A Twofer Across the Sea QAL & 100 Quilts for Kids

It feels like eons ago that I announced that I was going to join the Across the Sea QAL.  Well, I have been coming along with the QAL pretty well! Am I completely caught up?  Nooooooooo...but close, oh so close.  Here is the layout for the top of my quilt, sans scrappy border...

I am very happy with how fresh and bright it turned out.  But, I am considering Helen's suggestion of switching up the last row a bit to break up the pink and blue there.  Of course, the whole thing has fallen off my design wall (which I had backwards?) so maybe it is going to end up random now!

I loved working with the Soul Blossoms Collection so much that it inspired me to start another quick quilt.  I have been intending to make a donation quilt for 100 Quilts for Kids but wasn't sure if I wanted to use  a project that has been lingering or whether to start something new.  When everyone started buying charm packs for donation I thought of doing that...but honestly I don't need more fabric.  Then it struck me that I had all of this beautiful fabric leftover and what bright vibrant fabric it is!  So I challenged myself to come up with a design limited to this palette.  

This is what I came up with:

Top Layout

Detail of X

Isn't it so cute?!???  Be honest, what do you think?  It is inspired by a photo of Tula Pink's pattern Kiss Kiss that I saw here.  I didn't buy the pattern [sorry Tula Pink] I just sort of winged it.  I intend to fill the gaps with white and once I finish the border on the Across the Sea Quilt I want to add a scrappy border for this one too...to give it a bit of width. It should be close to 42" x 42"all finished.

Are you working on any donation quilts?  If so did you set any challenges for yourself or are you just doing whatever inspires you in the moment?

Linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations!  Hope you all will stop in and visit the linky party...

- rebecca lynne

Dead Simple Quilt QAL Fabric

Kona Wheat, Kona Peach, Kona Melon, Kona Gold, Kona Everglade, Kona Charcoal

I'm just going to be quiet and let the fabric lust do its magic.

- rebecca lynne

Across the Sea Quilt Along hosted by Ellison Lane Quilts & Fairy Face Designs

Hahahaha...what you might ask...could I possibly be thinking by adding another project to my current works in progress list?  Well, good question.  I'll explain.

If you've been a recent visitor to making rebecca lynne you know that I just moved from a tiny two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn to a 3 bedroom house with a finished room in the basement (a.k.a. my sewing room) in what I fondly refer to as Far Far Away, NY.  Additionally, I am still in the process of reorganizing my stash and have become amazed at the amount of stash there is!  (Ssshhh...not a sentiment to be expressed to my husband...comprende?)  Luckily I still have the same taste as I still love the fabric I have unpacked and can't wait to use.

This is just one bin.  I have...cough...others.  Don't misunderstand, I am not a hoarder.  I know I don't have as much stash as some amazing quilters out there, but still, this is just wasting away!  And it isn't because I don't intend to use it...I just haven't yet.  So.  What better way to motivate than by joining a quilt along where I will be reminded, weekly, of a quilt I should be working on?

Plus, there are other reasons.  I'd like to meet more quilters online and this is a great way to do that.  I'd also like to work on breaking up my collections and the fabrics I've chosen for this QAL will do that.  Lastly, well, this is a purely selfish creative reason, but I need something...how to say it...routine/predictable/systematic/scheduled/comfortable in the way that traditional block piecing can be to deviate from any frustrations resulting from the improv techniques I am trying out with the Botanika Quilt.  I don't mean to imply block piecing is easy...it is just something I feel more comfortable doing than improv piecing.

Across the Sea QAL Fabric Choices - mostly Amy Butler's Soul Blossom with a few Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party

I am not a blue person, but Mr. Making Rebecca Lynne is.  Plus, our new bedroom was the former inhabitants' son's room and it is painted a bright blue.  The walls are closest to the color of the fourth fabric in from the right.  I am aiming for a bright fresh quilt with white background and these fabrics for the greek cross design.

If you'd like to join the Across the Sea Quilt Along please do!  This was the first week for cutting the top fabrics so there is more than enough time to join...  Just visit Ellison Lane Quilts or Fairy Face Designs to learn more...

