Friday, September 7, 2018

Shades of Blue

The first black and white (with some color) quilt I made was Crossroads, back when I had first started. I've been wanting to make another black/white/color quilt for some time now, but I was looking for the right pattern. That seemed to come up one day when I was looking at quilt photos from Cheri House's City Quilts.

So I purchased a copy and waited for it to arrive with excitement. When it did, I flipped through the book immediately to find the pattern, but couldn't find it. I checked the table of contents in confusion, and then I realized it ... this quilt, called City News, was not in the book as a pattern. I had bought a book for a pattern only for that pattern to not be in the book!

But I still wanted to make this quilt, so I couldn't let a thing like a missing pattern (but seriously, false advertisement, C & T?) stop me ... so I drafted the pattern myself.

I used a combination of black/white prints from a Kim Schaefer bundle, and Kona cotton in various shades of blue. I love the way the beautiful blues look with the black/white. The black and white fabrics create octagon shapes in repeat, and I'm really enjoying the visual effect! I played with secondary patterns by creating diamond shapes in the space between the octagons and filling it with a contrasting design to the swirly background.

I did some dot-to-dot designs in the black/white areas since that's my preferred design for prints. I usually draw the shape on a whiteboard, pick out some dots, connect them, and it almost always looks fine as long as it's symmetrical.

The original quilt by Cheri House was done in black / white / reds, which feels energetic. My version, however, feels tranquil due to all the blues. I love how changing up the color changes the feel completely!

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Linking up with: Crazy Mom Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, Busy Hands Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Cooking Up Quilts, Sew Can She, Powered by Quilting, and The Devoted Quilter.

14 comments:

  1. I love the spool shapes that you created in the blues. What a bummer that the pattern wasn't in the book; your version is stunning!

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  2. I love the combination of colors in this quilt. It reminds me of a photo I took while we were in Duluth, MN during early spring before the snow was gone. The rocks were black, capped with snow, but the water and sky were sparkling blue. So cool! Nice work, Liz!

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  3. This is absolutely gorgeous! I love all of the different shades of blue!

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  4. Thank you for including your reasons for why you do the things you do. In particular, I'm referring to the using dot to dot on prints. I am always in a quandary how to quilt prints and that was a great tip! There are so many things I love about this quilt. Big fan of black and white, blues are beautiful and the quilting is so full of wonderful texture. I'm coveting right now. :)

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  5. Your quilting is gorgeous. B&W and color combos are always a winner. I love how you used the different shades of blue.

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  6. Your quilting in beautiful. So precise. Love the blues with the black and white. I could see the black and white in this quilt with so many other colors. Red or Pink or Yellow or Lime Green, so many choices.

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  7. I really like how the quilting masks the underlying piecing method. I had to really look closely to see how you made the blocks! Not surprised at all that you just drafted your own pattern to make this gorgeous quilt :)

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  8. I love black and white quilts with contrast and yours is fantastic. That is a bummer about the pattern not being in the book, but I'm glad you continued on. Your quilting is amazing and adds a lot of dimension.

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  9. smart girl, you are. Funny how when things don't work out how we think, it leads us to new paths. Beautiful job!!! Love the variety in the blues and the quilting. Did you quilt it yourself? very impressive :)

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  10. I'm confused how the quilt pattern was not in that book. Why do they do that. Good job not giving up and drafting it out yourself. Your calm version is wonderful, Liz. Your quilting is even more than wonderful.

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  11. I literally just drooled when I saw the quilting. So freaking amazing! Annoying it wasn't in the book, but it definitely looks amazing!

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  12. You did an amazing job with the quilting and recreating a pattern. I love it in the blues also. I have the City Quilts book by Cherri House. Now I feel compelled to peruse it again.

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  13. It's gorgeous quilt!! The quilting details are simply amazing!

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