[This blog post is written by me, Julia Wachs. I do not use AI to generate text.]
Quilting a recently finished quilt top is always intimidating, and I found my Vesta quilt especially so. I knew that it needed special attention, which is why I had my good friend Jana Royal (@janaroyal) custom quilt it for me. The purpose of this blog post is to individually highlight the quilting on each Vesta quilt block to inspire your own quilting!
Block 1
This was the quilt block that was the foundation for the entire quilt. It’s a well-known art deco motif that I added some quilty flair to. Jana’s quilting enhanced the inner triangles and added soft curves to the bottom gold centerpiece.
Block 2
This is one of the quilt blocks that I spent the most time designing. I liked the effect of the circles but knew it would be tedious to applique. In the end, I decided to go with the tedium to get the design effect I wanted. No pain, no gain, right? The quilting mostly let this block design stand on its own, with some single echoing quilting lines to enhance it.
Block 3
I’m a little obsessed with this block. I keep playing around with different arrangements and might someday turn it into its own full design. A Vesta Block Study if you will! The quilting includes three beautiful circles with echoing lines inside, stacked on top of each other. The black and pink "ring" has many parallel quilting lines that allow the quilted circles to stand out.
Block 4
This block is meant to infuse a somewhat softer area of the quilt. I used leaf shapes to add a botanical, yet still organized, motif to the overall quilt design. The quilting uses echoing quilting lines out from the leaves and a gorgeous art deco motif in the center to bring in some movement from the center outwards.
Block 5
This block is another block with slightly botanical elements, brought in by using petal shapes at the top. The downward facing triangles are meant to feel like flying geese, which are very traditional quilting elements. The quilting echoes the petal and geese elements, and uses soft waves within the yellow circle segments.
Block 6
This block reminds me of sun rays below a stained-glass window. I used ombre within my color choices to increase the movement of this block. Jana’s quilting really leaned into the sun ray aspect of the piecing by adding sharp points to the bottom corner. The quilting also echoes the stained-glass window element.
Block 7
This block was another interesting one in that I used both applique and foundation paper piecing to achieve the effect I wanted. For this block, only the black pieces are applique. The quilting added a leaf veining effect to the center applique, further enhancing my desired botanical elements.
Block 8
This block is another one of my pet favorites. It’s easy to construct and looks so cool as its own quilt. We might see it as another Vesta Block Study 😊 The quilting really lets the geometrical elements of this block stand for itself, with several key quilting lines to enhance the design.
Block 9
Inspired by the classic art deco architecture motifs, this block is another block where I used the color values to increase the movement of the design. The quilting helped to make the negative space at the top corner of this block more engaging. It also used internal echoing quilting lines to enhance the design of the stacked shapes.
Block 10
In my opinion, this is probably the most challenging block to design and make! The yellow applique pieces are to create interesting sunbeam/sunflower shapes. I have both curved and straight applique shapes available with the pattern because I had a hard time deciding which one to go with. Ultimately, I used the straight line applique shapes for myself. The quilting creates a gorgeous art deco motif in the top corner that flows beautifully into the yellow beams/petals. Finally, the bottom corner is filled with interesting geometrical lines that contrast with the outer ring piecing.
Block 11
This block is meant to evoke a stem with new buds on it, another botanical element of the Vesta quilt. The quilting enhanced the geometrical elements with tracing lines, and the botanical elements with circling lines within the buds.
Block 12
I knew this block would be the end cap on both the top and bottom of the quilt. I wanted something that would not distract from the overall design but would still enhance the quilt as a whole. Jana’s quilting added a beautiful exploding element in the center with a gold thread. It was the perfect finishing touch to this challenging custom quilting project!
I hope that these quilting motifs inspire your own quilting of Vesta!