Illuminate :: Pantone Color(s) of the Year

Often I put off quilting a quilt for multiple reasons.  It's big and daunting, I haven't a clue how to quilt it or I just plain and simply don't feel like it!  When your only option is to quilt on your domestic machine it can be overwhelming.  Then there are those times when you know exactly what you want to do.

This quilt falls somewhere in between.  I knew I need a quilting redemption quilt and this was the piece I thought might be the one.  Geometric line quilting was the first and only idea I had.  

ILLUMINATE
17" x 17"

It's playtime!  With a quilt this small I can play with lines without having a bulky quilt to shove, push and pull through my machine.  Always a welcome change and one that I tend to enjoy a lot!

I started with the dark grey using a dark grey thread.  Simple 1/4" lines that are either straight or angled to different points.  Geometric wizardry!

I found the perfect thread that matched the Kona Bright Idea fabric.  It's a Coats & Clark thread that is nearly neon, but worked very well.  

When I'm doing this kind of quilting I focus on one section at a time.  I'll take a look at the section draw some lines with my hera marker and duplicate the design to each mirrored section.  If that makes sense!!  Sometimes I might delete a line, add more or angle a line to different points.  There can be a lot of 'dot-to-dot' with a geometric quilting design. 

Working from the center to the outside helps with this kind of design.  I can use the ideas from the center and apply them to the outside creating a more cohesive design.  

The back...the truth teller!  The best part of sharing the back is you get to see all the quilting without having to look past the actual design on the front.  

And the cherry on top is the matched binding!   It isn't much, but I think the perfect touch to bring the quilt to life.  Matched bindings are a labor of love!  They aren't always easy and take much longer than you think they will.  I'll admit that I had to use my seam ripper a few times until I was happy with the results!  

With this finish I got my quilting redemption!  

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Pantone Color of the Year

This year Pantone came out with their color of the year as they always do, and surprised us all when it was really two colors of the year!  These colors that sparked my imagination and it didn't take long for an idea to form.

PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR
ILLUMINATE & ULTIMATE GRAY

After catching Debbie Jeske's post on Instagram @aquilterstable where she researched which manufactures colors matched her Pantone color cards, I was 100% committed!  Debbie came up with Kona Bright Idea and Cotton Couture Pewter for the closest matches.  Kona Overcast was a close second for the gray.

Knowing the colors that matched was all it took for me.  Especially since I had two of colors in my stash.  I added Kona Dove into the mix to round out the design.  

I designed a paper pieced block the end of 2018 that I love and decided it was worth revisiting for the Pantone challenge.  I've made two quilts with this block, each time the block was a different size and arranged differently.  By flipping, rotating and fabric colors the possibilities are endless!

BLOCK PRINT

PINK HAZE

This time I'm using 4.25" blocks.  Weird size, right?!  I went with a size where I could print two blocks on a page...save paper, save ink...I'm being cheap!!

The first thing I did was write the block placement number on each paper, along with an arrow so I knew which way it went.  Then I highlighted the yellow and wrote where the dark grey was to go.  It helps so much to do this!  Although I will say I flubbed up a time or two!

Next I figured out the size of fabric I'd need for each section.  It takes time but in the end I think it makes the paper piecing process easier and dare I say quicker?!

The points are near perfect!  I love having the 1/4" inch ruler for trimming seams.  I also have a 1/8" ruler which I did use for the skinny point sections.  The bulk is obscene!  Especially when it's time to sew the blocks together.

 The hardest part is matching the sections!  

I paper pieced the center section first only because it's the focal point.  I'm going to have to be careful when it comes to matching those seams!

And...then it's done!  I'm going to admit that matching the dark grey seams was tough.  I had to try a couple times and even then it wasn't perfect.  I also totally messed up when I laid out the blocks!  So much for taking the time to write numbers on each block!

After I had the rows sewn together my son, very gently and cautiously, asked if I meant to have certain sections like 'that'!  ARGH!!  No I did not!!  I had to rip out some seams, anyone who paper pieces knows how much fun that is, and basically reconfigure it.

With that behind me I ended up with something that I love!!  Maybe what I love is how one seemingly simple block can be used to make so many different blocks.  Or maybe it's the colors?  Whatever it is I'm deep into the quilting phase right now and can't wait to redeem myself with this quilting after the last quilt!

Are you going to make something using the 2021 Pantone Color of the Year colors?

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
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1, 2, 3 :: Making it Work

A couple years ago I designed a paper pieced block in EQ8 that I used to make a quilt.  Somewhere in that time span I had redesigned the block but it never made it as a quilt let alone a single block.  Once I saw it again I became inspired and decided it was worth exploring one more time.

