The Italian Tiles quilt is LIVE! You can purchase the quilt pattern here. Today on the blog I wanted to share a little about my inspiration and quilt design process. Towards the end I am sharing some really fantastic Italian Tiles Quilts from my lovely pattern testers. Enjoy!
I was so inspired by all the old marble floors, ceilings and walls throughout Italy that I came home and sketched up a quilt pattern!
When I originally drafted this pattern I was torn between the Star Blocks being square or diagonal. This pattern also challenged me to think outside the box for piecing techniques. I wanted to create the most efficient piecing process and also place seams where they logically made sense. I love where the pattern ended up!
When I was piecing my versions of the Italian Tiles Quilt I also decided to use this as an opportunity to try out some new techniques. First, I washed and pressed all my fabrics before cutting! I know, I know - this is a much-debated topic among quilters. In both versions that I made I used a cotton/linen blend that I knew would shrink up a little so I wanted to see if washing and pressing would allow for more accurate piecing. I think it did!
I also starched all my fabric before cutting. Have you tried this before? I knew there would be a lot of angles to these pieces and again wanted to make sure my piecing was accurate. (For those of you that don't know - fabric stretches a LOT on the bias so any pieces that are cut at an angle will stretch and warp very easily.) The starch helped all the pieces hold their shapes like a dream! I found this to be extremely helpful.
On this baby size version of the quilt, I used my typical 1/4" presser foot. It worked well, but on my second quilt I tried my walking foot and I think it kept all the pieces in place a bit better as I sewed. (The walking foot has an additional set of "teeth" on it that allows the top fabric to be pulled through the machine more accurately along with the bottom fabric.)
( Purchase the Italian Tiles Quilt Pattern today! )
For this Throw size quilt I used a canvas on the back and I LOVE how it turned out. I wanted this to be a heavy, durable quilt that we could take out in the yard or to the park. I haven't sewn with canvas before, but I really enjoyed it. This one is from the new Rifle Paper Co English Garden collection. I love the bold flowers!
I also used flannel instead of batting for this quilt. Again, I wanted this quilt to be heavy and durable without being bulky. The flannel adds a really nice weight to the quilt while also allowing it to lay flat. I added some additional quilting as well just to really triple down on durability!
For even more inspiration - check out these fabulous Italian Tiles Quilts from some of my lovely pattern testers.
This quilt by Rachel Thomeczek is AMAZING! She followed the Scrappy directions to create this gorgeous quilt. You can follow her on Instagram @mrs.thomeczek to see more of her lovely photos!
Apparently this earthy color palette is really on trend because two of my testers went this route. Look at this gorgeous version! Angela Coleman used her own creativity to create a wall hanging size - I love it! You can find her at her website here or on Instagram @spicyredhead to see more of her work.
Erin Andrews also made this lovely Italian Tiles quilt using some of Mr.Domestics new fabric collection - Loved to Pieces. I love the bright colors in this quilt. To see more of Erin's work you can follow her on Instagram @erins_sew_fun .
Another scrappy version by Rachel Amari is in process as well! Aren't these fabrics sweet?! I love the Rifle Paper Co fabrics - they are so beautiful. You can follow Rachel @quiltsforallsparrows to see more of her work!
I can't wait to see this one completed! This one is in process from Kasey Daniel. I love a classic black and white quilt. You can follow Kasey on Instagram @kaseymade to see more of her work.
Get the quilt pattern today and share your Italian Tiles Quilt Pattern on Facebook + Instagram! Tag me @SewnHandmade and use the Hashtag: #ItalianTilesQuilt so that I can see your quilt.