Heart Lab: Carolina Patchworks

There's nothing I love more than curling up on my couch with my favorite blanket. A Carolina Patchworks quilt by Emily would be a perfect match to a nice cup of tea and one of my favorite magazines!

The making of the Modern Lotus Orbs Quilt...

Step 1: Fabric Shopping
Who doesn't like shopping? I can easily spend hours at my favorite shop.

Step 2: Designing
Sometimes I have a design idea when I buy the fabric and sometimes I just buy what I love knowing I'll find a pattern later. I design a lot of my quilts but I occasionally use a commercial pattern. 30 minutes

Step 3: Ironing and Cutting
Take lots of fabric and cut it into millions of little pieces so I can sew them all back together. 1-3 hours

Step 4: Piecing
Chain stitching is your best friend. 5-20 hours (or more)

Step 5: Pinning
Hundreds of safety pins go in at 4" increments to hold the quilt, batting and backing together. 1-3 hours

Step 6: Quilting
Sew a meandering line over several thousand square inches of fabric. 2-12 hours

Step 7: Trimming and Binding
Trim it, square the corners and put the finishing touch of binding around the edge. 1-3 hours

Step 8: Washing
The easiest part of the whole process. I wash my quilts after quilting to give them a vintage puckery look. 1.5 hours

Step 9: Photographing
Natural light is a must for quilts. 15 minutes

Step 10: Editing photos, blogging and listing on Etsy
30 minutes

Thanks Emily!!