Pattern Testing the Coreina Quilt: A Rainbow Dream in Liberty Tana Lawn
The Coreina Quilt pattern test
I recently had the absolute joy of testing a brand new quilt pattern called Coreina by A Piece of Quiet Quilts—and spoiler alert, I pulled out all the stops.
why i love testing quilt patterns
In case you’ve never heard of it, a pattern test is when a quilt pattern designer sends out a preview of their quilt pattern to ‘testers’ who follow the pattern as directed, to make sure it’s legible and clear, the math adds up, and the final product turns out as expected. Not only does this help the quilt pattern designer make sure their product is top-quality, but they also get to see their pattern made in a variety of different styles, so they can appeal to the biggest variety of quilters, and show off the versatility of the pattern. Then when you type the quilt pattern name into your Instagram or Pinterest search, you can be inspired by the many quilts already made in this pattern!
I’m an experienced quilter who is great at proofreading and math, and I really love getting a sneak peek at patterns from my favorite quilt pattern designers (and I get the pattern for free!) win win win.
Meghan, the quilt pattern designer behind A Piece of Quiet quilts, is also in my quilt guild and my quilt bee (a smaller group of quilters from my guild) so I have gotten to know her pretty well. I have lived in North Carolina for less than two years now, so my fellow quilters have been such a great source of community for me, and I’m lucky to meet another modern quilter with whom I have so much in common.
All that to say, I’m so thrilled to test quilt patterns for Meghan, and I do not hesitate to use the best materials, the real fancy stuff, to showcase her patterns.
For my version of the Coreina, I went with a rainbow palette using some of my treasured Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics, and the result was equal parts vibrant and delicate. I'm excited to share more about the pattern, the process, and a few tips I picked up along the way!
my fabric pull: Liberty of London + Rainbow
From the instant I saw this quilt pattern (from the instant I learned to quilt, really) I knew I’d go for a rainbow. The quilt pattern has instructions for using a limited 2 color or 4 color palette, a palette of 18 fat quarters, and then there’s the maverick’s option: 72 different fabrics. Yes please, maverick over here.
I originally created a digital mock-up using a layer cake (10 inch squares) of Alison Glass Sun Prints fabric, and it came out so amazing, I will still probably have to make this version one day soon.
But then inspiration struck! At QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh, I purchased a beautiful bundle of Fat Sixteenths (approx. 9”x12”) of Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics. Yum.
Liberty Tana Lawn (always capitalized, they’re very trademarked, best believe) is very lightweight, silky to the touch, super tightly woven cotton, with distinct color saturation and print styles. Even tiny scraps of this smooth, intricately patterned fabric are a hot commodity.
You can of course purchase these directly from Liberty but here in the US, the best local retailer is Duckadilly. You can bet I visit the Liberty of London store whenever I am in the UK, but whenever I am at Quiltcon (which is way more often, even though it is only an annual event) I visit Duckadilly.
Duckadilly knows how to DISPLAY at QuiltCon, so you can see why a small fortune disappeared from my bank account last year. Liberty Tana Lawn is printed in the UK with incredible artistry and attention to detail, so these fabrics are a much bigger investment than most quilting cotton fabric.
The most interesting part of this process for me was putting these in a color order. I want my quilt to be a Liberty rainbow, so I wanted these in Roy G Biv order, but Liberty prints are not all conducive to color categorizing.
What color would we categorize this as? I think I ended up putting it with the greens.
This pull was paired with a Fableism woven chambray in a flax color (looks a bit like linen but thinner, silkier, lighter weight) for the background pieces.
The quilt pattern does not use a lot of background pieces, which is great because I wanted this to be very Liberty-forward. Let’s show those spendy babies off!
Sewing the Coreina: things I loved and tips for fellow quilters
This quilt pattern was very conducive to rainbows, but my best time saving tip in that case would be to avoid directional fabrics. Liberty of London patterns are sometimes technically directional, but it’s a very casual directionality. Most of these prints were scattered prints (non-directional) and all of the prints are so delicate and intricate that from a distance, you don’t really notice which way is up or down or sideways.
Avoiding directional fabrics allowed me to cut all my pieces, prints and background, and then chain piece the blocks all at once, rather than constructing blocks one by one to make sure that blocks would be rotated in the quilt to match their directionality. Because the blocks are all constructed the same, but then rotated in the quilt to form the concentric squares that give this quilt its dimensional, layered look.
all of my partially constructed blocks, at the same step in the process
Then, when all my blocks were constructed, I could place the rainbow to give the sparkling, gradient effect I was looking for. What I love about Liberty Tana Lawn prints is their intricate art and color saturation that gives them this magical ability to look like watercolors from a distance; it’s like painting with fabric.
A design wall really helped for this quilt because the gradient was so important to me, and so tricky to achieve. I could stand back from the wall frequently, and see what colors needed to be moved around for things to really flow.
Meghan has categorized this as an Intermediate quilt pattern, and that seems right to me. The individual quarter square blocks were quite simple to piece together, but when it came time to piece the four quarters together, there were a lot of tiny seams that you would want to match up. Also, because this is pieced on point (diagonally, as diamonds, instead of straight as squares), you’re cutting and sewing some of your fabric (the edges and corners) on the bias, which is tricky because your fabric can stretch and move.
But, overall, this is a very straightforward pattern. If you are an ambitious beginner, I say go for it! Just proceed with caution, and keep that seam ripper close.
Lucky enough to catch the forsythia in bloom
unique finishing touches for a one-of-a-kind quilt
As a pattern tester, one is usually expected to complete the quilt top. That is sufficient for ensuring that the quilt pattern is tip-top and for showcasing your personal style and the pattern’s versatility. But I always try to complete the entire quilt. Partly because I often list my quilts for sale, so then get to use the photos on my quilt listings. Also, I just love the look of a finished quilt. Why stop at a quilt top when a whole beautiful finished quilt is just around the corner?
So I took this one to the finish line. Instead of using Liberty Tana Lawn as the backing (which would have made for a very lightweight quilt, and also an incredibly expensive luxe quilt), I chose to use a Liberty print licensed for quilting cotton by Riley Blake. This print is Emily Belle in Lime.
And because it’s not a quilt unless it’s quilted, I used a cream-colored Aurifil thread with a lime-colored bobbin thread to stitch in 1.5” straight lines in a diagonal grid across the whole quilt.
The Pollinators Mural Photo Shoot
I took the finished product out to one of the many For the Good of the Hive pollinators murals in and around the Triangle area in North Carolina. This one is in Wendell, and we made it out there after the sun had risen. I love how it looks like the pollinators are all trying to carry it away.
I felt like a fairytale princess, with all of these flying creatures helping me with my quilty chores.
This would be a perfect quilt to give as a gift to someone who appreciates luxury. Maybe an Anglophile who visits the Liberty of London store but has never indulged. Or maybe a new mother, who deserves something indulgent, just for her (Mother’s Day is coming up…). Or maybe a new mother who is also an Anglophile, just perfect!
From far away, it’s a watercolor rainbow. Up close, there’s so much more to see.
final Coreina Quilt pattern review
In sum, delightful new quilt pattern, excellent opportunity to feature your fancy favorite fabrics, and I recommend the rainbow gradient option (as usual).
Meghan has put together a blog post with all of the versions created by her testers so if rainbows and ombre aren’t your thing, you can still find inspiration. And just in case you missed it up top, you can buy the Coreina quilt pattern from her shop.
And if you loved this post, please use the buttons on the images to pin to Pinterest, and spread the Coreina quilt pattern love.
You might be interested in more Pattern Test posts…
