A whole cloth Marimekko quilt

Sometimes a project comes along that is rather out of the ordinary and challenges you to make something way out of your comfort zone. This piece of fabric has been sitting in the cupboard for several years and then found its way to the bottom of the ironing basket, where it has been hanging out for a couple of months. Impressed that I had actually got to the bottom of the ironing basket the other afternoon, I decided it was finally time to consider what exactly to do with such an amazing piece of textile art. When we lived in Stockholm (20011-2014) I was always very taken with some of the modern vibrant prints so often favoured by Scandinavian designers. I was never sure though what you were supposed to do with such enormous prints other than make blinds or curtains until one day I was invited into the house of a charming swedish lady and I saw a piece of fabric hanging on the wall as a whole cloth quilt. It wasn’t just striking, it seemed to have an astonishing ability to draw you in. Of course it was surrounded by the everything scandinavian, which means it wasn’t really surrounded by much - but what there was, was seamlessly elegant and uncluttered, functional and yet stylish in a gentle sort of way. I was enraptured with the idea and carried that picture around in my head wondering where this fabric came from. I found the idea of it in the Marimekko shop in Stockholm.

Marimekko is actually a Finnish company which began in 1951, when husband and wife team Viljo and Armi Ratia conceived their vision of dramatic modern patterns on fabric. Their textile design company Printex lead the way in bold vibrant graphic designs handprinted on to fabric and made into simple garments. Today they make all manner of gorgeous things with their designs on, but fabric still plays a key part. When I saw this piece, I knew I was taking it home, despite the fact that it wasn’t in the least ‘vintage’ and the whole concept of such a graphic fabric went against all my usual tendencies in terms of home decorating.

Of course it’s red…. my very favourite colour, but when you actually look at it, it has lots of possibilities and I loved the idea of a whole cloth quilt. If you do buy a fabric like this, make sure you have enough so that the proportions are right - my piece was 1.5m long - I think it would have looked odd if it had been shorter and would be too tall for a wall quilt if it was longer. However, you sort of have to go with the flow of the design. Just layer it up with wadding and backing and let the free motion foot do the dancing. I put a simple plain backing on as this would be hanging on the wall. The fabric itself seemed a slightly heavier weight than quilting cotton and was easy to press very smooth. Once it was ready, I thought for some time about how to free motion quilt this. I was a bit nervous in fact - probably because I had only one piece of fabric and one chance. Once I got started though, it was an absolute dream.

I think it was the right decision to match the colour of the threads to the areas of colour. It is such a dramatic pattern that you don’t want to detract from it with more colour contrasts. It was really a simple make in the end -just follow the curves and lines of the pattern to give it a little textural pop.

You don’t even have to be all that accurate with it in many areas because the lines are like giant brush strokes and the informality of the motifs allows a lot of freedom when it comes to free motion quilting. What the quilting does do though is give the whole thing some body and firmness so that it will hang well on the wall.

When I had finished and I turned it over I was just amazed at how pretty it looked.

It made me think that it would be a really lovely project to actually draw a design on some plain cloth and quilt it like this. It is reminiscent of those beautiful old whole cloth quilts with just a fraction of the work. Might have to try that soon. Anyhow once it was done I had to choose a border and this did prove a little troublesome. White, which was my first thought, looked odd against not quite white walls. Any kind of print looked totally out of place and I tried a few up close. In the end I plumped for a simple black border. It is going to hang in the kitchen area and my worktops are black granite so it does kind of all tie in, even if I wouldn’t have chosen something like this normally. The black edging goes with clean lines and modern look of the piece so I think it’s ok.

Finally I added a sleeve on the back so that it will hang on a pole and I put the selvedge edge on here for posterity. I also added two little pockets in the bottom corner to slip some weights in so that it stays in place.

I had two scraps of fabric left and I couldn’t bear to put them in my ragbag, so I decided on the spur of the moment to make two cushions. I had a red velvet remnant left that I had scrounged from the upholstery shop down the road and the colour match was made in heaven. White pompoms to finish and I was so excited with my make, although I do think velvet is hard to work with.

So with no a scrap of fabric left, I think that this project was a success. Having hung it up, the jury is still out on whether to quilt the whole background to make it smoother and firmer or whether to go with the flow of the fabric, because that is what it is. Thinking back to my original inspiration, the fabric was just pinned on the wall as purchased and this way it is definitely more of a wall hanging. In the end, the striking print is enough, whatever you do with it, so for now, I’ll go with the flow. In conclusion, for sure fabric like this is not cheap, but actually it really is a piece of textile art and it makes a statement about the home it hangs in. If you want to check out their current prints and they are pretty cool - follow the link at the bottom of this post. I have to say, what I absolutely love about this is not just that is a cheerful and welcoming piece to have in my home, but that it will always remind me of Stockholm and a time when my ideas of fabric and home decor and colour and pattern were challenged.

See you next time with a new Literary Threads embroidery pattern.

Toodle pip, Ruby x

You can check out the latest Marimekko prints here