Our newest quilt pattern is available now - Color Parade!
And today we will be sharing all about our Cover Girl quilt. Before we dive in, we have an information blogpost that gives more details about the Color Parade quilt pattern.
Okay, now let's do this! I usually don't make the cover quilt sample for a new pattern first, but this time was different. I made a couple test blocks from scraps but knew right away I really wanted to commit to a cover color story as my launching point for this design.
This was my first mock up using Ruby + Bee Solids. It's fun and moody but I felt like it wasn't as clean as I wanted for a cover quilt. I wanted the two main color families (A and B) to be more streamlined so the design felt easier for someone to visually grasp.
So I decided to remove some of the warmer neutrals and blues and replaced them with more pinks and greens. This change made the color story a bit more defined even though there is a lot of tonal variety.
These Ruby + Bee solids are stunning. I love the hand of this cotton and the richness of the colors. Fabric A is the stack of greens and Fabric B is the stack of pinks/reds.
The fabric colors we used are as follows:
FABRIC A - 14 FQs in Ruby + Bee Solids: Starling, Sea Glass, Pearl, Vanilla Custard, Limeade, Avocado, Matcha, Minty, Pasture, Evergreen, Agave, Wintergreen, Kelp, Ink
FABRIC B - 14 FQs in Ruby + Bee Solids: Posy, Fairy Floss, Azalea, Perfect Pink, Poppy, Marigold, Mandarin, Glow, Peachy Keen, Shell Pink, Blush, Field Mouse, Wild Rose, Mahogany
These are our cut piles from each FQ just waiting to be mixed and matched. We pair one Fabric A set of cuts with one Fabric B set of cuts.
From here, it was time to sew sew sew. This sewing process is so fulfilling. Each pairing makes a beautiful Color Parade unit and each one is different.
Once all the units were made, we put them up on our design wall to come up with our lay out. This makes it easy to move units around before sewing them into their blocks.
This is also a good time to be sure the units are properly positioned according to the pattern. Fabric A colors will always be the "outside" of the color parade block and the Fabric B colors will always be the "inside' of the color parade block.
Once the blocks are all sewn, you create your rows and then sew the rows together. Viola! Quilt top done.
She is so stunning. I instantly loved her and it made me so happy to have decided to write this pattern. And these Ruby + Bee Solids just shine.
I backed this quilt in a soft minty blue green solid (I don't remember the name) and bound it in a variety of stripe fabrics from my personal stash. I knew I wanted the pantograph to be funky, curved and all over. We chose the Funhouse pantograph by Mistletoe Quilting and Emily of So Sunny Quilts did beautiful work. I didn't want one solid thread color all over the top because of all the color variation. I wanted to lean into it and chose a neon variegated thread and it's GORGEOUS. We did use a solid neon yellow thread for the back and YUMMMM.
IT IS SO MARVELOUS. The perfect pantograph to kick off our Color Parade pattern celebration! And the change in thread color throughout just adds another touch of sparkly fun to this entire quilt.
That's a wrap! We absolutely love this sample.
You can grab the Color Parade Quilt Pattern in the shop now!