The theme for Project Quilting 16.2 is Ombré, and, wow, if we had more than a week for each Project Quilting Challenge, I would not have stopped with only one project. Knowing this was going to be a hard news week, I used this project to try to keep myself from obsessively checking the news and engaged in something good for myself. In that spirit, I’ve named this quilt Good Vibes.
Good Vibes – Fabric
In 2022, my mom gifted me a membership to the Stash Fabrics Kona Club, and I received 1 yard of every Kona Cotton color. I decided to use the beautiful stack of solids from November as the jumping off point for this challenge. There are 30 solids in the stack. From top to bottom they are: Aloha, Aqua, Sea Glass, Robin Egg, Dusty Blue, Sea Mist, Ice Frappe, Pool, Azure, Bahama Blue, Jamaica, Waterfall, Aruba, Sage, Breakers, Capri, Turquoise, Lagoon, Peacock, Candy Green, Jade Green, Cyan, Oasis, Celestial, Mediterranean, Seascape, Ultra Marine, Glacier, Caribbean, and Teal Blue.
On Monday, I cut (4) 4½” squares from each solid and then played with different arrangements on my design wall. I chose a layout that would make a ~40½” x 48½” quilt top. Ultimately, I settled on a mirrored color flow.
Good Vibes Piecing GIF
On Tuesday, I was able to get the quilt top pieced in the morning. Instead of just sewing the blocks into rows, I opted to sew the quilt top together in “chunks”. First, I sewed pairs. Then, I created 4-patch blocks. The 4-patch blocks evolved into 16-patch blocks that grew into 3 large rows that quickly sewed together to finish the quilt top.
Good Vibes – Seam Side
I sew with a scant ¼” seam allowance, and the pieced quilt top measured 40⅞” x 48⅞”. I snapped a picture of the seam side of the quilt top right before sewing a seam ~⅛” from the edge around the perimeter to help stabilize all the pressed open seams at the edge of the quilt. Once that was done, I was also able to mark out my quilting lines and get the quilt basted on Tuesday.
Good Vibes – Marking Quilting Lines with a Hera Marker
I knew that I wanted to stick with a nice grid for the quilting, and I opted to mark reference lines ½” on either side of each seam. I also marked lines ¾” away from the edge of the quilt.
Good Vibes – Basting
In the basting photograph that I snapped on Tuesday afternoon, you can see the stabilizing seam I stitched around the perimeter of the quilt and the edge reference line made ¾” away from the outside edge.
Good Vibes – Hand Binding
On Wednesday I was able to do the quilting (it was so nice not to have any threads to bury except for when the bobbin ran out). Wednesday evening I was also able to get the binding sewn to the front of the quilt, and on Thursday I finished the hand binding. I was really happy with the 2¼” double fold binding and the way it made the quilting feel finished at the edge of the quilt.
I pieced the quilt top with 50wt Aurifil 2600 (dove), which is a light gray thread. I chose 50wt Aurifil 5006 (light turquoise) for quilting and 1148 (light jade) for the hand binding. The quilt backing is Kona Cotton in Oasis, one of the darker colors in the quilt top, and I thought it would be fun to finish off the all solids quilt with a print for the binding. The binding print, Interconnection Nonno, was designed by Guicy Guice for Andover Fabrics.
Good Vibes
I finished the quilt on Thursday in the late afternoon, and I knew the challenge was going to be getting photographs of the quilt outside. It has been really windy in Central and Southern California lately, and we have a forecast calling for some rain/snow (depending on elevation) for the weekend. I snapped a quick photo of the quilt on my design wall hoping we’d be able to get outside sometime on Friday to get a few photographs.
Good Vibes
Mid morning on Friday, the winds were probably as low as they were going to get, so my husband took a break and we went looking for sheltered areas we could get some quilt photography. It was a cold and crisp morning, and the contrails were really hanging around in the sky looking like wispy clouds.
Good Vibes – Quilt Back
Usually, we only have a few months of green hills around us, but it has been a very dry winter, and I am not sure what the spring might look like this year. I hope we do get some nice moisture this weekend, and I really hope there is no lightning…
Good Vibes
The Good Vibes quilt finished at 40¼” x 48¼”, and there are ample scraps left over from my cutting the squares for this quilt top. I was really tempted to keep playing, but I set them aside and might choose to go back to them for another prompt this season. One way or another, it is very likely you will see me using these colors again in a quilt later this year!
