The Leilani quilt pattern is here! Finally! Finally! It’s here (if you’re in the EU)! It’s here (for everyone else)! Yep, you heard it here first, folks, the Leilani quilt pattern is now available for download in the Wife-made shop.

Inspired by the beautiful tiled splash-backs that grace many a 70s abode, the Leilani quilt pattern is actually a pattern that lends itself to whatever style you want to make of it. Vintage? Umm, totally. Modern? Absolutely. AND with a special nod to retro. Pretty? Easy peasy! Minimalist? Can do! Yep, Leilani is an all-round style workhorse, which wasn’t what I intended when I first started out, but I can say, with full conviction, that I am definitely NOT NOT happy about it! 😉

Wife-made pattern style…

If you’ve been following along on the Wife-made journey for a while, you may have started to notice that I have a bit of a soft spot for patterns that doesn’t involve typical construction. But that’s because I am ALL about the design. When I’m writing a pattern I’m constantly thinking about the best way to put something together. Not the fastest way. And not necessarily the easiest way either (hello curves!). Because sometimes the easiest way isn’t the best way. I try to focus on finding the way that will look the best at the end, when the finished product is in your hands, as well as ensuring the creative process is enjoyable! It has to be fun to make, it can’t be a monotonous process, and it has to look good! Both my previous quilt patterns, Lovebird and Palma, are perfect examples of this, and Leilani follows suit.

So what’s so special about the Leilani quilt pattern, you ask?

• Curves, for a start. I LOVE curves in quilts. But if you’ve never sewn curves before, don’t let that stop you from trying Leilani, because I will be writing a post on how to piece accurate curved blocks for the Leilani quilt pattern soon!
• An off-set pattern. Visually, I think an off-set design totally trumps a ‘straight on top of each other’ design. It creates direction and helps the eye move around the quilt.
• The pattern includes baby, cot, throw, twin and double sizes, AND the flower motif can easily be made into a cushion, as you can see above!
• Opportunity to feature details like hand-quilting and a tied finish. Or pom-poms! Because we all need more pom-poms in our life, right?!

Let’s talk about the Wife-made versions

This Winter I’ve definitely gone over to the dark side – when it comes to fabric at least! I have made two quilts this season that feature navy and I am not mad about it. Usually I tend towards to the less saturated tones, but I have really loved working with a deeper palette.

For the cover version of the Leilani pattern I used a number of solids from Spotlight. (I’m leaning more towards solids at the moment. Not sure if I’ll stay there for long, but I’m enjoying it at the moment…) I’d like to particularly mention the pink I used in the stamens – it’s an organic Japanese cotton and boy oh boy is it soft and snuggly! It has a very tight, fine weave, and definitely lives up to my expectations of Japanese fabric.

Detailed finishes

As is pretty usual with my pieces I have finished the quilt with some big stitch hand-quilting, but I just felt it needed something extra… so I used a traditional quilt tying method to mimic the stamens in the centre of each flower. I love those fluffy little stamens! Stay tuned for how I did mine!

After working in a darker palette for quite a while I clearly needed a lighter fix… These cushions were thrown together using leftover fabric I had in my stash (oh those random polka dots, I love them so!). And, don’t you love it when you create something you love by using up what you already had?

Wanna know another thing I love? A pattern you can have a bit of fun with, and which introduces you to different elements you may not have considered or tried before! I’m specifically referring to the ties and pom-pom additions to the finished Leilani quilt and cushions. I mean, what little girl doesn’t want a cushion with a pom-pom on it?? Or boy, for that matter?? And can someone tell me why I feel like the pom-pom might even ‘toot’ if I give it a squeeze…?