Fenestella

Here's a quilt and a vocabulary lesson, all rolled neatly into one blog post. Stephanie Sheridan and Linda Leathersich of Stitched Together Studios recently designed this quilt for Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. Its name? 

Fenestella

"Fenestella" by Stephanie Sheridan and Linda Leathersich;
featured in Quilter's Newsletter magazine June/July 2013 

As in, fenestella (n):
a small window or an opening in a wall

As much a dimensional illusion as a work of quilted art, this design is a modern approach to the classic Attic Window concept, showing Paula Nadelstern's Fabrique-istan and Extreme Colors collections. Stephanie and Linda shared a bit about their stunning design with us. 

The name of this quilt, Fenestella, sounds like a Harry Potter character! Where did the name come from?

Stephanie: Yes, we did name this quilt, but not after a Harry Potter character! The word "Fenestella" means a small window or opening in a wall. With this design being a modern take on a traditional attic window block we felt the name was a good fit ... and it is just a fun word to say!

The fussy-cut squares really pop on the black. How did you decide on the design? Was it inspired by something?

Stephanie: This design originated in Mom's mind and we worked through the design process together ... which means that she drew it with colored pencils on graph paper, then took a picture with her cell phone and texted it to me. That is as far as her technical skills go ... then I took over with EQ7. Our goal was to create a modern design that really showcased the "Prima Donna" fabrics as Paula called them.

Why did you decide to make the squares different sizes?

Stephanie: The feature fabric in the smaller windows is a smaller scale design, so it called for smaller blocks.

Love the contrast of the teal windowpanes with the black background. Was teal your first choice?

Stephanie: We colored this design in several of the Fabrique-istan colorways, but we both love the color teal, so this was definitely our first choice. The Extreme Colors fabrics that Paula designed to compliment the Fabrique-istan line provided us with exactly the shading and contrast we needed to give Fenestella such a modern feel.

Talk about the machine quilting design you used.

Linda: The quilt called for unique, modern-style quilting and the asymmetrical diagonal wiggly lines fit the need. Using YLI invisible thread, I ditched the panes and blocks to make them pop off of the background. In the blocks I simply followed the designs of the beautiful fabrics. Love my older model non-stitch regulated Gammill longarm machine!

People often find Paula's fabric intimidating to work with. Can you talk about why this design works so well with her fabric?

Stephanie: I also used to find Paula's fabrics a bit intimidating, but once I got brave enough to cut it for the first time I fell in love with the versatility of the prints. This design highlights the focus fabrics with fussy cutting and the window frame colors.

Linda: I also use a lot of Paula's fabrics; I love making tote bags with them! I find them easy to work with, whether I am striving for perfect matches, or cutting asymmetrically (or willy nilly). I love the fact that all of the colors blend so well together, even between colorways. Paula's Extreme Colors are the perfect blenders for any project.

What do you like best about the quilt?

Stephanie: We love the clean lines of this quilt and the updated modern twist of the traditional Attic Windows block. 

Find out more about Stephanie and Linda here.

See the entire Fabrique-istan collection here and Extreme Colors here.

Find Quilter's Newsletter Magazine here.