she was a worthy recipient of around 50-60 hours total work.

For photos I also like to show off my part of the world because it is seriously beautiful. We are lucky to be surrounded by ocean and hills here and I wanted to incorporate both sides so I trekked up a hill for the first lot of shots then straight back down to the beach for the next lot. Lighting wasn’t my friend so the ocean isn’t incredibly blue but I will definitely head back up there in summer for more shots.

I think it is easy to see why I wanted the ocean in my pics – such a perfect backdrop for those colours!

Now after finishing this quilt I still had all the gorgeous pinks staring at me dying to be used. I wanted to play with something a bit fun so made a heart quilt. I love how it turned out! It would be such a cool cot quilt or play mat.

I then coordinated in an apple pie cushion – these two will be listed in my shop later this week and I really hope they find a happy home. This one is backed in quilter’s muslin so again lovely and soft and I quilted it myself using my favourite wavy stitch.

Finally while the sun was shining and the rain wasnt falling I thought it would be fun to reflect on my Sis boom makes so far. Besides my first quilt made using Nostalgia the rest of the quilts have found a happy place in my loungeroom. We all have our favourites to snuggle under, I am excited to add Sunny Isle into the mix if Abby will let it out of her room.

I have my gorgeous bunny by Rhapsody and Thread too – or should I say Hannah’s bunny. She sits so prettily among the quilts. As does my original painting by the master herself. How lucky am I to own one of these!

And you know what else I love? No matter the range, no matter the years that pass between them these quilts all just work together. In true eclectic style they are pure perfection.

And finally a gratuitous Daisy shot because our puppy is somewhat discerning when it comes to where she lays her head. Plus a great shot to show off my, most likely never to be repeated, hand quilting. It definitely made the statement I wanted so every single bleeding finger was completely worth it.

I am so excited that I have finally had the opportunity to share this with you. I wont lie it has been a stressful few weeks waiting for the skies to clear enough to give me my shots – I just hope it was worth the wait

xxx Sarah