Ombre All Day - September TCJ Make of the Month

Ombre All Day - September TCJ Make of the Month

Today we are talking about my All Blue Ombre All Day quilt! We made this quilt back in September 2022, it was our first quilt made in our new studio. If you haven't caught up on all the past 2022 makes, here is a link to each blog:
The Ombre All Day Quilt Pattern was released on the one year anniversary of TCJ quilt patterns! This was a quick, fast, last minute release but it still is one of my favorite quilts to sew when I want to use my stash. The Ombre All Day pattern provides three sizes and we made the Large Throw Size.
Because we had just moved all of our business stuff out of house and into our new studio on September 1st, we needed a simple quilt make for that month. We haven't made an Ombre All Day in years and thought it was the perfect time to revisit it. 
Also, Alysson had just unboxed all of our stash fabrics from the move and I was falling in love with all the blues and Indigo fabrics I have. The pattern calls for yardage for the background fabric but I decided to use three different Kona blues instead of one single fabric yardage. The three Kona colors we used are Ocean, Blueprint and Paris Blue.
 
The Ombre All Day is a pattern that highlights color gradients (hence the name). For this sample, I did a gradient from a deep blue to soft blue, to neutrals and greys then back out towards a minty blue into a deep Indigo color. Essentially you labeled your fabrics 1 through 30 and then you pair up the opposite numbers to create the blocks. So 1 and 30 are matched, 2 and 29, 3 and 28, etc. This creates an ombre diagonally throughout the quilt top. Here is a mock up of my original thought to play with the idea of the blues:
Once we had our fabrics picked out and labeled, it was time to cut our fabric and keep it organized!
 If you see above, I have all of the strips and cuts organized together. Well, below, I will show you how the fabrics get mixed up a little into their gradients to make the blocks.
The Ombre All Day blocks come together really quickly. And as we worked out way through the blocks, we rotated which Kona blue we would use. We kept the background squares the same Kona Blue within a single block. We then also made sure that the blue strips that are sewn to the printed fabrics were the same within a block BUT different from the blue of the background squares. Honestly, it made the individual blocks themselves look a little disconnected. And, I was actually not liking how this quilt was coming together as we made each block. I was nervous my overall look and idea wouldn't come to life.
Each Ombre All Day Block has an assigned number and placement within the final layout. Slowly, as more of the blocks were sewn, the more my idea come together. I really wanted the blue backgrounds to give off a sparkle or reflective effect once the whole quilt was together. The individual parts may seem a bit off (I felt like they were) but once it was all sewn together, it clicked. 
The blues all pop, especially with the tiny squares of Add It Up fabric in each block. It helps create that glow or sparkle effect.
The light in this upstairs on a sunny day is beautiful. I absolutely love how the quilt top turned out. It minds me of waves and light reflecting off the water.
Redford was so curious what we were doing up here. It took forever to get him out of the shots! ha.
I sent off this quilt to Shasta of Favorite Day Quilting. She lives here in Oregon and this was my first time working with her! I knew right away I wanted a pantograph that leaned into the ocean vibes. We chatted and we decided on the Echoed Swirls pantograph from the Longarm League. It creates such gorgeous movement and the texture is heavenly.
We used a blue thread so it would blend overall throughout the quilt top. When we got this back from Shasta, I was THRILLED. I super super super love this quilt.
 
To start and finish this quilt in our new studio was a joy. To be able to use our space to create this quilt and then photograph it in our upstairs, feels so good. And exactly what we are hoping to use this space for!
The Ombre All Day Quilt Pattern is in our shop now!
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