City Lights… to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America

Posted on January 15, 2014March 23, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 5 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve been enjoying the solids projects popping up on the Wake Up to Kona Blog hop over at Sew We Quilt! To celebrate the final week of the blog hop I’m offering up the Sunset version of City Lights as featured in Color Essentials, with proceeds going to CCFA, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. (This organization is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding the cures for Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis. They are also a great resource for people living with the disease.) Lots of people have a misconception Crohn’s disease and colitis only afflict the older population but there are millions of people of all ages who deal with these diseases on a daily basis. Chances are you know one… or a few.

“City Lights” in the Sunset Palette (64″ x 82″)

I had a lot of fun making this quilt, and figuring out how I water to colors to flow in alternating blocks. It is set on an Kona Amethyst background and the appliqué is done in various cool shades of Aurifil thread. I used Warm and Natural batting for vintage feel. Deborah Norris quilted it for me using an “Interlocking Shooting Stars” pattern by Bonnie Borseth.

I hope you like it! If you are interested in bidding on it please visit this link!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Lollipop

Posted on January 13, 2014March 23, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 5 Comments

Who doesn’t like Dresden Plates? “Lollipop”, which features lots of Dresdens set in “Slinky fashion”, framed by appliqué circles on lollipop sticks, was another favorite quilt to sew for Color Essentials.

“Lollipop”, as photographed by C&T Publishing

Basically I grabbed all of the blue and green Kona solids I could find and was well on my way. (Sewing with so many shades of blue and green was a hardship! Thanks, Robert Kaufman!) I appliquéd everything in matching shades of 28 wt. Aurifil thread.

As with all the quilts in Color Essentials, there are other color ideas in the back of the directions for Lollipop.

Don’t forget to check out the Sew We Quilt Wake Up to Kona blog hop to see what everyone is doing with solids!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Color Burst

Posted on January 10, 2014March 23, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 13 Comments

Many of us love quilting with both solids and prints and a most times a quilt pattern can lend itself to both. The first quilt that I came up with for Color Essentials, in fact the quilt that really inspired a lot of the other quilts in the book, was one I really envisioned in solids – Color Burst. And since it is the Sew We Quilt Color Me Kona blog hop I though I might show you some photos…

Color Burst in Kona Brights palette

I thought of it as a painter’s wheel with the Kona representing dabs of paint, but it is a log cabin quilt in disguise! This is one of the quilts that I can’t wait to see in other palettes or even in prints!

C&T photographed it against a matching seafoam green. Nothing like decorating to match out quilts, right? It should always be that way rather than the other way around!

One thing I learned the hard way is that you should ALWAYS use your template to line things up when trimming an irregularly-shaped log cabin. Don’t just use your ruler edge. Ask me how I know!

Deborah Norris did a spectacular job quilting this – she used white coordinating colors on the blocks themselves. I like how the loose floral motifs contrast with the angular lines of the piecing.