I was able to finish piecing the Orange Crush quilt top on Wednesday. I am pleasantly surprised with how well my points turned out. It is definitely ORANGE! As I was piecing, I only found one location where the same fabric touched (which I was trying to avoid), so not too shabby. It has taken 13 hours to get to this point, including a couple of design hours where I scrambled around to find something that matched my vision for all this orange fabric. Oh, and the top is a hair under 58″ by 58″.
Orange Crush – Flimsy Finish
I have gently folded up Orange Crush and put it away for a while so that I can get started on a few commissions. It will also give me a bit more time to think about if I am done with the quilt at this stage or if I will add borders (right now I’m leaning toward being done, but I’d love any input if you feel strongly one way or another!).
As I mentioned earlier this week, the fabric for Space Age Tumbling Blocks arrived on Monday. So this afternoon I spent 1.5 hours cutting 2 of the 3 main tumbling block fabrics. Laying them out on my design wall as I went, I am already loving the 3D effect that the pattern is creating!
Space Age Tumbling Blocks – Design Wall Layout
I will cut the third tumbling block fabric on Thursday and start piecing. Yay! As a reminder, below is the design concept I created using EQ5. I love how close my design wall is matching the conceptual layout! So cool!
Full Layout Concept 3
I have posted several tutorials about free motion quilting recently, and I wanted to suggest a post that Renee @ Quilts of a Feather posted yesterday about How to Quilt Peacock Feathers. I really like her step by step instructions and photos to guide you through the process that she has been using to quilt her Pink Star Quilt. So check out her blog and get some more FMQing inspiration!
I will soon very soon, yes SOON be making an orange crush top, just not in orange, lol! LOVE it. And I’ll take your advice on the FMQ tute if i ever get my machine back. sigh.
You are a quilting mad-woman! So much production!! Love them both 🙂
Love that orange crush. Reminds me of summer as a kid.
Love the Orange Crush, and I know how you feel about the same colors touching! I often search my quilts to avoid the same thing, and cringe when it’s inevitable (although no one but me notices!). So, this will seem like a lazy person question, but I don’t feel like google searching it myself – was it easy to import fabrics into EQ5? I’ve got a copy that I don’t use much, but I’d like to try it more. Importing the fabrics I want might facilitate this process! Great work, looking forward to seeing how these progress!
I love it! I think it looks great as is, but it would depend on how I was planning on using it if I just wanted it bigger.
I love the tumbling blocks quilt! Such a great use of that fabric. Your orange quilt looks great too. Thanks for all the shout outs! 🙂
Orange Crush is awesome! NO don’t fold up and put away – quilt it! 😀 I don’t think it needs borders. I think it looks great!
Oh man, that tumbling blocks top. . . Wow!! Can’t wait to see the rest of this one. . . I’m guessing we won’t have to wait too long LOL
Dang girl! I adore the orange crush top – orange! And the space age quilt is looking super cool. You have a real gift…they’re both great.
Both are looking good!
love the orange crush just as it is, but a dark border to frame it might be pretty awesome too. The tumbling blocks look great, can’t wait to see it finished.
Just me, but I have to vote no on borders. I am a no-borders person, really!
Really like them both – and I agree Orange Crush doesn’t need a border but go wild if you want, I’d love to see what you do with it. Love the border fabric on the tumbling blocks in your EQ design!
I’m going to have to put that pattern of your Orange Crush on my to-do list. Loving it!! I don’t think it needs a border; I think it would take some of the focus of the gradient effect throughout the blocks, unless you could come up with a super clever border idea…
Also THANKYOU for linking that feather tutorial. I’ve been trying to play with feathers when I practice fmq and I haven’t been able to find a decent step by step that breaks it all down. I prefer the more loopy feathers to the particular one she made but the way it’s written really makes it easier to see how it should come together.
Oh, Yvonne, I love Orange Crush! I had a pair of favorite sheets as a kid that had a bold, varied orange stripe pattern, and the tones were just like this. I think it would look neat with a thin white border and orange binding just for the extra pop, but I love it as is, too.