Today, I’d like to tell you about a Quilt I quilted back in November of 2018, so I’m digging way back in the archives.

I’ll warn you here at the start that this is a picture-heavy post, but if you’re looking for a library of quilting design ideas, this might help you out.

This quilt is a quilt designed by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. It’s called Marshmallow Rain. She did all the piecing, then passed it to me to do the appliqué and quilting. It was such a fun quilt to work on!

Marshmallow Rain was featured in the Craft in America PBS episode on Quilts, and then was purchased for the Craft in America Gallery’s permanent collection. When Victoria and I attended the reception for the opening exhibit for that episode, we got to see it hanging in the gallery, along with this quilt that I also quilted for her, called “The Space Between Heartbeats”. You can read about that quilt HERE. Before it went to live in California, it also hung in an AQS show, so it’s done its share of traveling!

Well, Craft in America is having another exhibit, featuring pieces from their permanent collection, and Marshmallow Rain is among them, so I thought now was a good time to finally talk about that quilt! You can read more about the exhibit and view it online HERE. The exhibit runs till May 27 in their gallery, so if you live in the area, you could catch it in person.

But now, about the quilt . . .

The leaves were fastened down with bias strips, which Victoria sewed on first, and then the remaining edges needed to be appliquéd down, so that was my part.

Then the little “marshmallows” had to be appliquéd on. You’ll notice in the pictures that some of them are appliqué, and some of them are thread painted on, each with a different design.

In the background, we wanted things to appear to be “raining” down, so I made random squares in all different positions, falling through the background.

The background itself was simply quilted with straight lines, first vertical, then horizontal, alternating throughout the quadrants of the main blocks. The falling squares appear on top of the background.

Each marshmallow has concentric circles quilted around it for a ripple effect.

I quilted each colored part the same in each block:

To get the falling squares in position, I used a freezer paper template, positioned it on, then quilted the outline around the paper. After picking up my template, I filled in the design.

For some of the designs, I used my Simflex gauge to divide the space up evenly. Such a handy tool!

And each falling square, and each square around the outer edges, has a different design in it.

This one is one of my favorites in the whole quilt:

So there you have it! If you’re looking for some block design ideas, maybe one of the above will inspire you. I have my favorites, and hope to use them again on other quilts in the future when the opportunity arises.

I did not keep all the details on thread colors for this quilt, and I can’t remember the finished size, either, but I do know we used a wool batting inside, and Victoria bound it in all the different colored solids that the marshmallows are made from.

I sure had fun quilting this one, and I’m super thrilled that it has a wonderful permanent home! Victoria and I do collaborations quite a bit, and there’s another one I need to show you, so someday I’ll get my photos together and show that one to you as well.