Once upon a time I fell in love with a glowing range of hues. They are called Ruby and Bee Solids. These rich, saturated shades are captured in cloth by designers Heather Ross and Annabel Wrigley, working in tandem for Windham Fabrics.

In the thick of winter, I reached out to Windham to ask if they might send me the original Ruby and Bee colors to sew as a quilt this spring. This sexy rainbow stack arrived a month or so later, and seemed to bring the sun with it.

Even though my hands were busy with other tasks, I started to play with the possibilties.

On the one hand I found the mixed up color stack, photographed here just in the way it arrived, to be utterly charming. I could sew a quilt with colors every which way and just relax into the happy chaos of it.

The idea was easy, maybe too easy.

My next idea was to organize colors vertically in rainbow order. I could retain some of the vibrant energy of the mixed-up color stack, by shuffeling a few colors out of order, aiming for a rough overall blend. I would use the lighter value fabrics (set in the middle) as contrast X’s.

Sure to be lovely, but bit more adventure would be more satisfying.

Vertical rainbows are not the only way to blend. What about a diagonal flow or even a circle? The Ruby and Bee colors are heavy on warm colors, thus I had to choose them for the outer rings. The circle sounded exciting, but when I set the fabrics out this way, I found the effect entirely disappointing.

It was on our trip to Amsterdam that I had a lightbulb moment. I would craft a vertical rainbow blend, but utilize a contrasting color in the X’s instead of a matching low volume color. This concept was inspired by the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. The artist became known for setting tiny contrast color fabric strokes next to each other, in order to intensify the perceived brightness of the painting. Well, we can do that with fabric too!

Although the temperatures are still chilly, we’ve been blessed with day after sunny day here in The Netherlands. I have really enjoyed cutting into these lovely fabrics, savoring each joyful hue. The Ruby and Bee solids are smooth and medium-weight, as I would expect for quilting cotton. They’re also Oeko-Tex certified. I’m pleased!

And here are my first blocks! Do you recognize this? It is called Wedge Cross in our Pas de Deux block-of-the-month club. It is a foundation paper pieced block that will deliver to club members in May. This quilt that I’m sewing now will become a bonus quilt pattern, also delivering to members with May’s club delivery. I’m quite fond of what I’ve done at the edges: created a border of pointy diamond shapes!

Now I’ve worked through all the pinks and reds, and I couldn’t be happier with this beginning! As you can see, I’ve shuffled colors around a bit so that the rainbow blend is not totally smooth and tidy. I like the energy that gives. It reminds me of a field of flowers, planted orderly and evolved over the years into something a little freer, a little wilder.

A bit like myself, actually.

*You can find Ruby and Bee Solids at Fat Quarter Shop and in Canada at Troll Brothers Quilt Designs, which are two of my advertising shops.