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Monday, March 19, 2012

I can SEW a rainbow!

On friday I told you I was sewing a project in honor of National Quilting Day and St. Patrick's Day. Well, I stayed up late last night and got up early this morning just to finish the quilting (but no binding yet).

I'm calling her 'I can SEW a rainbow'!


She got that name because I kept singing 'Red and Yellow and Pink and Green, Purple and Orange and Blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too!' the whole time I was putting her together. :o)


This quilt came about because I've had a Kona brights charm pack laying around for months. I've layed out the squares several times but each time I ended up just shoving it all back in a box because I wasn't sold on the layout.  
Fat Quarter Shop (dot) com

Then I went to a retreat a few months back and saw a project Amy was working on. It was so beautilful!!!


Amy Smart @ Diary of a Quilter


I had never sewn a rainbow quilt before, but Amy's quilt definately gave me the desire to do it.

Skip to last week when I was walking through my local mall. I've talked before about how I'm inspired by things everywhere. Lots of the time its clothes that I see!

American Eagle
I saw these board shorts in a window display and LOVED them for their inspiration. And then the wheels in my brain started turning.  

I combined the Kona charms with the rainbow of Amy's quilt with the color blocking of these shorts and the rest was history. I couldn't wait to get started and luckily I had 2 good reasons.
  

 I used ONLY fabric that I had on hand. Most of the squares came from the charm pack. I also used a few Sandy's Solids. My favorite solids came from the Cotton Couture fabrics that I used. I don't think I've ever sewn with them before (Really!?) The colors are gorgeous and the fabric is a perfect weight. A little lighter than some of the other solids I've used so it was nice to work with. Solids are HOT right now and these are my new favorites! (and I'm not just saying that because they're from Michael Miller :o) I'm definately going to use them from now on.
 

The only row I'm not thrilled with is the purple/violet. I only had a few solids to choose from in my stash. I thought about running to my LQS but decided to use what I had. There's more contrast than I wanted but it adds personality and depth to the quilt- I just wish the fabrics blended more.

My final piece of inspiration came from HERE. I love her quilting. I have always wanted to do some heavy quilting and this was the perfect opportunity. I used several shades of thread on each color row. I am so pleased with how it turned out.


Now I just have to figure out what to bind her with! Any suggestions?







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18 comments:

  1. Lisa EnglandMarch 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM

    I would pick black with small scale polka dots -- multi-color if you can find it, or white otherwise. Gorgeous quilt!

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  2. charlotteMarch 19, 2012 at 11:25 AM

    I had the same problem with my rainbow quilt. I solved it with a soft grey, not too dark, not too light. Good luck.

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  3. MicheleMarch 19, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    It's so cute! Perfect for St. Patrick's Day!

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  4. amy smartMarch 19, 2012 at 12:20 PM

    Oh, I love it! I've been trying to figure out what to do with my Kona colors charm pack too. I may have to shamlessly copy your idea. ;) I LOVE the quilting too!

    Thanks for the love. :)

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  5. MelissaMarch 19, 2012 at 12:36 PM

    I think black & white striped binding goes great with rainbow quilts.

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  6. harleywife57/ Mickey WhiteMarch 19, 2012 at 2:15 PM

    LOVE IT ! I thinks black & white striped or multi colored striped binding would look good

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  7. WandaFishMarch 19, 2012 at 2:30 PM

    I think charcoal disco dot would look good. I love the quilt!

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  8. GomunkMarch 19, 2012 at 3:25 PM

    I love it so much I had to Pin It so that everyone else could see it too.

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  9. CJMarch 19, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    What about a white binding so as not to distract from the rainbow?

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  10. Sandy PanagosMarch 19, 2012 at 6:22 PM

    Definitely something black and white!

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  11. Ruth KMarch 19, 2012 at 7:06 PM

    Love the idea of gray in any shade either light or dark. Lovely though.

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  12. www.randomthoughtsdoordi.comMarch 19, 2012 at 10:40 PM

    I love this and the quilting made it perfectly perfect!

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  13. YvonneMarch 20, 2012 at 4:07 AM

    Cute colorful quilt. I should take the dark purple for binding.

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  14. KarenMarch 20, 2012 at 6:28 AM

    Fabulous! Maybe a soft stripe - bias - containing all the colors. Or a small piping of color and then the white for binding.

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  15. Ribbon Candy QuiltsMarch 21, 2012 at 10:24 AM

    AWESOME ~!!!! I love it you did a fabulous job

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  16. SandraMarch 23, 2012 at 5:45 PM

    I made a similar (but not as cute) wallhanging a while ago and bound it with a black that had a very small beige/orange 'square dot' pattern. Very cute!

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  17. @prilApril 10, 2012 at 2:22 AM

    I love all things rainbow! This is really pretty. I would love to have one of my own. I featured this on my blog: KoolBeenz-blog.blogspot.com
    For-the-Love-of-Pie.blogspot.com

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  18. KellySeptember 11, 2012 at 1:45 PM

    This is stunning! How closely is it quilted? The darker threads do sometimes overlap, right? Either way, the effect is amazing - it looks rather woven. I've pinned this quilt to my "Quilty Goodness" board on Pinterest (with proper credit, of course!). Feel free to follow me if you'd like: http://pinterest.com/lipglass/quilty-goodness/

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