In the Shadow of the Plus

Who could use a little more positivity in their life? And when it's in the form of a quilt you can make using our favorite solids? Sign us up! 

Sandra Walker (@mmmquilts) designed "In the Shadow of the Plus," a plus quilt full of shadowed illusions, for the September/October 2018 issue of Modern Patchwork magazine. The fabrics she chose? Two cool blues and a subtle silver and white from our Painter's Palette Solids collection. Sandra shares more about her design below.

"In the Shadow of the Plus" designed and quilted by Sandra Walker;
featured in Modern Patchwork September/October 2018

Q. How did you come up with this design?
SW: I ran a design challenge on Instagram this spring (#30quiltdesignschallenge2018), encouraging quilters to design quilts. I drew this block during that time. The idea goes back to a Judy Martin block that is a shadowed star—I thought I could shadow a plus sign since it’s a fairly simple block.

Q. Tell us about the secondary design.

SW: There’s larger plus in the background of the shadowed plusses. You might not notice it right away.

Q. How did you choose your palette?

SW: When I transferred the design into EQ8, I chose my favorite color—blue—just to get started. I liked it so much that I stuck with it.

Q. Why did you choose to use Painter’s Palette Solids?
SW: I thought solids would help emphasize the 3-D effect that I was looking for. I love these solids! I can’t get over the smoothness of them. They’re saturated, they don’t fray as much, and they’re just lovely. I wanted to use them in this quilt. I used #121-109 Aquarius for the lighter blue, #121-038 China Blue for the darker blue, #121-010 Silver for the background plus, and #121-000 White for the background.

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?

SW: A few things! I’m really happy with how the quilting turned out, and the way it pulls your eye across the quilt. I also think the quilt has a pretty good 3-D effect, and the illusion of dimension has always fascinated me. I also like the surprise of the large gray plus—you don’t necessarily notice it right away.

Q. Can you tell us about how you machine quilted this?

SW: The background was easy—I wanted to flatten it, so I did vertical lines on the gray and horizontal water ripples on the white. I knew I wanted something to stand out in the plusses, and I love all the detail. I did a stippled in the darker blue shadows to set them apart but help them fade into the background.

A close-up of the quilting in progress on Sandra's longarm

See our entire collection of 168 Painter's Palette Solids here and ask for them at your local quilt shop.
Visit Sandra's blog here and find her on IG.
Find the September/October issue of Modern Patchwork here.

Cool Summer Place Mats

Hot July weather calls for a refreshing antidote, and these Accordion Place Mats featured in the July/August issue of Modern Patchwork are just that! Cool hues from our Painter's Palette Solids collection are perfect for a summery table. Scroll down to learn more.

Accordion Place Mats by Lisa Swenson Ruble;
featured in Modern Patchwork magazine July/August 2018

Q. How did you come up with the design for these place mats? 

LR: When I work with solids, I love to use the idea of transparency and depth by using different shades of the same color. These colors were borrowed from my Diamond Drama quilt--they're some of my favorites!

Q. Why do you call them Accordion Place Mats?

LR: Because of the shading, I think each placemat looks like it recedes and then pops out, similar to an accordion. I paired the darker shade of each color with the Silver to enhance this illusion. 

Q. Tell us something unexpected about this project.

LR: As I started to sew it, I realized just how many pieces each place mat contained! 82, to be exact. That's a lot of sewing, but it's worth it for the final look. I am looking forward to using these place mats all summer long!

Q. We love the faux-flange binding! 

LR: I do too! I think it finishes the place mats beautifully and brings the color out to the edges. It's actually an easy technique with stellar results. 

Painter's Palette Solids used (dark/light):

Silver/White

Gulf Stream/Pale Aqua

Carrot/Clementine

Jolly/Island

Violet/Orchid

See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids colors here and ask for them at your local quilt shop.

Find Modern Patchwork here.

Illusion Quilts: Checkerboard in Modern Patchwork magazine

Painter's Palette Solids fans, have you seen the latest issue of Modern Patchwork magazine? It features the Checkerboard quilt by Lisa Swenson Ruble, an improv log cabin design using Painter's Palette Solids.

