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CRAFTY | RAINBOW STRIPE QUILT

Inspiration Quilt: Line Art Quilt Kit & My quilt fabric selection

Thanks to Michelle of Buttontree Lane I have my next quilting project and to say I’m excited about it is an understatement.  So far I’ve done 3 quilts; 1 I gave my Mother, 1 I did for my Nana and 1 is in at the quilter now and will be Junior’s first quilt.  Given the fact that none of them have made their way on to my bed I’ve decided to do one just for us.

This is where Michelle comes in… she sent me (well she tweeted, but I see all her tweets as a personal message to me and me only) a tweet of a quilt that she’d found and that she was lusting after and one thing lead to another and we decided we’d both do the quilt using the same jelly roll at the same time.  It’s really great because both of us will be bouncing off the other one and getting motivation, inspiration and tips (hopefully).

We’ve not set any deadlines… officially… but I’d like to have mine done and into the machine quilters by May 9 (if not before).  (That’s the date when I’m eligible to start Maternity Leave.)

We’re going to be using the following pattern: Skinny Strips Quilt

However we’re taking our inspiration from this quilt (picture above): Line Art Quilt Kit

We both have this jelly roll for our quilt top: Classic Kona Solids Jelly Roll (which is sold out, but you can get the colour range in a charm pack.)

On Sunday we took a trip into Addicted to Fabric to purchase the additional fabric that we’d need.  Originally I had planned to just get white (like in the inspiration image) but I’m really worried about how it will wear over time and how dirty I will get it while I work on it.  I was happy to see that Michelle was steering clear of the white background as well.  (If you want to read about how she ended up with her amazing fabric selection you can check out her story over on Buttontree Lane today.)

We wandered around the store talking about options, making suggestions and pulling out different fabrics.  It’s always amazing to me to see how different people approach the same projects and our shopping expedition was a great insight into how our minds work.

After much back and forth I decided on a black and white spotted fabric.  Michelle originally thought of using a spot while I was going to do a solid colour, so it amuses me greatly to see the fabrics we actually ended up with.  I can’t wait to see how it comes together (for both of us).  I really struggled to visualize what I wanted but when I found the black and white fabric (pictured above) I knew I wanted to use it.  I’m hoping it will give a great play on the eye when it’s done.

Unlike Michelle I like to decide on the backing fabric at the time I decide on what’s going on the front.  I’m a big fan of getting two quilts for the price of one.  On my first two quilts I just did a single fabric backing but with my quilt class quilt I went with a simple patchwork on the back and I loved it.  It means that I can use the same quilt to get two looks.  (Which given how much they cost in materials, time and machine quilting makes them a little more cost effective.)

The night we talked about doing this quilt I looked at the Silent Film Kona Solids Jelly Roll and started to think about making a reverse of the front quilt.  My thinking was to use the black, greys and whites to mimic the same pattern as the rainbow and then have the background fabric be a rainbow of colours.  (Does that make sense?)  I couldn’t find any fabric that really jumped out at me on our expedition so I decided I’d do the reverse pattern when Michelle found some rainbow stripe material in nearly the same colours of our jelly rolls.

Unfortunately when I went to the counter to purchase the 3m they only had 2.5m. Noooo! So I ended up having to go with my back up rainbow stripe (pictured above) and I just managed to get 3m in that!

I’m not sure how this quilt is going to end up; whether it’ll be wonderful or a hot mess but I’m so excited to have another project to work on.  I’m also really excited to be working in tandum with someone else.  I really can’t wait to see how Michelle interrupts the challenge.  It’s going to be so much fun.

We’re both going to be blogging about our progress so you can all play along at home with us. So be sure to check out Michelle’s blog as well if you’re intrigued by this project (plus you can see some of the other amazing quilting projects she’s got going on!).

Updated: If you would like to see the finished quilt you can find it here. And check out more of the quilts I’ve made here.