Bottled Rainbows Picnic Blanket
Today I'm not feeling so hot. I'm actually annoying myself by how irritable I am and since I was much the same yesterday, I'm pretty sure the problem is me. To add to my frustration, I can't seem to put a finger on what exactly is at the root of it all. Shortly we'll be having a playdate so maybe my friends will help me get at it, but meanwhile a little color therapy never hurt....
Bottled Rainbows is a collection of 16 Kona cotton solids that I put together for a quilt-along last year. There's a lot of goodness caught in a rainbow, and it doesn't take much talent to spread it out and enjoy. When Kona added the new colors and I reworked my Bottled Rainbows set (available at Marmalade Fabrics), I decided I ought to find an excuse to play with this range of solids again. So... picnic blanket it is. After all, not everyone wants a picnic blanket filled with flowers, butterflies and polka dots. This is the blanket for those other people. Those less-is-more folks (who still love color). It sounds fishy, but I'm pretty sure they exist.
My picnic blankets are made from 20-piece fat quarter sets. I cut (4) 8" squares from each quarter yard and then add one more random 8" square from my scraps to make 81 squares total. Since Bottled Rainbows includes just 16 Kona colors, I added oyster (almost-white), jade, coal and curry for 20 colors. I think my extra block was cut in curry, but any color would work.
For the back, I scored this beautiful Kona Modern Quilts yardage from Marmalade Fabrics. It's the Merlot Patchwork print. I had 3 yards of it for the backing, but that was just a tad short. I think 3 1/2 yards would have allowed for a complete backing for this 68" square picnic blanket.
No matter, I just made do with some purple I had on hand. I do think this Patchwork print is ideal for a backing, though. It's tough to see the real seam that I pieced together since the print already has "faux" seams all over. Lots of the Kona Modern prints would be great for quick quilt backings, actually.
The funky, wonky style of Merlot Patchwork really rocks in person. I like those pretty pops of purple in this colorway.
The top came together on Tuesday, my stay-home-and-sew day. When family arrived I was known to shout "stop" just as they opened the door in fear they'd trample my work-in-progress. No trampling occurred. And, during dinner prep I snapped this shot because I can't resist the setting sun.
Loving how it turned out! I tried a random color arrangement first, but this beat it by about a mile.
It was fun to "blur" the edges of the color transitions by placing some colors unexpectedly. Just enough that I can see it, anyways. Makes it more interesting for sure. That and the pops of neutral - white and gray.
Don't you love these blues and greens together? I've been thinking I need to do another monochromatic (or close) project real soon.
You know, I tend to especially love my all-solids projects. And I know that others dig this look as well. It's ironic that we love it, but are so rarely able to resist the lure of prints. And prints are fantastic - I don't mean to imply otherwise.
If all-solids is your thing, how long has it been since you did all-solids? Or, have you ever tried?
Bottled Rainbows is a collection of 16 Kona cotton solids that I put together for a quilt-along last year. There's a lot of goodness caught in a rainbow, and it doesn't take much talent to spread it out and enjoy. When Kona added the new colors and I reworked my Bottled Rainbows set (available at Marmalade Fabrics), I decided I ought to find an excuse to play with this range of solids again. So... picnic blanket it is. After all, not everyone wants a picnic blanket filled with flowers, butterflies and polka dots. This is the blanket for those other people. Those less-is-more folks (who still love color). It sounds fishy, but I'm pretty sure they exist.
My picnic blankets are made from 20-piece fat quarter sets. I cut (4) 8" squares from each quarter yard and then add one more random 8" square from my scraps to make 81 squares total. Since Bottled Rainbows includes just 16 Kona colors, I added oyster (almost-white), jade, coal and curry for 20 colors. I think my extra block was cut in curry, but any color would work.
For the back, I scored this beautiful Kona Modern Quilts yardage from Marmalade Fabrics. It's the Merlot Patchwork print. I had 3 yards of it for the backing, but that was just a tad short. I think 3 1/2 yards would have allowed for a complete backing for this 68" square picnic blanket.
No matter, I just made do with some purple I had on hand. I do think this Patchwork print is ideal for a backing, though. It's tough to see the real seam that I pieced together since the print already has "faux" seams all over. Lots of the Kona Modern prints would be great for quick quilt backings, actually.
The funky, wonky style of Merlot Patchwork really rocks in person. I like those pretty pops of purple in this colorway.
The top came together on Tuesday, my stay-home-and-sew day. When family arrived I was known to shout "stop" just as they opened the door in fear they'd trample my work-in-progress. No trampling occurred. And, during dinner prep I snapped this shot because I can't resist the setting sun.
Loving how it turned out! I tried a random color arrangement first, but this beat it by about a mile.
It was fun to "blur" the edges of the color transitions by placing some colors unexpectedly. Just enough that I can see it, anyways. Makes it more interesting for sure. That and the pops of neutral - white and gray.
Don't you love these blues and greens together? I've been thinking I need to do another monochromatic (or close) project real soon.
You know, I tend to especially love my all-solids projects. And I know that others dig this look as well. It's ironic that we love it, but are so rarely able to resist the lure of prints. And prints are fantastic - I don't mean to imply otherwise.
If all-solids is your thing, how long has it been since you did all-solids? Or, have you ever tried?