This is my last quilt finish for the do good stitches charity bee, at least for a while. It's a little sad to not be making fun plans for my next one right now, but I know I can always join the bee again down the road if the time is right. I just needed to simplify some things and make a little more time for my responsibilities as the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild president.
Anyway, I can honestly say that my 2 years with the Harmony circle was so enjoyable and I would recommend this bee to anyone wanting to learn new things and give back with their quilting. It's really a wonderful project, and you can find out more about joining right here.
This quilt was completely inspired by Amy of Badskirt's version that I saw here on Flickr. I instantly had a quilt crush on it. It's all kinds of amazing. So I told my group of stitchers to make Rocky Mountain Puzzle blocks using this tutorial, but I changed the measurements to make 12" finished blocks instead of 8." To do that, make the center square and HST units 3.5" with a 2" border around that center square. I said to use bright saturated rainbow colors, everything but purple. Not sure why I excluded poor purple, it's a color I love. But I'm glad it's left out in the end. You don't belong here purple! This quilt is so cliquey. Plus they could use black fabrics, and had to use low volume prints for the background of the blocks.
The most fun part of this bee is when you start to get the blocks trickling in in the mail and you can imagine how they will harmonize in the finished quilt. It's so cool to see a bunch of scrappy blocks come together like this and really work. These two above are a couple of the blocks that I made. Everyone did a really great job at picking something fun to put in that center square.
For quilting I did simple straight lines, following the diagonal direction created by the arrangement of HST's. It's fine enough, but I kind of wish I had done vertical straight lines, or maybe a crosshatch. If I'm being honest, I would do straight lines about 3/8" apart across every quilt I ever make if I had the time. That is one quilting decision I never regret. But in the end, this one just needed to be done quickly. This quilting does at least give is a really soft easy drape, which will be nice for this kid that gets it through Project Linus.
The back has three extra blocks and a nice aqua Art Gallery print from Sewn Studio. I like how the little triangles scattered in it give a nod to the triangle design on the front. For the binding I chose an orange on pink dot by Kaffe Fassett. I loooooove the way his dots feel. It took me forever to settle on the binding for some reason, and I'm a little surprised I landed here. I must be having a hot pink moment lately.
The quilt is about 60" by 48" and I'm really happy to be done with it and giving it away! Thanks for all your help on this one Harmony Circle, I miss you guys already :)
What a wonderful quilt. I'm sure the recipient will be thrilled.
ReplyDeletelove all those bright colors!
ReplyDeleteI like it! Especially loving the use of black. This makes me want to do a quilt in black and white with one or two other colors.
ReplyDeleteI love this scrappiness. If you ever want to start up a low key swap, I might be game...???
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of making one block then handing it over to be turned into something as wonderful as this. I could then feel like a quilter without the daunting task of assembling and quilting something! You could count me in too! It's really marvellous.
ReplyDeleteThis turned out fabulous Jessica. I miss you in our group too!
ReplyDeleteIt looks awesome! And I love the quilting choice, I think it was perfect.
ReplyDeleteWow this looks so gorgeous. I wish I could just reach out and touch it!! What a lot of work you all put into it.
ReplyDeleteRosie xx
This quilt is just exactly fabulous. Couldn't be better! Makes me think, "Why didn't I do this exact thing with my bee?", which is a sentiment that tends to pop up when I view finished bee quilts =). Thanks so much for your work on this and for your years with the bee. AND for sharing about it here!
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! This looks amazing. I was so surprised when I came across a photo of this quilt because I've been making a Rocky Mountain Puzzle Quilt all year, also inspired by Amy at Badskirt. I'm down to my last block of 36 and slowly stiching the top together now. Your finished quilt inspires me to push on to the end. Well done! Here's one of my blocks if you want to take a gander:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mcalumkal/8406596452/
Geez! You are incredible! The colors, oh man, the colors! You're my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThis quilt is so much fun! Some kid is going to LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteOH I was given instructions for a wedding quilt to make whatever I wanted as long as there was no purple! I love this quilt. Thank you so much for sharing I feel inspired!
ReplyDeleteI feel inspired to make this as a wedding quilt! They asked for no purple also and I could put their favorite novelty prints in the center of each block! How fun!!!
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