color play | Night Quilter

Selecting fabric combinations and color arrangements is one of my favorite stages in the quilting process. So a few months ago, when my friend Bernie asked if I would be interested in putting together a Blogger Bundle of fabric for her Etsy store Needle & Foot, of course I said yes! Today I’m excited to introduce you to the bundle I put together.

While this bundle is versatile enough that any one of the fabrics could shine, there is definitely a star of the show in my mind, and that’s the Tartan Field in Midnight print from Bountiful, designed by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabric (top left in the photo above). I selected this entire bundle based up on that one print. I’ve had my eye on it ever since Sharon first revealed her Bountiful fabric line peeks, and there’s just something about the grid work paired with the subtle colors, a touch of geometry and a good dose of nature (it’s the top down view of a garden, right?) that really makes my quilty heart sing.

The other fabrics have all been carefully selected from Bernie’s shop to coordinate and complement Sharon’s print, and I love how the colors of all of the other fabrics mesh so well with it.

The bundle includes (from top down in the photo above):

Sashiko Florette Teal, from Wild Bloom, by BariJ for Art Gallery Fabric
Color Weave Textured Solid in Blue, made by P&B Textiles
Twinklestar Berry, from Garden Dreamer, by Maureen Cracknell for Art Gallery Fabric
Tartan Field Midnight, from Bountiful, by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabric
Numbered in Grasshopper, from Seventy-six, by Alison Glass for Andover Fabric

You didn’t think I would put together a bundle of fabric without a single Alison Glass print, did you?! hah!

Just for fun, these tulips had to join the fun since spring is not even close to appearing here in midcoast Maine yet, and I was in dire need of some cheer. Aren’t they luscious?!

Giveaway

Now, for the giveaway! Today I’m flying across the country to Pasadena for QuiltCon, but I thought it would be fun to kick off my QuiltCon adventures with a blog giveaway. Bernie has generously offered this bundle of five (5) fat quarters to one of my lucky readers.

To enter the giveaway today, tell me your favorite fabric from Needle & Foot’s shop (linked here for ease). Leave a comment and make sure I’m able to get ahold of you if you win. For an additional entry, follow Needle & Foot on Instagram. For a third entry, follow Needle & Foot on Facebook. Leave a separate comment once you complete each entry.

This giveaway is open to US only. The giveaway will be open for one week, until my return home to Maine Wednesday, February 28th, when I’ll select the winner randomly with random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to reply or I will select a new winner. ~~Good luck!~~ This giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Wendy!!

*Please note that comment moderation is on, so if you do not see your comment right after posting, do not be alarmed! I try to respond to each and every comment I get on my blog, but with giveaway posts the numbers are usually too great to do this. Plus, I’m at QuiltCon!! Follow me on IG @nightquilter or my Night Quilter Facebook page to see some live updates.

Love this bundle and don’t want to wait? You can get yours here! I would love to see what you make!

Forget orange! Navy is the new black. I’ve heard it whispered among quilters here and there, but never being a navy person myself, I was reluctant to buy it. After stretching out of my comfort zone and choosing navy blue as my background/negative space for my recent project, I’m a navy convert.

I traditionally tend toward black and grey as my dark contrasting colors, both in quilting and in my own attire. Navy is just so…. eh, navy. Bleh. Boring. BUT, when you take navy and pair it with bright jewel tones like magenta, turquoise, gold, and that perfect shade of grass green, it really shines. It’s not as completely dark as black, so it adds a little bit of color, and I would almost say bright color, although I know that’s going against all color description “rules”. Navy blue as a “bright” color? No way! But just look!

It shines. Am I right?

I’m registered for Lee Heinrich‘s Off the Grid: Creating Alternate Layouts workshop at QuiltCon next week, and we are required to make a number of quilt blocks in advance so that when we get to the workshop, we can really focus on layout. I wanted to stretch my comfort zone a little, and rather than go with brown and orange (blech), I opted to try navy paired with my favorite colors–bright jewel tones. I am LOVING the outcome and have a feeling this will not be my last time using navy in a star role in a quilt.

navy is the new black quilt blocks — Block ID: center: Wombat Quilts’ Swirling Star; top from left: Inverted Star by Common Threads, Circle of Geese by Piece by Number; bottom: two blocks I found photos of on Pinterest but couldn’t track down the origin or block names.

So far I have four 12 1/2″ blocks and one 8 1/2″ blocks complete (I forgot to allow for seam allowance on one side of the paper piecing template for the small one, so it should have been 9 1/2″ but oh well), and I am going to try to make a few more blocks before heading to Austin next week. The supplies list calls for 5-20 blocks but I know there’s no way I’ll finish 20 blocks on top of the rest of my QuiltCon to-do list! I don’t really like the first block I made (bottom right), so while I will take it with me, I might have to do some serious surgery before including it in whatever finished layout I choose.

I would love to hear your favorite star-style block pattern, since I think I want to make all of the blocks unique, but with the same color theme. What block do you think would go well with the ones I have so far?

I’m linking up with WiP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced, where she is making her demo blocks for the class I’m taking!!