Origami Oasis – Grassland Quilt

Posted by on Oct 3, 2014 in Blog, Origami Oasis, Quilts, Tutorials

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt

I created this quilt for my son who is a true colour lover. It suits his personality perfectly, as he is vivacious and fun-loving and loves imagining he is a wild animal (usually a lion), roaming the savannah that is our home, on a fairly regular basis.

My intention was to show off some of the larger scale prints in Origami Oasis and to capture the feel of colour moving across space. I used all the prints from the Grassland group, as well as Spot and Fold, both in Starfruit, from the Flower Fields group. To let all that colour have a chance to breathe a bit, the light & lovely Floret breaks things up. The binding is Crossing Paths in lime because I love the colour and because green was about the only colour I allowed to meander throughout the quilt top in a big way. And since I love making binding that has little variations throughout, I randomly interspersed tiny hits of other bold prints I had used in the top.

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt reds

The juicy orangey-reds.

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt blues

And the cool blues.

I think a quilt back is just another opportunity to be creative, so I centred the Oasis Border print in a field of Floret, much like a window into another world, added a rainbow band to tie in the fabrics used in the front and tried my hand at paper piecing for the first time in the addition of his sweet name. In all honesty, I need to find a better tutorial on paper piecing than the one I was working from… I mentally thanked Greg and myself many times for choosing a three-letter name for our boy while I reached for the seam ripper for the umpteenth time.

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt back

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt back2

tamara kate origami oasis grassland quilt back3

You can download full instructions for the free quilt top pattern here on the Michael Miller website. Enjoy!

6 Comments

  1. Brooke
    October 3, 2014

    love, love it!!! hope you don’t mind if I borrow your idea for a baby quilt out of this line 🙂

    • Tamara
      October 3, 2014

      Absolutely don’t mind, dear Brooke! So happy it inspires you!

  2. Monique
    October 3, 2014

    That is absolutely gorgeous. What a lucky boy. I wish I had the patience to quilt! Lucky my aunty makes them. I’m happy to say I’ve just ordered four fabrics from Origami Oasis and can’t wait to receive them.

    • Tamara
      October 3, 2014

      Thank you Monique, for the kind words as well as your purchase. Please share pics of what you (or your aunty) make. I’d love to see!

  3. Monique
    October 3, 2014

    Yes I will Tamara. I’m making a dress for a friend in Standing Tall in Apricot with Spots in Starfruit and for my daughter, a dress in Show your Colours in Confection and Crossing Paths in raspberry as I loved that combination on the Sundiin tunic you posted on your blog. So pretty.

    • Tamara
      October 3, 2014

      Sounds lovely! Can’t wait to see. Happy sewing!