The Dream Big panels by Hoffman Fabrics are my new favorite obsession in quilting. These digitally printed flowers measure 42” square and come in 29 different color ways. As expected quilters have come up with so many creative ways to use this fabric. I’ve seen them stitched similar to a whole-cloth quilt and then used as a wall hanging or table topper. I’ve seen them cut up and pieced back together with sashing and borders to make a larger quilt. There is also a panel with three different sizes of flowers - two small, two medium, and two large blooms. As usual in the quilting world the possibilities are endless!
One evening last spring I was looking through Pinterest and discovered a photo of a Dream Big panel that was used as decoration on the cake table at a wedding. As luck would have it, we just happened to have a family wedding in our near future. And the bride - our middle daughter, Melissa - agreed to let me do this quilt for their reception. I had already purchased a teal panel but had not found the time to quilt it. And I had seen a purple panel called orchid that I thought would work well with Melissa’s color palette for the wedding. I now had the perfect excuse to try out this fun project!
In August I put a practice panel on my long arm frame and was so glad that I did. Check out my blog from September 22nd to see what I learned. After placing the orchid-colored panel on the frame I laid my practice panel on the floor beside me. Then I could refer to it as I stitched each petal and either copy the design if I liked it or try a different one. On some petals I stitched a variation of the design.
The only thing that I would change on this project is to use a lighter thread on some of the outer petals. I generally prefer light thread on dark fabrics as opposed to dark thread on light fabrics. Some of those petals must have seemed darker to me when I was outlining them. The dark thread, however, worked quite well in the background sections where I used matchstick quilting. The combination of that design and the dark thread gives it an interesting texture.
Overall I was quite pleased with the result of the panel. I did, however, find a spot that I missed when I ran out of bobbin thread and apparently forgot where I had left off. Luckily it was an easy fix by loading the same thread on my domestic machine and filling in the design.
Now I’m looking forward to working on the teal panel that I have. I think that one should turn out really great since it will be the third one that I will have done. If not I’ll just have to try another one! I could purchase a panel in the ivory color way. That would be gorgeous to use at our next wedding!