For the last couple of years, the fine people at Paintbrush Studios have hosted a Mad for Solids Competition, where quilters create a stack of colors, give them a name & describe their inspiration, and they go up against each other. (Why should basketball fans have all the fun? Quilters need some play time, too!)
Above is the bracket where many beautiful colors of Painter’s Palette Solid fabrics will vie to reach the championship match-up. The first “game” is already up online, and it features two different stacks of fabrics (seen below). I hope you’ll take time to vote for your favorite each day.
Here are the links:
• Paintbrush Studios Blog: Introductory Post, where you can see all the 16 bundles and read about each quilter and their inspiration
• Paintbrush Studios on Instagram
• Paintbrush Studios on Facebook
You can also win free fabric by voting. They will randomly select four voters from the championship game to win fat quarter bundles of the winning palette. To make sure your favorite bundle is the winner, vote for the one you like best to get it to the championship game.
My game day is this Friday, March 23rd.
Please sure to check back here for info on how you can vote for me, and to see why I chose the grouping that I did.
But for today, head over to Paintbrush Studios to start your voting with two beautiful different stacks. You’ll only have one day to get your vote in, a 24-hour period from 6 p.m. on the day announced, when a new round will take its place.
This is the story of the design of my quilt Annularity. It is also the story of Annularity II, which will hang at QuiltCon in Paintbrush Studios Booth.
Annularity II
Quilt Number 194
Designed and Pieced by Elizabeth Eastmond
Quilted by Natalia Bonner
59″ square
The story of this begins when I was contacted by the fine people at Paintbrush Studios, who make the ever-lovely Painter’s Palette Solids. I submitted one design for review, time passed, things changed; I thought the process was dead in the water.
But I had all these lovely fabrics, so we started the process again.
I played around in QuiltPro, my favorite quilt design program and came up with the above design messes.
I showed them to Simone, seeking advice, and she said, “Don’t forget the white.” Negative space is critical, but sometimes you get in the weeds of a thing and you can’t see your way clear.
Given that the Great American Eclipse was on my mind, I started calling my quilt Annularity:
I began building the quilt top, remembering the white. But when I got to the outer edges, something still wasn’t right. A designer can do all the designing they want to, but then the fabric takes over and slowly, the outer edges morphed from the planned design to what you see at the very top. Then there was the problem of the center.
I tried lots of combinations: yellow, aqua, violet, maroon but finally finished with periwinkle, one of my favorite colors in the Painter’s Palette Solids line-up. I finished it and when Paintbrush Studios told me that Natalia Bonner was going to quilt it, I was over the moon, because I quite admire her work. I bundled up the quilt, sent it off, and then waited. And waited. And waited. And I began to wonder, even though I’d tracked it to her address, if it had gotten lost. I worried, then did the next best thing:
I made another.
In the rush, I didn’t have all the correct fabrics, so some are pieced. But then I heard from Natalia that she had the quilt. Whew! Since it’s going to be hanging in the booth at QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena, I gave the first one a new name, since now there were two in the world: Annularity II.
Pineapple Fabrics has the complete line of colors needed to make this design, and you can soon buy the quilt pattern from them. Come and see Annularity II in the Paintbrush Studios booth, #905.
But I’ll be quilting mine, Annularity, bit by bit, sharing that experience as I proceed. In the meantime, enjoy the photos of Natalia’s fine work:
The kind folk at Paintbrush Studios asked me (some time ago) to give a demo at QuiltCon 2018. I set to wondering what I could teach in a short amount of time (20-30 minutes) that would be interesting. Shortly after they asked me, I visited Cinque Terra, Italy, and stood on a plaza in Riomaggiore, overlooking the sea (above).
We walked down the steps, and underneath the plaza was a passageway, the walls decorated with these tiles in all sizes. It was on the way to Via dell’amore (the Walk of Love).
When I returned home and started looking at my photos, I thought about all those mini charm packs we pick up everywhere, and how they could become something along the lines of this impromptu artwork in Riomaggiore.
So I got out my mini-charm pack from Paintbrush Studio Solids and started pairing up the colors, trying to make the duo sing together–have a little friction together–trying to get pairs that would play against each other.
I found a worksheet online that had a whole bunch of oddball shapes, and I began trying some.
I sent away for more mini-charm packs. Once I got started, I kept wanting to make more.
And more.
I carried around a little baggie of paired squares, and did them while watching TV, getting my hair colored and while in Urgent Care one bad flu season.
