Millefiori Moonlight - Quilt of the Week

Millefiori Moonlight, 38" x 29", made by Pam Geisel

I made this in 2018 and I was inspired by the colorful sunsets we’ve been having due to the wildfires out west. I also wanted to make a quilt that was primarily dark cool colors (blues and purples) with some pops of warm colors (yellows, oranges, and reds).

Millefiori is a glasswork technique with multicolored patterns which are viewable only from the cut ends of the glass cane. The "Roman Glass" fabric by Kaffe Fassett for Westminister Fabrics, which I used for the clouds and on the moon reminded me of millefiori beads.​

The moon doesn't have any quilting on it so it puffs out some. I also added some batting behind it to give it more shape.

Millefiori Moonlight hanging in front of a window making the seam lines look like stained glass.

Millefiori Moonlight hanging where the setting sun hits it for a few minutes on a summer evening.

Because this is the Quilt of the Week, it is 10% off the original price of $1350 through 7/25/21 if you purchase directly from me. Details can be found here.

 

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing with Moon Quilts

 

"Time Lapse Moon Rise" (above) is the art quilt that I made to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing. It is still travelling as a part of the "Fly Me to the Moon" exhibit and was also included in the "Fly Me to the Moon: An Art Quilt Journey" book. 

But it seems that I like to use the moon in my quilts as I've included it in at least five other quilts. Usually I like to use it as a full moon, but there is one that has a sliver of a moon. Some of the moons could also be suns, if that's how you want to look at them.

 Millefiori Moonlight

This moon (or sun) on this quilt doesn't have any quilting on it so it puffs out away from the quilt. I did add some extra batting behind it to give it even more shape.

Quilt Encounters of the Thread Kind

One of my more recent quilts, this one uses hand dyed fabrics and the fabric for the moon has some light purples in it.

Sheep Dreams Counting Sheep

This moon, and the counterpoint circle of light green fabric behind the sheep in the lower right corner both have yarn couched around their edges.

Mr. Moonlight

This piece was made from a silk necktie that was cut apart and sewn back together in a square. I usually make neckties into purses but the image on this one was so interesting I beaded it and wrapped it around a frame so it could be hung.

Gypsy Moon

The moon, and the swoosh above it, are a peach-colored taffeta. This quilt uses several non-cotton fabrics including silks, velvets, and shiny denim. 

Millefiori Moonlight

"Millefiori Moonlight," 39 x 28, handmade by Pam Geisel, Sept. 2018

My initial inspiration for this quilt was the colorful sunsets we’ve been having due to the wildfires out west. I knew I wanted to make a quilt that was primarily dark cool colors (blues and purples) with some pops of warm colors (yellows, oranges, and reds).

First I got out all the blues and purple fabrics (commercial cottons and batiks) and pulled out the ones I thought would work. I didn't use all of the ones in this photo, but I did use most of them. I pieced the background with half square triangles and with the blues and a few blue/purple fabrics for the sky (getting a little lighter where the moon would be), the dark purples for the bottom mountain range, and the plums for the middle mountain range.

Top left photo - background for the purple cloud and the Roman Glass fabric; top right photo -background for the red cloud with the Roman Glass fabric; bottom left photo - background for the bottom orange cloud with the Roman Glass fabric; and the bottom right photo - background for the middle orange cloud with the swirls cut from the center fabric and the Roman Glass fabric.

As I was selecting fabrics to use, I was also inspired by some fabrics called "Roman Glass" by Kaffe Fassett for Westminister Fabrics that had color circles on top of other colored circles, but I thought they were too dense for my needs so I cut the circles out and fused to other fabrics to create the clouds. I also fused nine of these circles to the moon.

With the piecing and raw edge applique done, it was time to quilt! I used navy blue and purple threads to quilt lines that echoed the clouds and mountain ranges with the lines being 1/4" apart and mostly running horizontal.

There is no quilting on the moon and since the quilting around the moon is so dense. it puffed up away from the background. I stuffed a few extra pieces of batting behind the moon to help it stay puffed. I also couched yarn around the mountain ranges, the clouds, and the moon.

I hand sewed six buttons (as pairs) in the lower right corner to help balance the moon in the upper left corner. I also added some glass beads to the moon. I finished the quilt with a knife-edge binding.

The layered fabric circles reminded me of millefiori which is an Italian glasswork technique with multicolored patterns which are viewable only from the cut ends of the glass cane, and this also gave me the name for the quilt. Now that I think about it, the Kaffe Fassett fabric was called Roman Glass so I think we're on the same wavelength.

As always you can click on the photos to see them larger.

More about Millefiori Moonlight.