Designers How To Quilting

How To: Make Lisa Walton’s Sheer Origami Quilt Pattern!

February 14, 2017 by Emma No Comments

We speak to Lisa Walton about the crafting process and the inspiration behind her beautiful, award-winning Sheer Origami Quilt pattern.

Finished Size: 95cm x 100cm

How did you come up with the idea for the quilt pattern?

I once did a class with Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer on translucency in fabrics. One of the exercises we did was folding fabrics, which was based on an idea in Mary Mashuta’s book, Wearable Art for Real People. I really liked this concept and decided to take it further.

Did you have an overall design completed for the Sheer Origami Quilt Pattern before you started? Or did you just start making the blocks?

No — I rarely have an overall design when I start anything. I just wanted to see what would happen when I began to play.

How is the quilt constructed?

The first thing I did was to lay out a large piece of white cotton sateen and lay the silk organza on top of it. Then I placed some foam placemats under the sateen with different textures on them. I buy these from cheap shops whenever I see them as I love the effects I can get from them, either as a rubbing or sun print.

Then, using transparent and opaque fabric paints on a roller, I rolled the paint over the top of the sateen which picks up the pattern on the organza, as does the sateen. I worked in a colour gradation from yellow through to green to purple. This created two matching fabrics. I realised that as I would be folding the organza into smaller shapes that I would need more than the sateen, so I added another piece of organza and painted that one onto the same sateen fabric as well.

After heat setting the paint by ironing it, I cut the organza into squares and also cut smaller squares out of paper. After marking the paper squares, I pinned each organza square to a paper one, creating the pleats, which I then ironed into submission and removed from the paper. The nature of the organza ensures that the pleats remain in place.

I then laid the resulting squares over the painted sateen following the colour gradations. When I had the final design established, I stitched the organza squares together with an 1/8in seam to try to avoid seam lines. First I made strips, then I joined the strips until I had the completed top.

Then, I fused the organza top to the painted cloth to avoid too much movement and then basted the top to the batting and backing. Quilting was originally going to be just in the ditch of the squares but even fused, the organza tended to move, so I decided to anchor each block with a circle instead. I had never used a quilting ruler before so my first 1½in circles were a bit wobbly, but by the end of the 156 I was getting the hang of it!

What specialty products did you use and where? For example, paints, crystals, threads etc.

I used the Australian-made fabric paints by Kraftkolour – I love their quality and range of colours. I also used the metallic-based Gem Paints, which are my favourite opaque paints, with their gentle sheen and beautiful coverage. The transparent Textcraft Dual Paints were important to the quilt-making process as well. A more creamy-based paint for the roller technique was needed to give me more control for the rubbings. I could have just painted the fabric with runnier paint, but I really liked the additional texture created by the rubbing process.

Take an online class with Lisa Walton and make your own Japanese-style stencilled fabrics!

Did it turn out how you envisaged?

I think it turned out better than I envisaged. I love the three-dimensional nature of the folds and the depth created by the layered fabrics. Plans for another in the series are in the works!

Which awards has the Sheer Origami Quilt Pattern won?

I was fortunate to win third prize in the Anything Goes category at the Sydney Quilt Show with this quilt pattern. Competition is very tough in this category as there are so many amazing techniques in textile art these days, so I was really thrilled with my prize.