Spring Fabrics for a New Project (and Pattern)

It's always thrilling to start a new project! This quilt will be the cover for a new pattern I'm writing. The quilt was designed for my dear friend Mallory's granddaughter who got married last summer. Strips are cut and I'm sewing!

I'll post again as soon as I've finished writing the pattern. Sherry, I hope this is good news!

Sample This! Completed Section 1

I am very excited to share my students' work in progress on our Sample This BOM! As more students complete section 1, I will fill in the gaps. One of the great benefits of a quilt class, aside from making great new friends, is the opportunity to see the same pattern interpreted in a variety of ways. I always, always, always find it inspiring.

Donna is using primarily solids ranging from pale gray to almost black. Her accent fabrics are grayscale prints. Isn't that a great concept!

Donna - Section 1

Pat is working with exuberant contemporary prints in grays, cream and burgundy ... lovely! I love the way she is using white, cream and gray ... important neutrals juxtaposed against the bold black and burgundy prints.

Pat - Section 1

Here is Karen's Section 1. She is using batiks that range from the palest of lavenders to rich purples with hints of blue. Her focus fabric is a black batik with swirls of pastel rainbow colors ... striking!

Karen - Section 1

Continuing with our purple trend, here is another section 1. As soon as I figure out whose, I will update this post. This collection of batiks ranges from soft orchid to rich purple with some blue and burgundy accents. Isn't it fun to see how unique each person's work is?

TBD - Section 1

Jeanne is working with a luscious collection by Silvia Vassileva, Silvia's Garden from P&B Textiles. Her focus fabric is the creamy beige print with red, turquoise, green and burgundy leaves. I love those touches of brilliant red in the focus fabric and check ... beautiful against the turquoise!

Jeanne - Section 1

Jan S is also using the leaf print from Silvia's Garden. I love the way the warm, creamy golds perfectly show off the teal and burgundy in her quilt. It is such a treat to see the same fabric used in two different quilts. Jan and Jeanne are in different classes ... I don't think they have seen each others' quilts!

Jan S - Section 1

I love these reds in Jodyne's work! I quickly put these two parts of her quilt on the wall for a photo ... we'll get them arranged properly before sewing. Click the photo for the larger version so you can see the Kokopelli batik and the pottery print. I am eager to see the story of her quilt unfold as she combines southwestern prints with reds, greens, browns and turquoises that evoke the rich hues of the desert.

Jodyne - Section 1

Here is a warm, rich collection featuring Stonehenge fabrics. Sandy's feature fabric is the rich red with green-gold ivy print from Northcott's Sangria collection. The warm creams and complement it beautifully and I adore the olive green Raindrops print by Lonni Rossi ... it's perfect!

Sandy - Section 1

Mallory's quilt features a brilliant, large scale floral batik in turquoise and purple. In section 1, she has used primarily green batiks with accents of blue and coral. Isn't the coral stunning? Her quilt will feel like a spring garden.

Mallory - Section 1

Rae is working with a lovely selection of soft blues and sagey green but her palette also includes creams and a black and purple batik that adds drama to her quilt. I love the softness of those greens as the backdrop for the blue stars as well as the punch of the cream and black 4-patches.

Rae T - Section 1

Julie and Rae are best friends and so are their quilts! Julie is also working with soft greens but the blue in her quilt is a bit brighter in hue. There is a cool watery feeling to Julie's quilt, due in part to the linear batik. The surprise in Julie's quilt are those soft, subtle touches of buttery yellow. Gorgeous!

Julie - Section 1

I am very proud of their work and can hardly wait for the next month when section 3 is completed. Some students have sent me photos ... but you'll have to wait until early May to see! 

Sample This! BOM Sections 1, 3 and 5

Each month, we complete one section of the "Sample This!" quilt. April is our 3rd month in the series so today I'm sharing my work in progress thus far. As I selected fabrics for this quilt, I wanted to show that solids, prints and batiks can all be used successfully together as well as create a quilt whose colors feel soft and subtle. We'll see whether it all works! Here is one of 2 parts of section 1:

Section 1b

The triangular sections consist of interlocking friendship stars with 4-patches in the corners in a point setting. Setting triangles are sewn along the left side to complete the rows. Here are both parts of section 1 that will make the top left corner of the quilt.

Section 1a and b

Whenever possible, I use Deb Tucker's rulers and this quilt is no exception. In section 3, we get to use Deb's Spotlight ruler. Section 3 is composed entirely of spotlight units that can be arranged as desired. I chose to arrange 4 spotlight blocks so the center beam triangle spins in a "circle" around a pinwheel. The 4 side triangles in the corners will also form pinwheels with adjacent units.

Four spotlight units

I love Deb's "trim down" approach to patchwork. By working slightly larger then trimming to the size needed, many "easing" headaches are minimized ... each unit is perfect! Section 3, also set on point, will become the bottom right corner of the quilt.

Section 3

In April, we will construct section 5 ... a beautiful star block again made with the Spotlight ruler. It's the exact same unit used in section 3 ... don't you love the myriad designs you can get simply by rearranging simple geometric shapes? Section 5 has two parts made in different color schemes. Here are my two color ways:

Section 5a

Section 5b

My students think this section could be developed into a beautiful quilt ... so ...

Section 5

my homework, due the last week of April, is to come up with a design. I already love the spotlight blocks and am also intrigued with the slim inner sashing framed by the bolder outer sashing. I'm excited to give it a try.

Happy sewing!

PS - I just realized "Firecracker" by Jaybird Quilts is made entirely from the spotlight block ... how cool is that!