Lately I’ve been writing about how much I love Moda’s new fabric line called “Ombre”, designed by V and Co. These fabrics are gradient solids which, when cut up, look like you’ve used multiple solids. I really like using these fabrics and designed this quilt around two colors from this line – Honey and Graphite Grey – and I’m so pleased with the results.
I had this design in mind for a while – to do staggered Missouri star blocks. I worked the design all out on graph paper and, because of all the varying negative space on this quilt, had to really do a lot of figuring and calculating – something I really like. No two rows were alike. There were some miscuts and ripping out, though. But that happens when you are not using a pattern!
One of the things I love best about this quilt is the grey gingham binding. I have a nice stash of small size ginghams and I think they make the sweetest bindings.
The background fabric is Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solid in White. Because of all the white in the background, I used Warm and White batting, a pure white batting from the Warm and Natural company which doesn’t create a dull background behind bright white fabrics. And it has the same feeling and low loft of regular Warm and Natural batting.
For the background fabric, I used this adorable flannel backing in Organic Cotton from Cloud 9 fabrics. The yellow and grey elephants were so cute and just matched the Ombre colors so well. The flannel is soft and makes such a nice backing for a child’s quilt.
The stars were made up entirely of Half Square Triangles, which finished at 2″ after being sewn in. This is what I used as my quilting guide, so the overall quilting grid is 2″. I used 50 wt. White Aurifil thread and quilted at a stitch length of 3.5. The quilting makes such a nice texture and drape.
The finished size of this quilt is 36″ x 52″ . I love how it turned out and have listed it in the shop.
Thanks for popping in!
Elaine
linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Sew Fresh Quilts, Free Motion by the River, Sew Cute Tuesday
Such a sweet quilt, Elaine. I’ve been wanting to use this ombre fabric–you’ve given me some great ideas! Thanks!
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Thanks, Karen! You’ll love Ombre.
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What a great project, love the colors, the quilting compliments perfectly the pattern. x Barbora
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Thank you, Barbara!
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It looks great, I love the clean fresh look of it. And that backing fabric is a real winner.
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Thanks! I do love that backing.
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Wow! That is such a stunning quilt! I love those stars made out of that Ombre fabric. Great design.
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Thanks, Kay!
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I love your quilts, Elaine! And this one is so cute.
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I love every shade and nuance of this quilt and am enjoying all the pretty photo shots! I agree that the gray gingham binding is a sweet finish! Awesome quilt!
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Thanks so much!
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Fabulous! Would you consider doing a tutorial or pattern for this quilt? I would love to make it and not have to do all the calculations! Enjoy your blog.
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Thank you, Ruth! Yeah – I’ve been entertaining the notion of maybe writing a pattern when I have time, so stay tuned!
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Any pattern yet? I’d love to make a similar quilt for my grand baby coming in November 2017. Even if you could email me a picture of your notes, I could figure it out from there 😜
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Adorable quilt with the perfect backing. The gingham binding sets it off beautifully.
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Thank you Vicki!
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I want a stack of Ombre so bad! Your quilt is just adorable and I especially love the binding! Super cute!
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Thank you, Jayne! You would love creating with Ombre.
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it is a very pretty quilt! The fabrics are so soothing.
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Thank you, Alycia!
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Just lovely, and perfect for spring…Keeps me thinking of the name “Partly Sunny.” HA! Great use of ombre fabrics.
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Thank you! I actually almost named it just that – too funny!
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Very modern quilt. Love the design! And I agree the binding and backing really suit it.
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So adorable! I love yellow and grey together, then add I stars and I am truly in LOVE, the the gingham binding and ombré effect! Wow! So pretty!!!
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Emilee: Thank you so much!
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Love this. Happy quilt.
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Thanks, Jen!
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So pretty, great use of the ombre fabric!
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So pretty and I can see great uses for those fabrics!
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Your work is just stunning. I haven’t made a quilt for about a year and now am inspired to get going again! Do you pre wash your fabrics? I don’t like to, but am wondering if the flannel back will shrink differently than the front.
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Kathleen: Thank you so much! I am a prewasher. I want my fabrics to go through the same wash cycle that they will have to do through when they are a quilt. If the fabric is going to shrink, fray, alter or bleed in any possible way, I want it to do it before it’s sewn into a quilt. So because of that, I prewash every single piece of fabric I buy. That is why I do not buy jelly rolls, charm packs, etc. They cannot be prewashed. There are definitely two schools of thought on prewashing and a lot of people do not prewash, but I just simply don’t want any surprises. And for most of my quilts, which are more “modern” types of styles, I do not want that antique look that comes with the fabric shrinking and puckering. In fact, I prewash my batting so it doesn’t shrink, just for that reason. Hope you get quilting again!
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Do you have any advice on the best way to pre wash fabrics and batting? Your fabrics are beautiful and don’t have that gone-through-the-dryer look!
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Kathleen: I wash all my fabrics on cold, gentle cycle. Then I tumble dry on low – just like I would when I wash a finished quilt. Then I iron well. For the batting, I soak in the washer on cold water, spin dry and put in the dryer on delicate until dry. I can do this with Warm and Natural batting and it holds up great. You can’t really do this with Hobbs – it falls apart a bit. If you use Hobbs, you would have to soak in the washer or a tub or utility sink and then squeeze out the water and then dry. That’s why I use Warm and Natural batting. This process is really quick – it’s not a pain and it avoids the 3% shrinkage you would otherwise get when the quilt gets washed. For antique looking quilts, this fine, but I don’t like it with my more modern style quilts. Hope this helps!
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Thank you so much!
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This is lovely! I really like your use of the ombre. Would it be ok if I included a photo from your post in my upcoming newsletter where I’m featuring star quilts? I’d link back to your post of course…. Thanks for considering.
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Yes! Link away. I would love to be included in your newsletter. Thanks!
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great – thank you!
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Have you come up with a pattern yet? I would be more than willing to buy it!!!! THanks
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Haven’t yet! Sorry! It would be quite an undertaking to write a pattern for this quilt, because the blocks are offset on every row – it was very complicated! But who knows….
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Hi Elaine, I love this quilt and would love to try making something similar. I was just wondering – did you cut out a whole bunch of 2.5inch squares and sew them up row by row, or did you make the star units first then fit strips and blocks around them? I’m leaning towards the second option, but either way it feels like there’s going to be a lot of calculations involved 😆
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Kelly: I made half square triangles, from which the stars were made. Then I cut larger blocks of the white background fabric for the rest of the row. I don’t have a pattern but I do have the graph paper from which I designed the quilt along with all my cutting notes. I’m going to send this to you in an email. Hope it helps!
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Thank you so much Elaine, that’s so kind of you!
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Would you being willing to share your graph on email with me too? I love love love this quilt!!
Thanks
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Sure! Sending now.
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Hi Elaine, Would love to have any resources from your graph and and paper notes for this quilt. I have 3 baby quilts for 3 grandchildren this year! Yes, 3. This will be a wonderful addition for one of them. How Blessed we will be! Would love to receive whatever you are able to send. Thank you. Elisa
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Okay Elisa – will send what I have via email!
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May I have a copy of your graph please. I have all the fabric.
Thank you.
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Yes – I will email to you!
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