Cosmos in style

With so many gorgeous large-scale prints available, designs that show off these fabrics are a hot commodity. That's why we think you'll love Terry Albers' Cosmos quilt, featured in the spring 2014 issue of Quilt Trends magazine. Terry used our Cosmopolitan collection, highlighting the large leaf print in the border and in a few of the snowball blocks, all of which pop off the white background. Below, Terry talks about how she used EQ7 to design the quilt, and then shares the same quilt with a black background--talk about drama!

"Cosmos" by Terry Albers; machine quilted by Sandy Schilawski
featured in Quilt Trends magazine spring 2014

Q. What appealed to you about the Cosmopolitan fabric collection?

Terry: It was definitely the big leaf print that grabbed me right away! The greens, white and black on gray make the look both contemporary and soothing. The rest of the pieces complimented that main print beautifully both in color and scale.

Q. Why did you decide to use/showcase such large pieces of fabric?

Terry: I felt that the pieces would lose some of the drama if I cut them up too much. Each one is pretty enough to stand on its own but then the large print pulls them all together.

Q. This is such a neat variation on the traditional snowball block. How did you come up with the idea of setting on point and having the "floating" lime squares?

Terry: I have to thank the editors of EQ7 for giving me the simple tools to test out my blocks on a straight or on-point setting very quickly. I admit that I often test my designs in both, never knowing what might take my fancy. In this case, by having the snowball corners, the sashing and the setting triangles in a single color, the blocks appear to float. When I added the green cornerstones, they seemed to twinkle…all very Zen.

Q. Do you have a favorite print in the collection?

Terry: Oh, yes…definitely the big print but I love how the bright green brings everything alive.

Q. Can you tell us about the sashing squares?  

Terry: Once again, thanks to EQ7, I can quickly add sashing, change the sizes and switch out the colors. I usually have a pretty good idea about what I want to do with a fabric line before I go to the computer. It just speeds up my ability to test other combinations.

Q. Can you talk about your border choices?

Terry: I began the design around using the big print as a wide border. Once I had the layout including all the other pieces that I wanted to use, the first green border was an easy choice to match the cornerstones. But then I wanted one last separation between the outer border and the rest of the quilt. My friends jokingly call me the “flange lady” because I use them so often…to pull out a specific color, to separate colors and as an extra layer of texture. Also called a “flat piping”, the flange is an easy way to add extra detail and easy enough for a beginner to do.

Q. Can you tell us about how it was machine quilted?

Terry: Sandy kept it simple with a loose, loopy leaf design. I like how it echoes the leaves in the border without distraction.

Q. How fun to see this quilt with two different colored backgrounds! How did the black background come to be?

Terry: I actually started with the black background. But the editor of Quilt Trends Magazine wanted to see it in white, too.  And we both liked it even better. I’m so glad she found a way to use both in the magazine. It shows how one simple change from white to black can be so dramatic.

See the entire Cosmopolitan collection here.

Find out more about Terry Albers here.

Find the kit for the Cosmos project here.

Find Quilt Trends magazine here.