"Checkerboard" by Lisa Swenson Ruble; machine quilted by Diane Oakes
Featured in Modern Patchwork May/June 2018

Here's an interview with Lisa about her quilt:
Q. Where did the idea for this design come from? 
LR: I really love making improv Log Cabin blocks. No measuring required! Seriously, though, I love the look of these wonky blocks, as well as how each block looks different from the last. I tried a design that was four rows of three blocks each, but it was just too much. Using one row of three blocks had so much more impact. 

Q. How did you choose the color scheme? 
LR: Deciding on blue and orange was easy--I enjoy working with complementary colors. Choosing the exact fabrics to use in each block was more challenging. I wanted the colors to shift enough in value to be noticeable, but not so much that it didn't create a smooth transition. I auditioned a lot of different choices! 

Colors used (from center): Maize, Pencil, Clementine, Tangerine, Daredevil

Colors used (from center): Midnight, Royal, French Blue, River, Waterfall

Q. Tell us about the quilting. 

LR: Diane Oakes did a fantastic job! She used freehand square spirals in the blocks, mimicking the design, and then straight lines in the upper and lower white and gray sections. The texture created by the quilting really enhances the design without overpowering it.

Q. What do you like best about the Checkerboard quilt?
LR: I admit I love the whole quilt, but I'm especially happy about the illusion of depth created by the color choices in the blocks. 

See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids colors here.
Read more about Lisa's Checkerboard quilt here.
Look for the May/June 2018 issue of Modern Patchwork in your local quilt shop or purchase the digital issue here.

The Hourglass Quilt

The latest issue of Modern Patchwork went on sale on December 26th, and the quilt on the cover is made using Painter's Palette Solids! Talk about a nice Christmas present--we love seeing our fabric in magazines! We talked with designer Lisa Swenson Ruble to find out more about the quilt. 

Q. Where did the idea for this quilt come from?

LR: I wanted to work with an hourglass shape and started playing around in Illustrator, working on creating a design. The diamonds appeared as I played with color placement! I actually didn't intend for this quilt to get so large--I was designing using 2-1/2" width strips, and after I had created the top half the quilt, I copied and pasted it (since the design is symmetrical) and suddenly it was 92" long!

Q. Tell us about the color palette you chose. 
LR: This is, hands down, my favorite and go-to palette. I am a teal person. I wear teal, I decorate my house with it... My husband cracks up because my boys describe their room as teal as opposed to turquoise--I guess I've just trained them! The Teal and Gulfstream fabrics (the two darker teals) work so well together as the value changes, and then I chose Pale Aqua to add a much lighter value. The orange--Clementine--provides a wonderful pop of color to contrast with the teals. 
I love working with these solids--they sew really well and they're smooth and almost silky. These strips were handled a lot as I created and joined rows, and the fabric didn't fray! 

Q. What was it like assembling this quilt? 
LR: It required a lot of focus. Each horizontal pieced row is 80" long. I was determined not to make a mistake and have to pick out an 80" long seam! You know that saying, measure twice, cut once? My version of it for this quilt was check twice, pin once. Every single time I pinned two rows together, I checked it against my original design at least twice before sitting down to sew. 
The sewing itself was easy and monotonous--just lots of long, straight strips. But to see the quilt coming together as I joined more rows was so much fun! 

Q. Tell us about the quilting.
LR: Diane Oakes quilted this for me. My idea was to do straight line quilting that would enhance the design and add texture without distracting. She helped me pick out different thread colors to blend with each fabric. She did a great job! 

Q. What is your favorite part about the quilt?
LR: I love the dimension created by the different values and the striped piecing. I see so much depth in it! As others have seen this quilt, I've been really interested by how everyone focuses something different: diamonds, the hourglass, a hexagon...

See the entire range of Painter's Palette Solids here.
Read more about the quilt here on Lisa's blog.
Find Modern Patchwork magazine here (digital or print versions!) or look for it at your local quilt shop.