Sew Your Own Gemstone: MJ's Jewel Box Quilt

We're back with more sparkling inspiration from MJ Kinman. Enjoy her birthstone blocks as you read more about how she created them. (Good luck picking a favorite--they're all fantastic!) If you missed our first interview with her, find it here.

"Jewel Box" by MJ Kinman 

Q. Tell us about your Birthstone collection.

MJ: When I quit my day job, I knew I wanted to do something with the diamonds. I wanted to make art quilts, but I also wanted to make a block or series of blocks that people could do themselves. Everyone loves birthstones. The Birthstone blocks allow quilters to find success right out of the gate and also receive a few lessons on color and contrast. The Jewel Box is the quilt made from all 12 Birthstone blocks.

 

March Birthstone - Aquamarine

February Birthstone - Amethyst

Q. How did you choose the stones to use in the Birthstone collection?

MJ: I’m always looking for gemstones with interesting cuts and vibrant colors. The Emerald is an emerald cut. The Diamond was going to be a solitaire, but then someone suggested heart shaped, so I did that. Alexandrite is an antique French cut. It’s one of the simplest to put together, but so elegant.

May Birthstone - Emerald

April Birthstone -Diamond

June Birthstone - Alexandrite

Q. How did you translate your technique into a pattern that anyone can make?

MJ: My goal was to use as few pieces as possible but still achieve the sparkle; I didn’t want a 17” square pattern to have 800 pieces! 

January Birthstone - Garnet

December Birthstone - Tanzanite

Q. Tell us about the fabric in the Birthstone Series kits. 

MJ: They’re done completely with Painter’s Palette Solids. The kits contain between five and twelve different fabrics to create the design. 

August Birthstone - Peridot

October Birthstone - Pink Tourmaline

Q. Do you have a favorite of the Birthstones?

MJ:  The sapphire. It’s a scissor cut. I love blue, and I really like the way the lights and the darks play out.

September Birthstone - Sapphire

Q. What would you tell someone looking to try one of your Birthstone patterns?

MJ: Just do it! It’s designed for the confident beginner. Truly, the thing about my patterns is that they don’t have to be perfect. The seams are offset—they don’t have to come together. If you’re intimidated by traditional patterns where seams need to match, that’s not an issue here.

Diamonds and gemstones sparkle a trillion different ways. The image I use is one way it sparkles when the camera lens clicked. They don’t have to be perfect. No one will notice. It’s a technique where you can get away with a lot. There’s so much going on in your diamonds—the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Be fearless and just do it. I can’t wait to see the results!

July Birthstone - Ruby

Q. Where can quilters find the patterns and Painter's Palette Solids kits? 

MJ: Quilters can go directly through eQuilter.com for both the patterns and fabric bundles. I also sell the patterns on my website. 

November Birthstone - Citrine

Visit MJ's website to see and read more.

See all 168 Painter's Palette Solids colors here.

Find kits for the Birthstone Series here. 

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

...and amethysts, and emeralds, and garnets, and sapphires...

Meet MJ Kinman. This former project manager turned full-time textile artist transforms quilting cotton (like our Painter’s Palette Solids!) into dynamic, faceted gemstones that look so real, you’ll want to reach out and touch them. She used Painter’s Palette Solids in the Elizabeth Diamond (shown below), as well as in her Birthstone Series, which we'll be featuring later this week. 

 

The Elizabeth Diamond

We asked MJ to share her story with us.

Q. Why gemstones?
MJ: I love sparkling gemstones. When I was a little girl, my mom bought me a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs record. On the cover was a cart of gemstones (and seven dwarfs). I still remember it.  

In the early 90s, I received a mailer with a 12-facet diamond on it. I was intrigued—it was all straight lines—and I thought that there had to be a way to make this into a quilt. I started researching facted gemstones and different quilting techniques.

Q. How did you find your technique?

MJ: I looked at work by Ruth McDowell, Cynthia England, Jane Hall and Dixie Haywood and started using freezer paper to make foundation pieced work. I was hooked! I made my first diamond quilt about seven years after receiving the mailer with the gem on it.