  

I found a stack of beautiful hand dyed fabrics that I knew worked well together and began the journey of paper piecing.  I love the perfection of paper piecing, but as you can see the center of this one is not perfect!  My idea didn't pan out as expected because when the pieces meet in the center it's super thick!  I have way too many points meeting...it was a terrible mess!     

Having 16 points meeting in the center is not a good idea anyway you slice it!  Back to the drawing board for me!  I wasn't about to let this block go down without a fight.

5 1/4" x 5 1/4"

Try number two was a little better as far as the center thickness goes.  I modified one of the sections by basically cutting of the points.  The center was better, but...  

...I didn't like how the points are cut off.  And if matching up the center wasn't hard enough, matching the center points and the 'octagon' center was more of a challenge than I wanted.  Back to the drawing board again.  

6 1/4" x 6 1/4"

The third block version was much better and it's possible it might be the last one.  The jury is out on that decision!  I've got some fine tuning to do before I'm satisfied.  

Even though the center isn't perfect, I ended up finishing all three blocks into mini's just because I could!  Back to the drawing board...

   LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
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BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Geometric Bee :: Take Two

One of my first 2020 finishes was a paper pieced Pink Geometric Bee by Kristy Lea (Quiet Play).  The bee is one of many patterns from her Pattern Club 2019.  I always enjoy Kristy's designs and love making them.  Someone asked if I could one for them using yellows and golds for the wings instead.  Music to my ears!  I'm always willing to remake a pattern that I enjoy and any time I can paper piece...it makes me happy!!

Geometric Bee
10" x 10"

It's not a huge quilt, so 10" square it has a few touchy spots that if you aren't paying attention to can trip you up.  And at one point...I was not paying attention!

After getting the fabric for the wings pulled and approved by my customer, I quickly got to work.  I printed the pattern templates, made one wing section...and saw that I totally messed it up!  I had a color in the wrong place, but worse than that...I discovered I didn't print the templates at 100%!  In this case I was glad I messed up!

The other mistake and it was a costly mistake, was one of the legs!  See that red circle?  I used a piece of background fabric instead of a piece of black fabric.  It looks he has an amputated leg...not good!  

You know what was even worse than that?  I didn't notice it until I had the entire block finished.  Had I saw it in the state of the above photo it wouldn't have been so bad.  But, no such luck.  I ended up having to rip out the leg section, reprint the leg template and make an entirely new section.  Then, insert the piece and make it look like nothing ever happened!  I did it, but I didn't like doing it!

Crisis averted, moving on!  I did almost the exact quilting on this bee as I did on the pink one.  Stippling in the background, straight lines on the body and basic quilting inside each wing color. 

The back detail along with corners to hang.  I added a scrappy pieced binding because it matches the wings and give this little quilt some pizazz!

Other than extra time for all my mishaps, this block goes together fairly quick.  I always enjoy  paper pieced projects big, small, simple or complex!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY  

Mini Quilts Are It

A couple few more finishes from last year only required quilting.  Of course, it was something I put off until the last minute and had to cram them in to make my deadline.  I made the deadline and couldn't be more happy about that!  I suppose technically they are considered last years projects, but I'm not sure that really matters too much.

GEOMETRIC BEE
10" X 10"

Geometric paper piecing is one of Kristy Lea's (Quiet Play) specialties!  Lucky for us she shares so many of her designs.  This Geometric Bee was part of her Quiet Play Pattern Club 2019.  

I bided my time until I could make this one!   Several months ago I made a few 'precut' projects that I put in baggies.  That way they were ready for whenever I had spare time to play.  By 'precut' I actually mean I pulled all the different shades of pink, black for the body and the background fabric, and of course...the printed templates for the design.



I used 12 different shades of pink for the wings.  I know, since when do bees have pink wings?!  Creative license is always welcome when quilting!  I thrive on it!  So it only seemed natural and right to go with my favorite color for this bee.



Not to be full of myself, but I actually...actually free motion quilted the entire thing!  I'm laughing here because of course it's obvious if you look closely!  I decided to go for it, not give a care and just have fun.  Which is exactly what happened.  Also because it's only 10" square I was confident I could handle and knock it out in no time!!   



As you can see on the back, I used black thread for the body, two shades of pink for the wings and a neutral for the stippling of the background.

To finish it off I added hanging corners and a scrappy binding.  My husband cut the wooden slat and drilled a hole in the center for me.  And with that I happily cleared a project from my stack and mind!

BLUE WAVE MINI
16 3/4" X 19"

This one has actually been hanging around for quite some time.  After I finished my 
'Blue Wave' quilt using my Textured Twist technique, I was left with extra 'twist' pieces.  I couldn't see myself tossing them in the trash or putting them aside for too long, so I decided I'd make a smaller version of the original quilt with the leftovers.  



This one is about a quarter of the size as the original quilt.  But I kept many things the same, such as:  the curve aspect for continuous flow, Kona White between the twists, and the quilting.  



