Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week. I felt very productive and finished a quilt to give to the kids’ ski instructor. I used a layer cake that I had been hoarding for quite some time – Desert Bloom by Amanda Herring. I paired it up with Horizon, my favorite Bella Solid and a pattern I purchased a while ago from Cluck Cluck Sew.
I was hoping to keep this layer cake all to myself but I’m glad that I finally got it out and used it! I love how the intensity of the Horizon highlights the beauty of both the lower volume fabrics as well standing up to the saturated reds and grays.
The pattern is a fantastic choice both for quick quilts but also for those times when you want to focus on the fabrics. The squares are 5 1/2″ finished and in this case capture the beauty of the large scale designs while also allowing the smaller fabrics to shine. The back and binding are both Grunge and I love them both! Somehow one of the kids got mud from their ski pants on the back of the quilt – I don’t think it’s going to come off with spot cleaning so I’m contemplating washing the quilt before I gift it. Have any of you ever had to do that? In some ways I’m horrified, but as a recipient I think I might be relieved that someone else took the risk of washing it first.
With this much saturated color in my own quilting, I felt like the Free Pattern Friday had to step up and match it. Where do you go if you want some serious color saturation in your quilts? Amy Butler, of course!
This beauty is called Zen Garden, but I’m not sure about that…. maybe Patches of Baldness Due to Pulling Out Your Hair? I’ve previously put out some curved quilts that I thought were challenging but this one puts them all to shame. There are several pieces (most of which have curves) that are required to build up three separate curved pieces that comprise each block.
While I love Amy Butler’s use of color, some of the florals compete a little too heavily in this block making it difficult to appreciate the complexity of the construction. I might like to throw in a few solids or perhaps more highly contrasting fabrics to showcase the square within a square secondary pattern.
This is definitely not a quilt to whip up in a weekend. The pattern suggests that it’s a longer term commitment. No kidding! Let me know if you give this one a try – I’d love to see any color variations.
Have a great weekend!
Becky