Q. What is it that makes these gemstone quilts so realistic?

MJ: When you’re looking at gemstones, the important thing is the value contrast. That’s what creates the sparkle. With my gemstones, I really wanted to achieve the high value contrast because it allows the drama to come out.

Q. How do you choose the gemstones that you create in fabric?

MJ: I’m always on the lookout for images of dramatic stones. I study the image, and try to figure out what the cut is. Within the facets, I try to see how light is refracted and selected. I draft to scale. I have a small mock-up and then translate it into a larger one. I identify the key fabrics that will allow the stone to sparkle without breaking the bank (by having so many different fabrics).

 

"Jewel Box" featuring the Birthstone Series

Q. Tell us about the Elizabeth diamond.

MJ: It’s done in all blues. I’m also going to make it in yellows, like the citrine, and a pink diamond as well.

If you look closely, it’s nothing more than a four-patch—it has four quadrants and each quadrant is made up of sections. It has about 16 fabrics in it.

Q. How do you decide which fabrics to place where in your gemstones?

MJ: It’s partly based on the photo of the gemstone, partly based on my gut, and partly based on 20 years of making these. I study the gemstone very closely, and try to pick exactly the right colors for the right places, and sometimes I get it right. Sometimes it doesn’t sparkle like you want it to, so you try again. The first diamond I did laid there like a lump of coal. I revamped it and tried again until it sparkled like I wanted it to.

Q. You’ve worked with so many Painter’s Palette Solids. Do you have a favorite color?

MJ: Every single one of them was picked for a purpose—for its glow, its relationship to the others around it; of course you have to have the light lights and dark darks. I would say the go-to color in every single one is ebony. It’s the background that makes the gemstones pop.

Visit MJ's website to see and read more.
See MJ's Birthstone Series here.

Diamonds: A Girl's Best Friend

Diamonds...they are a girl's best friend, as the saying goes, but they can also be tricky to sew. This design by Tammy Silvers, featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, is rated challenging but made easier with several tips and videos--if you like the quilt, don't be intimidated--there's plenty of help to get it made! We love how the diamonds sparkle with the cool colors of the Piccadilly collection. Keep reading to learn more about this pointed beauty! 

"Cubed" by Tammy Silvers; machine quilted by Pat Yearwood;
featured in Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting Nov/Dec 2014

Q. What attracted you to the Piccadilly prints?

Tammy: It is such a fun collection of prints and colors - modern, and yet soft.

Q. Favorite print in the collection?

Tammy: I have to pick just one?  Urgh…it would have to be the border print - love the cubism.

Q. What inspired you to use diamonds? 

Tammy: I have to admit - I am fascinated with the idea of depth and overlap, and the diamonds were a fun way of playing with that effect.

Q. What was most challenging about making this quilt? 

Tammy: The diamonds!  I love 'em, but...if you don't use a corner trimmer, then you're looking at eyeballing - or marking each diamond - to get the offset just right.  Well worth it - but in the moment...I was questioning my sanity!

Q. Any tips for cutting and/or working with diamonds? 

Tammy: Well, like I mentioned, because you're working with an angle and not a straight line, you can't just match up raw edge and end to end - you have to have that 1/4" offset at each end.  So either get REALLY good at eyeballing that 1/4" offset - or use a point trimmer.  And of course, using the diamond ruler from the good folks at F&P! 

(This quilt was also featured on Fons &Porter's Love of Quilting TV Series, complete with tips on how to make it.)

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?

Tammy: Besides that it's done (kidding!)?  I love the mix of colors (gray is always a great neutral that lets other colors shine) and the movement created with the rows of diamonds.

Q. Can you talk about the machine quilting design used on the quilt?

Tammy:  I LOVE my quilting fairy - Pat Yearwood - and she is a master at choosing the correct quilting motif for each of my projects.  

See the entire Piccadilly collection here.

Find out more about Tammy here.

Find the kit for Tammy's Cubed quilt here.

Find Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine here.