I loved watching my collection grow. I would do one shape for a while, then another. I used up bits and pieces of squares. I even tried some paper-piece-wrapped hexagons; I ended up not liking them so much because the charm of these squares was in their wobbliness, their wonkiness.
And then one day, I put them up on the wall with other, larger, squares–just like the Walk of Love passageway in Italy. And wouldn’t you know it–it was really looking fun.
I wasn’t finished, but what I hoped would happen, did. I took this photo and put it up on Instagram, using the SnapSeed app to expand the edges and add the text.
Next post: the finish and the details about my demos at QuiltCon.
Welcome to Day 4 of the Patriotic Palette Blog Hop, hosted by Paintbrush Studios and Painter’s Palette Solids!
Red, White, and Blue Star • Quilt #183
25″ square, made from Painter’s Palette Solids
A couple of weeks ago, the fine people who make Painter’s Palette Solids sent me some fabric and asked if I would make something. At the end of this post, there is a giveaway so you can win your own stack of red, white and blue fabrics.
I’m part of a series of posts showing items you can make with just three reds, three blues and some white. Here is the complete list and the days that they are presenting:
The project I chose was a quick and easy mini-quilt, which finishes at 25″ square, and is perfect for a table top when you want to give a little patriotic flare to the kitchen. I’ve written up a free pattern, available in my Craftsy shop for download (see button to the right), but the instructions are here if you need any tips and help with construction.
I was sent fat quarters in three shades of red, three shades of blue and a fat quarter of white. The white needs special cutting: cut the long borders first (see chart on pattern), then the squares for the half-square triangles. You may have enough the other way, but do it this way to be safe. I also was tight on the medium blue, as I used it for the binding, too. You’ll need to provide your own backing (about 3/4 yard, or pieced scraps).
I basically constructed this as a nine-patch, a favorite thing of mine to do with minis. I started by sewing four bright red triangles on the edges of the blue square, then pressed them all away from the center. I squared this unit to 7 1/2″. (This quilt is forgiving if yours is slightly smaller.) I squared all my nine units to the same 7 1/2″ as then I wouldn’t have to square up (or true up, depending on how you refer to it) the finished quilt top.
Next was the construction on this corner, sewing the medium and dark red triangles together to make a square, then sewing on the dark blue triangles to make a larger triangle.
Sew on the medium blue triangle to make it a square; true it up to 7-1/2″ inches.
Now make the rest of the blocks: sew the triangles together as shown, then seam those together to make a square. I always press to the side, if you are wondering. Only rarely do I press open, so avoid that.
Lay out all your squares (as shown above, left), then sew them together like a nine-patch (upper right). Measure the square; the sides should measure 21-1/2″. Trim your long white border rectangles to measure. Sew the darkest red blocks on each of two of the white rectangle borders.
Sew two white borders: one on top of the quilt and one of the bottom. Press. Then sew on the borders with the squares attached; press. Admire your quilt top.
Let’s get quilting!
Here’s a picture of the quilt in the sunshine, showing my quilting stitches. I always have the hardest time coming up with what to quilt where; yours may vary. The “bandstand swag” arcs on the outside were a happy accident.
This was all done on my Sweet Sixteen machine, but that functions like a domestic sewing machine. I did do ruler work (which is probably easier on my machine than a domestic) but it can be done on your regular sewing machine. Just make sure you have a thick enough hopping foot and thick rulers designed for this task (not your cutting rulers!); put grippy stuff on the bottom of your rulers, as you’ll use them to help you move the fabric under your needle.
Happy Fourth of July!
If you haven’t heard me tell you about Painter’s Palette Solids, made by Paintbrush Studio, you must be a new reader. It is my FAVORITE solid: it’s easy to work with, has a nice hand, deals well when I need to unpick and re-stitch (I had to do that with the quilting, but you can’t see it, right?). It’s a fairly new fabric to the market, but many brick-and-mortar shops, as well as online shops, are starting to carry it.
As is my custom when sewing for Painter’s Palette, I give away my scraps when I finish a project, so that some fortunate quilter can give this fabric a try. BUT! Paintbrush Studios has generously offered up a stack of the fabrics I used in this quilt — seven fat quarters — so you can make your own (giveaway is for domestic/US only).
To enter, leave me a comment telling me if you like fireworks, and why (or your most memorable). I’m not talking the little things that are lit up down on street level, but those glorious bursting displays of color and light. It will get us all in the mood for Independence Day.
I’ll activate the Husband Random Number Generator and pick a winner, to be contacted by email.
Giveaway closed. Winner has been notified and will be announced in next post. Thank you all!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 