Yvonne with Good Vibes Quilt, photo by M. Fuchs
I am really glad I chose to work with some of my favorite colors this week. They are calm and soothing, and it felt good to create something and engage my heart and mind with something that was joyful.
Linking up with Project Quilting 16.2 Ombré, Needle and Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday, Beauties Pageant, TGIFF, and Favorite Finish.
Such fun to watch you layout the quilt on your design wall. Aren’t you lucky to have a mother who knows just what to get you for a gift and a husband who sleuths out the perfect place for a photo shoot.
I LOVE the palette you worked in! I’m gearing up to start cutting fabric for my ombre quilt. Thanks for linking up with me for TGIFF!
SO GOOD. Good Vibes is indeed that, and I’m thankful to be able to read about your finished project today. Love that you used that whole stack o’blues(!), yay for being able to get photos outside, and especially one of you with your gorgeous quilt.
A beauty of a quilt, Yvonne!!! Love the quilt in the wild photos, with the wispy clouds, too!!!
Another gorgeous quilt, and so large! I love the quilting you did on it too.
A-amazing! As always, I am blown away by your creativity and skill. Just beautiful, especially the outside photos.
Gorgeous finish and beautiful pictures. I know well the challenges involved with wind, shadows and angles. I noticed that your shoes match the quilt :-) Made me smile.
Trying to find joy in little things every day is my way of dealing with the current times. Sending warm hugs.
How fun that you had a beautiful stack of fabrics to work with. Love the palette you chose. Congrats on your finish!
Your quilt is beautiful! Lucky you to have that wonderful stash of solids. Those are some of my favorite colors too.
Beautiful response to the challenge! A wonderful distraction during a rough week.
Just reading about this was calming and enjoyable: a double treat when combined with those gorgeous colors. Yes, I am a blue blue girl. (Someday you will have to explain to me why we have contrails, because I love them. Sometimes they show up and sometimes they don’t, is what I’ve noticed.) I loved reading your process, and looking closely at the steps you took. I was at Road, and someone referenced a sharp stick-like took, and it took me a minute, but I realized they meant your Hera tool. I immediately thought of you!
When I am right, you are back to work and you were able to do this quilt and fotos so quickly, cudos!
A wonderful quilt but how super is that your mother gave you this lovely present! Greetings to her!
You could be proud. I love your fotos at these nature places, how nice you could done it together with your hubby.
It turned out great! I like how you quilted it. It has been an interesting news week.
Your quilt really exemplifies the topic this week! And I love the blues that you chose. It’s really, really pretty!
Very Beautiful Yvonne! The color choice was perfect, I would have been overwhelmed with so many blue choices, but you excelled!
Your blues are so beautiful and soothing! I wish the small quilt I chose to make had been as calming as yours. The instructions were sketchy and I would have chosen different fabrics than those included in the kit, so I don’t love the end result. I thought a small project I’d be able to finish would be a good distraction, but no! This week, I think I’ll do some planning for an upcoming retreat. Thanks for your lovely post and inspiration!
I love this, and no surprise, as blues and ombres are among my favorite things. You did a fabulous job and I love seeing you with your quilts! Hope all is going well in the new job arena. It seems like you still manage to sew, which is awesome.
What calming colors and I love the precise lines you quilted.
Sorry it’s taken me a while to get over here to leave a comment, though I read the post in my inbox when you’d posted it! Now I’m back again, and my initial ahh, I see a plus shape, has become ahh, it looks like a runway! Regardless, I love how the gradient creates movement and my eye wants to see a shape, but then it shimmers in and out. Wonderful quilt, and love that last photo. :-)
Hi Yvonne, as soon as I read the ombre challenge, I thought of you! You are the Queen of Ombre and having such a lovely stash of Kona helps! Your quilt is really terrific and looks great outside. Thanks for the Favorite Finish party!
Gorgeous as usual. Congrats on new job!!
Is this pattern available?