Thursday, May 18, 2017

"Loves Me, Loves Me Not" - Pantone Challenge mini quilt

This year, the Pantone Color of the Year is Greenery. I've never been a huge fan of green, but my fabric stash says otherwise. Anyway, Pennington Quilt Works (my awesome LQS) gifted our guild 2 bolts of Kona Lime to start a mini quilt challenge, and I had to admit that this particular shade of green is lovely.


It took a while to pin down inspiration for this quilt, which had to be 18" square (I like to "go big or go home," even with mini quilts). While flipping through my sketchbook, I found an orange peel design from at least 2 years ago. It reminds me of that scene in Disney's The Little Mermaid when Ariel pulls petals off a flower ("he loves me, he loves me not"). In a less romantic sense, it's a graphic design with an unexpected modern element (one peel falling to the side).


Instead of trying straight applique orange peels like usual, though, I was itching to form them with improvisational curves; I had just worked on improv curve blocks for one of the group quilts at the Mid-Atlantic Mod retreat. I really loved adding in random prints to complement the solids.


I had forgotten how much I LOVE sewing improv curves, and, well, curves in general. Once you get the hang of it, it's quite fun. So I set to work creating 3 white and purple petals and one green petal falling off (why purple? Because it's the best color, and it looks amazing with green!). I adhered Heat N Bond Lite to the backs of the peels before raw-edge-appliqueing them onto an improvised green background. Some of the background scraps disappeared under the applique, but I was prepared for that.


Finally, I decided to quilt the whole thing to emphasize the falling petal (with wavy lines, one of my favorite FMQ motifs). Instead of just pebbling around the rest of the "flower," I quilted smaller and bigger pebbles in groups to create interest.

To achieve this effect, I used up ample amounts of Aurifil 5017 (lime green) because pebbles take a lot of thread! I also used bits of Aurifil 2870 (medium green) to accent the wavy lines. Quilting can shine in a graphic, modern quilt, too! I think this mini quilt will bring cheer to our new home when we move in a couple of weeks (hence this blog being a bit quiet lately). :)


I had to miss the April meeting, but luckily my guild mates are bringing the 30+ challenge quilts again to next week's May meeting (see some of them here!). In addition, they will be on display at Pennington Quilt Works soon and then PNQE (Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza) this fall. I can't wait to see them all together!

Thank you so much to Pennington Quilt Works for the solid fabric. And thanks to Sarah @nohatsquilts and Rebecca @bryanhousequilts for hosting the Pantone Quilt Challenge, which is opening up May 19, tomorrow! I'm entering this one in the mini quilt category - you can see all the entries here through the end of the month. Enjoy!

http://www.nohatsinthehouse.com/2017/05/2017-pantone-quilt-challenge-open-for.html


Linking up to Pantone Quilt Challenge, Needle and Thread Thursday, Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF

14 comments:

  1. Jessica, I really like how the more dense pebbles really emphasize the orange peels! Great challenge entry!

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  2. I love when your personality really comes through in your blog (why purple? because it's the best!)! :D I like the improv nature of this mini and how the quilting compliments and brings out the design.

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  3. I really like your quilting on this piece.

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  4. This is lovely! I really like the random 'bits' and your quilting too! All around I love this little quilt!

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  5. I really like the quilting
    this is a nice little quilt. Green and purple, that reminds me of a patient I had in the hospital about 100 years ago. He had shoes that color in his closet. i helped him pack up to go home and those shoes were wild haha

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  6. Beautiful Jess! I love that you were able to squeeze a bit of purple in there!

    Thanks for sharing with TGIFF!

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  7. Absolutely love this Jess! Definitely my fav in this category (so far!!) :)

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  8. Oh I love that purple with your green! Headed off to see the group of minis right now. Thanks for the link and for sharing your gorgeous quilt.

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  9. So gorgeous. What a fantastic little quilt. The purple really pops on the green :)

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  10. I never would have picked purple with the green! Knowing you, it was very logical! Love the petals and how you used improv to bring it to life. As always...love the pebbles!

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