Intersection: Quilting Modern Quilts Blog Series

This is the 2nd of 6 quilts that I'm sharing as part of a series this summer, which explores ways to quilt modern, more minimalistic quilts (than what I usually make). To read a detailed introduction to the blog series, click here. Quilts featured so far: Electrify. Read to the end for a giveaway!

I was going to save this quilt until the end, but it has the same roots as the last quilt. It is one of my favorites of the group, mostly because it came out exactly as I envisioned and all the cool quilting I challenged myself with. This is Intersection.

The four cross design comes straight from the roof of an old house in Quakertown, NJ (the same roof as Electrify - you can read more about that here). I was completely taken with this design, which is a gorgeous, traditional layout of crosses.

I liked the idea of using a short, somewhat squat version of the Greek cross because it seems more unexpected and unusual. When designing this quilt, I thought it would be interesting to let part of the design disappear off the quilt, and after playing around, it seemed even more appropriate to include 2 different groupings of crosses.

Cirrus Solids used: Amazon (teal), Clementine (orange), Limestone (white), and Shamrock (green backing - see picture further down this post).

Since negative, or blank, space suddenly became a huge part of this design, a bright, bold color fit the bill. Plus, one common question I get about modern quilts is, "don't they have white backgrounds?" Just sometimes. :) Anyway, since I love cool range colors (blue/purple mostly), teal was an attractive choice. And lo and behold, dark orange is complementary to teal (directly across from it on the color wheel). Add some white to let it breathe. Let the orange be the exception.

Cirrus Solids by Cloud9 Fabrics were the fabrics that I really wanted to use for this quilt. They have a beautiful crossweave, which makes it a little difficult to photograph but also makes it shimmer in person. It's hard to convey the exact colors here. I've been working with Cirrus Solids for a long time and I always appreciate the wide range of colors, softness, and solidity. Thank you to Cloud9 for providing the fabrics for me to try out this design.

The quilting itself tested me. When I look at the quilt, I see a circular motif surrounding the outline of the crosses. The key to making this kind of minimalist quilt have an impact is quilting the negative space in an unusual way (that's how I go about it, at least). Once the idea popped into my head, there was no getting it out.

The quilt is quite large (59" across by 67" down), so the large pebble paths were the most intimidating part.  I have loved creating paths like this for a long time, but these are by far the largest I've quilted. I marked them with white chalk (it wasn't an exact science) and then simply filled them in with pebbles of all sizes. I really love the point where they meet (below).

Contrast in size and shape of the quilting can often make the quilt. I used the same color and weight of thread (a beautiful, glow-y turquoise Aurifil 2810, 40 weight) for both the pebble paths and background, and changing scale in the negative space really makes the difference.

I wanted the orange crosses to relate to the large pebble swathes, so I quilted a different pebble configuration there, in Aurifil 2240. Just now, I'm realizing that I used the same free motion motif (swirls) in the white crosses here and the background of the other quilt (with Aurifil 2024). Sometimes I surprise myself. :) I really enjoy using the opposite of the piecing design to quilt (curvy vs. angular, for example).

The final test was the matched binding. This quilt really didn't want a frame; it seemed to float. I actually save the matched binding for one of the last steps of finishing the entire quilt series, but it was easier than expected. It matches up just enough for me (I'm not interested in perfectionism, even if this one does go to a quilt show. That's just what I like. The quilt feels more human to me. :) ).

This quilt was a test of my quilting skills but I truly enjoyed every step. Isn't that what it's all about?

Thank you to Cloud9 Fabrics for sponsoring the fabric, The Warm Company for Warm and Natural batting, and Aurifil Thread for the threads. All opinions about materials are my own, honest ones.

Please note: some people have emailed me about releasing patterns of the quilts. While I'm flattered, sharing the measurements and methods are no longer in my plans, as I explained in the introduction post. If you derive a quilt from my design and share it publicly, I would greatly appreciate a link to my website and a caption noting that you were inspired by this design. This also goes for quilt shows. Thank you!

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Giveaway 

And today's giveaway is a fat quarter bundle of summery Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman (which I used to make samples and practice quilting) and a 2 pack of white chalk pencils, so you can practice your own marking!

Giveaway details: Runs from July 2 until July 9 at 12 am EST. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter  - this helps me when tallying votes. Once you comment on the blog, please be advised that it will not appear right away (I have to approve comments due to insane amounts of spam). You can still comment and not be entered in the giveaway if you so desire (just don't use Rafflecopter below). If you won a previous giveaway from this blog series, you cannot win again.

 Also, I will not be responding directly to all blog comments at this time due to volume and issues with Blogger (unfortunately). Sorry, U.S. entrants only, please. I will email the winner and if there is no response within 2 days or winner is not located in the U.S., I will randomly choose another winner.


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