October 2, 2018

Shiny Brights Quilt for American Patchwork and Quilting

Today I get to introduce a new quilt design- Shiny Brights! It's featured in the latest issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, which is on shelves starting today.

Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. 
©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.
It features one fairly simple star block on repeat in solids. I adore solids! Did I ever tell you the story of when I was in a quilt shop in another state, and I asked the owner what kind of solids she carried and where they were, because I didn't see any at all, and she said "solids are against my religion". I was so surprised I was speechless, and we both just stared at each other for a minute. Ha! We ended up having a really good chat, but had to agree to disagree on that point for sure. To each her own!

This one was quilted by Emilee Hathaway. I had her choose the design and she picked just the perfect thing. I was in such a hurry to send it off that I didn't get any pictures myself, so I will have to share more when I get it back. It's going to travel to quilt market first!


I've started a yearly tradition where I challenge myself to do something scary in quilting- a new technique or way of doing things that intimidates to me. Then when I've thought of the scary new thing I want to do, I contribute it to a magazine so that I'll be bound by contract to actually follow through and do it! Ha! No backing out of that. Last year it was curved piecing with this quilt. Before that it was just submitting to a magazine at all. This year, I wanted to challenge myself to use LOTS of colors in one quilt, and to try new color combinations.


I pulled out my Kona color card and started picking colors that stood out to me. I didn't worry too much about how much they would work together, just colors that were appealing to me at the time. You can see I'm rather fond of aqua shades :) Then I ordered them from Fabric Bubb, (she has kits for this!) cut them up, and started to match them willy nilly. Some of the combinations made me cringe, but I powered through! I would never think to put lavender with mustard by myself and it makes my a little uncomfortable, but I like it. This way of doing it led to some fun new-to-me combos.




To be honest I wasn't imagining it as a Christmas quilt at all. My tentative title for it was "Circus", but the beauty of collaborations is letting other minds make your idea into something more, and I couldn't be more pleased with how the clever people at APQ styled it! The blocks really do look like those cute vintage ornaments. (By the way, they are giving away that cute pink tree, you'll have to check out the magazine for details on how to enter.)


The cover looks like this, in case you want to keep your eye out for it. There are some other wonderful things in there, including a spotlight on Tara Faughan, who is the coolest, and a wonderful quilt design by Sherry McConnell. I always love her patterns!


Lastly I just have to share the gorgeous photos that Fabric Bubb took of the bundle for the kits. Kristina sure has a knack for making fabric look pretty. This is a quarter yard bundle and would be a fantastic stash builder for solids even if you're aren't planning on making this quilt.


Thanks for stopping by today and Happy October!!

3 comments :

  1. Viewed Your Beautiful Quilt, in the latest APQ-so neat,so cheerful!

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  2. Sooooo beautiful! I love the bright fabrics you chose! I am off today to find the magazine!!!

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  3. Loving this SO much ! I'm not a solids girl, but I think your quilt has changed that lol. Definitely going to have to make this one 😊

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