Friday, January 19, 2018

Critical Sunshine

I love naming my quilts, it somehow makes them each more personal and special to me. Sometimes it's the name of the pattern, very frequently it's the name of the fabric collection showcased in the quilt since that so often determines the mood of the quilt, and sometimes it's just how the quilt makes me feel when I look at it.

When I first saw Brigitte Heitland's Plus It's Simple quilt made from Fragile, the gorgeous shades of yellow, white, and a little bit of grey just evoke in me a feeling of immense optimism and happiness. Thus, the name Critical Sunshine was born.

I loved piecing this quilt, and I'm sure the fabric had a lot to do with it! I was so excited about Fragile when it was first announced, and when it finally arrived 7 months later, it exceeded my expectations. I also really, really love Brigitte's patterns. They're rarely difficult (although some of them are!) but they're always interesting and always modern.

Quilting this was pretty fun because I got to use a golden yellow thread. I quilted the background with my favorite fillers, and did some geometric designs in the plus signs. After the absolutely exhausting quilting I did on Refraction, this quilt provides a nice breather. The biggest challenge was that I couldn't see where I was going a lot of the time because the thread blended into the fabric a little too well.

Fragile is such an amazing collection, that it is easily my favorite fabric collection from 2017. Needless to say, this is just the first of quite a few quilts I plan to make that will use this fabric line. This quilt makes me really happy to look at it, but what can I say, I just love a golden yellow!

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Linking up to: Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Busy Hands Quilts, Powered by Quilting, My Quilt Infatuation, and Cooking Up Quilts.

22 comments:

  1. This is really funny but I've been buying gold fabrics lately so I must have been picking up on the vibes or rays of your wonderful quilt--I even have the same backing fabric. Too bad you couldn't see how wide my mouth opened when I saw Critical Sunshine--love the name. I can believe this quilt was a breather compare to Refraction---what???? Here's to sunny days--thanks for sharing you wonderful quilter you.

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous, per usual! I love the Diamond Spirals in the open spaces, it's a great pop of interest in the mustard.

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  3. The golden color is stunning. Thread blend can be really tricky when quilting; have you found any lighting or tricks that make that better for you? I tend to have more difficulty quilting at night for that reason.

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    1. Hi, Yvonne! When I'm quilting at night with a thread that blends (black is my nemesis!), I use an old lamp that clamps onto the table. I position it so the light is coming horizontally from the back onto the quilt, almost at my eye level, but not getting in my eyes because it's blocked by my sewing machine. I'm not sure how you could set up something similar with your longarm, but that helps me :)

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  4. Very beautiful quilt. Your work is excellent. Those fabrics are so petty as well.

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  5. Beautiful burst of sunshine here in the depths of winter! Congrats on another fun and wonderful finish!

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  6. What a great time weather-wise to be working on your Critical Sunshine! It's a bit a sunshine for all of us. And plus quilts are my absolute favorite. Great job! Great quilting!

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  7. as a big fan of plus quilts I love this. It is a bit different to all the other plus quilts I have seen recently.

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  8. Every time I come to your blog, your work blows me away. Lovely, lovely quilt!

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  9. This one is a stunner! It absolutely makes me smile!

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    1. Beautiful quilt! The quilting is awesome and the yellow color looks perfect on your couch!

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  10. Wow! This is a stunning quilt - the pattern, the fabric, and mostly your wonderful quilting. It is true that the name of a quilt can really help you connect to it. Sometimes, I have things that I made because someone wanted me to try it (happens a lot when you worked in the LQS) and those are often the hardest for me to love. Again, Liz, a great job!

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  11. The quilt is gorgeous and the name is perfect for it! I really love that golden yellow :) Your background quilting is stunning.

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  12. Love the colours, prints, and the backing. Your quilting is exquisite. A beautiful quilt!

    -Soma

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  13. It's becoming very easy to spot a 'Liz quilted that' quilt, because all your work is so stunning! Love the quilt and especially love the color! I have a plus quilt on my to do list for 2018.

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  14. Hi Liz,
    When I saw your little thumbnail photo and name, I thought oh yes! Critical sunshine is definitely needed right about now and that quilt in the definition of it. How could you not enjoy working on this?! The fabric is such a bright spot of perfection and happiness, and your quilting looks lovely. Great job! I knew it was your post without even reading the blog name. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  15. This is just beautiful. I love the richness of the gold fabric and your quilting as always...gorgeous!

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  16. Amazing as usual, Liz! When I grow up, I want to quilt just like you! :)

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  17. Stunning... and like Paige said When I grow up, I want to quilt like you!!! Can't wait to meet you at QuiltCon! one month away!!! I might squeal a bit, just sayin' <3

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