There isn't a lot of options when it comes to quilting this type of quilt, so it wasn't like I had a choice!!



One thing that is different from the original is the binding.  The original has a faced or knife edge binding and this had the traditional binding.  I'm good with both.  As far as I'm concerned either one works!

What's next?!  A few more last minute quilting projects to share.  A couple scrap busting/stash busting quilts and lord help me...I've got to write a pattern or two and tutorial to boot!

LINKING:

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BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Cut it Out!!

In my last post I talked about how quilting a large stack of quilts can be too much all at once.  By taking a break and making a small project in between recharges me to get back to the larger task at hand.

One of those 'intermission' projects was this project.  Rainbow paper pieced scissors.  

GEOMETRIC SCISSORS
11 1/2" x 11 1/2"

I've had this project cut out for weeks hoping that I'd get a chance to make it.  The Geometric Scissor pattern is another amazing design by Kristy Lea of Quiet Play.  The scissors are part of her Quiet Play Pattern Club 2019 which is still available, and happily she has another year lined up for 2020! (Pattern Club 2020)  As you can see I'm a huge fan of Kristy's!



The easy part was picking the rainbow fabric, the hard part was which background fabric to use.  I decided to use something a little different and went with a fat quarter of Coffee Peppered cotton.  



I could have left well enough alone, but I couldn't very well do that!  It's not in my nature!  I ended up making a border to increase the size and give it a boost.  I designed the border in EQ8 and printed paper piece templates.  And very soon after I had the extra element needed to finish it up.  

Near the end of piecing the border I realized I was literally cutting it close with the background fabric!  I needed and used every piece of that Peppered Cotton fat quarter!  

 

I could have went around the house a found about another dozed pairs of scissors for the photo...but that would have been a bit over the top!  Instead I settled on three pair that were within arms reach.






The detail is worth a couple detail shots, I think!  When I'm paper piecing something as detailed and tiny as the pieces in the handles, I grab larger pieces of fabric than normal so I don't have to worry about being short.  For those who freak out at the waste of it all...even larger pieces for this were pretty small!  That's what my scrap totes are for!



Another element to take it over the top was the quilting.  Or I should say:  in my mind I think it's over the top!  Pebbles using Aurifil Burgundy thread.  I normally try to match thread with backgrounds, but I had the urge to step out of my comfort zone and choose a color that would be visually impactful, but not outlandish.



I also wanted to keep the scissors sharp (pun intended!) and opted not to put one single stitch on them.  Finished off with a red border and viola! it was done and my itch was scratched!



My plan is to maybe take it to our Guilds Holiday Party and add it to the small gift swap.  They say you should give gifts that you yourself would love...and I do love this!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

A Little Bit of Everything!

I recently got back from a five day trip to visit family.  It was quick, but we had a nice visit right up until our return trip flight was cancelled!  Turns out Denver was in for a snow event!  We had to rush to the hotel, pack and drive to the airport in order to catch a red-eye flight back home.  Not exactly the leisurely pace we wanted, but we made it home bleary eyed and safe!

All that being said, the few days before we left I was in a sort of limbo with what to do with myself.  I really couldn't start an actual quilt, so the next best thing was to focus on a few mini mini quilts.  That way my itch was scratched.  I could surely finish one or two and be happy!

DOUBLE GOOSED
6" X 6"

I love the intricate process of paper piecing!  Thankfully there are creative people out there that know how to draft patterns that we can make.  This little beauty is called 'Double Goosed' and is the creation of Jeliquilts.  You can find all of Kelly's patterns in her Payhip shop here:  Jeliquilts.



These tiny geese were a challenge to be sure, but oh what fun!  I was determined to finish it before we left on our trip, and I did.  It finished at 6" x 6", and as you can see those center geese are teeny tiny!



Once I got home I quilted it up and put on the skinny binding.  Here is a tutorial for the binding method I use just in case you'd like to try it out:  Mini Mini Binding



The Rubber Ducky and Fishy Bones was pieced before I left as well.  These two patterns I always reduce the size when I'm printing because...I like to go small!

Fishy Bones is a Unicornharts pattern, and Rubber Ducky is a Zephyr Skies pattern.  Click on the links and it'll take you to their Payhip shops!

The log cabin blocks were a last minute after I got home project.  Something fun, easy and I could use scraps.  

I'm still trying to focus on quilting some quilts and writing a pattern, but between a trip, day light savings and fall weather I haven't made much progress!  Yesterday was a beautiful day which meant it was time to deal with falling leaves!  There are still plenty more that have yet to fall and I'll be back out there before long doing a repeat of yesterday.  It's always a feeling of accomplishment when the yard is neat and tidy this time of the year...at least for a couple hours!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY