love in a spin - lecien flower sugar pinwheel quilt plans

for a little over a year now, i've had these pinwheel blocks sitting quietly on the backburner, coming out to play occasionally when i needed a break from other projects. i'm in no rush on this one. it'll likely be a holiday quilt, only out on special occasions, so i'm not feeling pressured to finish it quickly. especially since it's intended holiday has already passed for the year.

A photo posted by Hannah Siebach Woodbury (@riseandshinequilts) on Feb 12, 2015 at 1:57pm PST

i originally saw this lovely photo on instagram last year and fell in love with the simple pinwheel patchwork in sweet colors. (i know, more hsts in a basic patchwork layout. what can i say? they really appeal to me!) the fabrics reminded me of a stack i had sitting in my stash. it was a fat quarter bunch i had acquired from the quilted castle very early on in my "brand new quilter, must build a stash, frantically buy anything and everything" days. like most everything i bought at the time, it was fabric that appealed to me on some level, but didn't really fit my evolving quilting style.

it contained exactly the kind of romantic, blowsy, english floral prints i loved in high school and college, which is probably what attracted me to it. however, some of the prints are a bit too bold for my current taste, so it's been sitting on the shelf for over 5 years now. when i saw that pinwheel quilt, i figured it would be a good setting for the sugar flower fat quarter set. sure, it's loud and very sweet, but i think i can handle it as a valentine's quilt that makes an appearance for about a month every year. there's room in my life for all kinds of quilt and fabric styles.

and i do really like some of the prints.
i'm still a sap for big rose prints in pretty colors.
so a sugar-sweet valentine's quilt it will be.

when i showed a peek of the project previously, there were some commenter questions about the fabric line i was using, so i'm sharing a bit about that now.

it's a "flower sugar" collection circa 2010, from the japanese fabric company, lecien. from what i can gather, lecien produces a new "flower sugar" collection each year, maybe even seasonally. the fall 2015 collection, the most recent on the lecien site at this posting, has colors (sans yellows) close to the same as my stack, and incorporates similar florals and dots, as well as lace and gingham prints. the "flower princess" line is very similar, but in a softer, low-volume palette. an internet search of "lecien flower sugar fabric" will yield links to all sorts of pieces from past collections, too. if you add a year in there, you'll get more specific feedback. for lots of images of past collections and prints, visit kit newlin's lecien flower sugar pintrest board. if you want to buy, not just look, check out what's available on etsy.

as for my quilt, i have completed somewhere around 20 blocks. thanks to my floppy book/flat block pressing technique, they are all staying nice and flat in their pile while they wait for the rest of their block friends to come play. i have yet to decide on quilt dimensions, but i'll likely use a 7 block x 9 row layout, like i did for my "dreaming easy" quilt. this means i'll need about 40 more blocks before i'm ready to assemble the top. i'd like to add a coordinating solid or two to the mix, to tone down the happy madness.

but i've got until at least next january. so no sugar rushing here.