Esther Aliu’s Love Entwined sew along starts January 2025. This is a complex piece with a fair amount of prep, and I am starting now with fabric selection.
When starting this project, my first decision was to do a dark background, for the first time. I am a bit apprehnsive about it. 😬 but upward and onward!
Full disclosure: I am doing the center of LE only, using my Love Entwined 2 pattern. LE2 is no long available. It came in a 56×56” size or 84” square. My pattern is for the smaller size and features the LE center with a diamond border outside of the LE center zig zag border.
Checking through stash, I found a midnight blue grunge in just enough yardage (3 yards).
My second choice, for my primary fabric, is a 2 yd piece of silver and silver/blue metallic Japanese fabric in a large scale print. I fell in love with this and it has sat for several years waiting for a really spectacular project. It falls under the general heading of “too pretty to cut”, but better me than someone else!
What is more spectactular than LE?
Given the large scale print (I want to use as much as possible) I will not need as many coordinating fabrics as I usually select. Yes, a restricted color palatte challenge!
I will follow my usual rule for selecting fabric…three colors in a variety of tones. Blue, silver/metallic/white and teal are my three colors.
This group of additional fabrics have been in my stash even longer than the large scale print. The light and medium blue (1/2 ys of each) are shot with silver, although it doesn’t photograph well. They are a directional print, so I need to be thoughtful on how I use them. The paisley (2 fat quarters) also have silver metallic. The colbalt blue (I have about 2/3 yd) has blue metallic dots.
Be sure to have both dark and light tones! Contrast is key to a good looking quilt. I usually use more dark or bright tones, but because my background is dark, I will use more lights than usual. I am hoping I get some nice color pops from my blue metallics, too. I have some teal in the back up pile, just in case I overdose on the blues.
For stems, I am currently considering at couple of dark batiks. This may change! We will see how they play out. I will do some auditioning of various tones when I get to that point.
The mariner’s compass and the zig zag border will come first, as per the pattern directions. I will use both raw edge and turned edge machine stitching throughout the piece.
Will I use matching thread for my applique? Or silver metallic throughout? Hmm, lovely choices ahead. My previous blog, detailing the Mariner’s Compass creation, was released early by request.
Happy applique and fabric selection!
Lennea
Handmade by Lennea 