- rebecca lynne

p.s. Don't forget that tomorrow is the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software giveaway!  Come back tomorrow for more details and for your chance to win some free easy to use digital scrapbooking software!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS!

I really DO mean what I say (or type...).  I asked for feedback and advice about the palettes on my last Dead Simple QAL post and I got it.  Whew!  Some amazing input, thank you so much!  First, I learned that basically nothing I could possibly pick is wrong...so that gave me the confidence to just plow ahead and play with what felt fun.  Secondly, I was given some great suggestions which I put into play as you can seen below.

Thanks to Lynne from Lily's Quilts for sending most of you helpful folks and Annaliese from Pewter Acorn Quilts who gave me a great brainstorm.  After visiting Annaliese's site (and you should too because she'd love some palette feedback as well!) I realized I had to make templates with my colors.  I loved her samples from Design-Seeds, but when I saw them in template format my favorites changed.  So...I went to the source... 

I visited the Robert Kaufman website to pick swatches of the solid cotton Kona colors.  This really gave me perspective, and was so much fun!  Here is what I came up with:

Sacre Coeur Palette from Design-Seeds that many of you loved.  I came up with this out of the Kona Solids:

Then so many other people loved the Teal Appeal and I played around with these colors.  It was hard to find the right mustardy color...so I ended up changing the shades a bit from my original...

Lastly, piecemealquilts suggested that I add some aqua to the Flora Inspired palette.  So I did and I think it looks awesome!  Adds a bit of something to it don't you think?

Ultimately I think I am going to choose between Flora Inspired which I find so squishy I just want to wrap myself up in it and Sacre Coeur which is totally different for me and feels fresh but soft.  I might add more raisin to Sacre Coeur or play around more with the color balance in Flora Inspired.  But at least now I have a clearer direction.

Thank you so much!  Anyone else want to play palette games?  I'd love to stop by and see...  Leave me a link!

- rebecca lynne

Dead Simple Quilt Along hosted by Lily's Quilts

I've recently written about my new infatuation with color.  I've also had this yearning desire to fix the lack of solid fabrics in my stash...I have always quilted with pattern, pattern, and more patterned fabrics and completely neglected the addition of solids to my designs.  But, with all of the modern quilts I have been falling in love with lately I am growing more attracted to the combination of solid fabrics amidst patterned fabrics. (for instance the Spinning Stars Quilt I am working on)

Therefore, isn't it just oh so appropriate that Lily's Quilts has introduced the idea of starting the Dead Simple Quilt Along!  This QAL is going to all about palette.  The focus of the quilt will be the palette and not the piecing.  As I told Lynne of Lily's Quilts - I am All For It!  This QAL is going to be great for a beginner but also fun for an experienced quilter so I encourage you to stop by Lily's Quilts and join the QAL which I believe will be starting some time in September/October.

To choose a palette Lynne mentions the use of Design-Seeds and a few other palette makers in her post.  I had never heard of Design-Seeds and now am obsessed with it.  What a cool palette creator!  For those of you on a computer and not a reader you can look right and see the little Design-Seeds widget I added for inspiration.  Cool right?  Here are some of my favorites from the archives...

Design-Seeds sacre couer

Design-Seeds color {yarn}

Although the QAL is scheduled to start in Sept/Oct I am already obsessing over my color palette.  Do I choose something to match my guest room which is really in need of a quilt for some TLC or do I just enjoy myself and not stress about matching and pick some colors that are really stuck in  my head right now (to name a few, gray, teal, purple...so not my normal picks but for some reason they keep jumping out at me right now!).  I've started messing around at kuler and these are some palettes played with:

source

source

Hmmm...what do you think?  Too too?  Should I go with more monochromatic color scheme...really wanted to use some grays so I tried this...

source

Then I went over and signed up at Colour Lovers to see how that worked... and this is what I created there...

And then for something completely different...

Now I feel that I am at more of a loss than when I began!!!  Have I gone too dark?  Have I gone too deep...as in off the deep end?  Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

- rebecca lynne

EVENING UPDATE:

After walking away...I decided to look at some new inspiration...my stash.  I'm leaning towards Option #3 Flora Inspired.  Any thoughts?  

Option 1 - Old Sturbridge

Option 2 - Poppy Sunrise

Option 3 - Flora Inspired