Piece of Cake!

You can have your cake and eat it too with Stephanie Sheridan's "Piece of Cake" quilt featured in the Best Tradition with a Twist Quilts 2015 magazine, from Quilter's Newsletter. This fun design uses the Brigitte collection by Michele D'Amore from Contempo Studio and is perfect for showing off large focal prints. Stephanie used the citron and gray prints, but the line also comes in aqua, magenta, orange, and green--so many choices!

"Piece of Cake" by Stephanie Sheridan; machine quilted by Linda Leathersich.
Featured in Best Tradition with a Twist Quilts 2015 from Quilter's Newsletter

What is it about the Brigitte collection that appeals to you?

 This collection just has it all! It features a wonderful mix of floral and geometric designs, lots of different scale to the prints, and to top it off – great color options!

Do you have a favorite print in the collection?

 The dandelion print is probably my favorite, followed closely by the diagonal stripe.

How did you choose which colorway to use in your quilt?

 I completely fell in love with the Citron colorway of this collection as soon as I saw it. The color combination of citron, olive, black, white and gray feels so sophisticated and chic.

Where did the cake idea come from?

 I was looking for a way to showcase all of these great prints without chopping them into little pieces. When I was designing the quilt I saw pyramids, but when I showed the design to my husband he said it reminded him of a tiered layer cake. The name of the quilt serves 2 purposes – it describes the design, but also lets the quilter know how easy this quilt is … it is truly a “Piece of Cake” to make!

Can you talk about your choice to use a textured (and directional!) print in the background?

 I first designed this quilt with a white tone on tone background, but the quilt seemed a little flat to me … it needed something more. I popped the diagonal stripe into the background on a whim and it pulled the whole quilt together. The directional aspect of the background provides a great counterpoint to the vertical stripes and curvy florals of the cake layers.

Talk about the machine quilting.

The diagonal stripe background gave Linda (aka Mom) a perfect jumping off point for the quilting! She mimicked the diagonal stripe on all of the background, then flipped in the opposite direction for the dandelion layers and border. She also randomly created circles around some of the dandelions, which really made them pop!

We love how you embellished this quilt! Can you tell us about it?

 The BLING! Mom and I are crazy about adding crystals to quilts, and this one just cried out for them! We used clear crystals in the dandelion circles and on the vine fabric in the center cake, and black crystals in the center of the black flowers. Just that little bit of sparkle takes this quilt from “Pretty” to “WOW!”

Click here to see the entire Brigitte collection.
Click here to find the kit, backing, and digital pattern for Piece of Cake.

Click here to find Quilter's Newsletter.