If you've been here for several years, you know that I tend to sit on a design idea for years before I actually jump in and make it. The Champagne Quilt is actually one of my oldest ideas. The first screen shot I took of this basic idea happened back in 2018!!!
The design did not change much except the star is now made up of 4 different fabrics and not three. In the above images you can see that the stars have more of a ribbon look with the corners of the Square in a Square unit and the flying geese star points are from the same fabric. I decided I wanted to add a little more variety into the star so I separated those pieces into different colors. Also, I wanted the final design to be FQ friendly with mix + match options and it was easier to make that happen without having to double the fabric with two different cuts in a single FQ for one block. This might seem like extra information for some but I like to give a little insight into the design process. You can come up with a beautiful design but then realize it won't work for easy material requirements and you have to adjust the original to make the accessibility better.
So fast forward to December 2021 and I was ready to start thinking of the next TCJ pattern. Between 2018 and 2021, I had several years and lots more pattern writing experience to help me tackle this design. It was really important to me to have this pattern include a Modern Solid option (similar to the original design) that uses yardage and creates a beautiful consistent quilt. And it was equally important to me to provide information on how to use FQs or your stash. I realized that typically when I want to sew for fun - it's on a whim and I need to do it NOW. Which means, I go to my stash which is fulllll of Fat Quarters because I don't want to wait to order fabric online or go into a store. The immediacy of making something for fun is usually overwhelming.
I did some basic math measurements to create the single block design and made a test block. It took me roughly 2 to 3 tries before I got the math right and the finished sizes right. I didn't want too tiny of piecing that is super tedious or too large of pieces because then the final quilt size could be enormous. Once I "finalized" my math for a single block, I went ahead and played with a baby mock up design in Illustrator.
The Baby Quilt finishes as a 45" square and includes 9 blocks. The reason I chose the second palette to make is because - I had those fabrics on hand. The pink and purple one is gorgeous but I didn't have the right fabrics on hand to really make that one come to life.
The basic Fat Quarter math for the Champagne Quilt Pattern is 1 FQ = 2 blocks. So from each FQ you get enough cuts to make 2 blocks. Well since there are 9 blocks in Baby size, 4 FQs get the full cut amounts and 1 FQ only needs one round of cuts. So the gold solid fabric is only repeated once in the blocks.
It is fun to see all the fabric cuts stacked nicely and then see how they interact with each other as you mix and match them to make your block piles.
Once I had a single block done, it was so fun to keep moving forward. The Champagne Quilt pattern is block based but not in the most traditional sense where you sew just enough for a single block at a time. Before you can truly build a block, you have to sew all the components needed first - 2 patches, 4 patches, flying geese, etc. So it is like you are sewing a lot up front but then when you are ready, the blocks go together so quick!
Once this quilt was done, I was ready to adjust a few things about the pattern and then write it!
I ended up backing this quilt in a Kona Coral and then I bound it in the happiest stripe from FIGO fabrics. The quilting design we chose was Twist Tie by Modern Textiles and Kaitlyn did a fabulous job quilting it!
The quilt colors are a bit different for me but I think the binding brings it all together. I am so happy I chose it, I was not sure if it would be distracting or not but I think it is like the icing on the cake.
