Gravity Quilt Block Colors - Block 2 Constellation

Now that Gravity block of the month programs are kicking off,  I thought it might be a good idea to have a some blog posts for those of you who are interested in making a spot on Gravity quilt.

This is the entire Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton kit that matches the cover quilt. The kit includes the book, 6 background fabrics and 3 packs of 10" squares - 36 squares are in each pack:

You can find the colors for Block 1 here.

To make Block 2, you will still be working from the 1st fabric pack, as you did for Block 1. The fabrics are in order in the pack. The next 6 in the pack are fabrics A through F of Block 2, as noted in the book:

And so on for the next set of 6 fabrics to make the second Block 2:

Follow these images clockwise to see the names of the colors with a swatch, the letters correspond to the letter label of the fabrics to cut in the Gravity book:

Now, as I mentioned in the Introduction of the book, the intention is that you will have fun making your Gravity quilt and have fun with the subtle color variations within the Gravity quilt blocks. There is no need to stress about precisely matching fabric or color placement from block to block. The beauty of this design, and the variety of fabrics and colors used to create it, is that each quilt will take on a subtle and distinct look and feel of its own. With that in mind, for those of you who REALLY want to know which colors I used where, I hope you will find these posts to be helpful. If you're looking to order a Gravity Quilt kit, they are available now from Fat Quarter Shop and Hawthorne Threads, as well as other local and online quilt shops. Tell us in the comments below: How are you enjoying working with the new Super Sidekick ruler to make your Gravity blocks? Have you viewed the Super Sidekick video tutorial yet? Remember to share your photos on social media with the #GravityQuilt tag & have fun!

© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

My wedding preview

It's here! It's here! Our wedding week is here! I haven't posted much about it other than our engagement photos and the call out to make blocks for our wedding quilt, so I thought now might be a good time to give you a sneak peak at our celebration this Sunday, March 22. Here are a few of the items I've been working on with Law, friends and family to prepare for the big event: Our wedding quilt before it was quilted:

Putting the binding on the wedding quilt:

Sending the invitations out:

Fabric garlands to decorate our house for brunch the day after the wedding:

Ironing boards that quilters bought for us off of our registry. One for work, one for life!:

A preview of our candy bar:

Out of town gift bags:

Favors all ready to go:

Custom cocktail napkins with our wedding hashtag, #LawLovesJulie:

We're very excited that the big day is near! We're looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. We'll have post-event photos on the blog for you as soon as I can get to editing them!


© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

A Modern Twist - Natalie Barnes book tour + giveaway!!

My quilty friend, Natalie Barnes, of beyond the reef, has a new book out with Angela Walters of quiltingismytherapy.com called A Modern Twist. It's a great collaboration by 2 people who have made their mark in my approached to quilting and sewing, and it has some extra elements of content to it about design and a variety of projects that you don't find in just any quilting book.

The book cover:

Photo by Brent Kane

One of the aspects of this book that I came to love quickly, is that it includes some fun, approachable projects and not just quilts.
The Picnic Casual:

Photo by Brent Kane

Hexagon Scramble, designed and pieced by Natalie Barnes, quilted by Angela Walters.

Photo by Brent Kane

Throughout the book, Natalie offers some great pointers on the elements that lend toward good quilt composition, like colors in the fabric selection, scale of the prints and use of solids.

For me, when it comes to composition, I follow a few quick + easy rules of thumb: 1) using a complete fabric collection is a safe bet for a balance of focal prints, blenders and background fabric OR 2) using a mix of fabrics from the same designer is a safe bet for a balance of focal prints, blenders and background fabric.


The Picnic Tote:

Photo by Brent Kane

If you want to break out of the same "composition comfort zones" that I have, then this book is a great one to consider adding to the quilting library. She also gives you some great pointers on stash busting when it comes to your sewing + quilting projects.

Ranch String table runner, designed and pieced by Natalie Barnes, quilted by Angela Walters.

Photo by Brent Kane

Circle Shuffle, designed and pieced by Natalie Barnes, quilted by Angela Walters.

Photo by Brent Kane

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A quick note for you on me + Natalie & how we met. Before I moved to California, even before I started my pattern company, back when I was just a quilter + a huge fan of fabric, I met Natalie at the Long Beach Quilt Festival when I was visiting my brother in LA. Natalie and her crew in the beyond the reef booth spotted me after I had spent all of my money had a budgeted for the day and I almost couldn't carry all that I had purchased. They took pity on me and let me store a bag or two in the booth, and then she took me back to her place for a bbq. You can learn more about my friendship with Natalie here.


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Take a spin through the tour to see what a few other quilt bloggers have to offer on the topics of Color + Contrast + Composition:

01 March - Natalie Barnes +WELCOME
beyond the reef


02 March - Victoria Findlay Wolfe + CONTRAST Victoria Findlay Wolfe 03 March - Teri Lucas + COLOR Generation Q Magazine 04 March - Julie Herman + COMPOSITION Jaybird Quilts 05 March - Jenny Wilding Cardon + COLOR Martingale    06 March - Rose Hughes + COLOR Rose Hughes 07 March - Amy Smart  + CONTRAST Amy Smart 08 March - Carolyn Friedlander + COLOR Carolyn Friedlander 09 March - Latifah Saafir + COMPOSITION Latifah Saafir Studios 10 March - Amy Ellis  + CONTRAST Amy's Creative Side 11 March - Angela Walters + COMPOSITION Quilting is my Therapy -- Ready for the giveaway? You can win your own copy of A Modern Twist! (International entries will be eligible to win a copy of the eBook, US entries will be eligible to win a copy of the book. 1 entry will win.)

The Rules

1. Leave ONE comment to enter. Make sure your contact info is in your profile or that you leave it in the comment.

2. In your comment tell us which A Modern Twist project you're inspired to make from the book.

3. Comment entries must be left on this blog, www.jaybirdquilts.com, to be valid. Comments sent via E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media will not be counted.

4. Simple as that!!

You have till 9PM PST on Sunday, March 15th to enter. 

Giveaway Now Closed

Winner will be selected by 

True Random Number Generator.

Good luck!
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And the winner is...

© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

Gravity Quilt Block Colors: Block 1 - Horizon

A few local & online quilt shops have started their Gravity block of the month programs, and the requests about fabric color placements within the blocks have started to come in. So I thought it might be a good idea to have a some blog posts for those of you who are interested in making a spot on Gravity quilt. This is the entire Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton kit that matches the cover quilt. The kit includes the book, 6 background fabrics and 3 packs of 10" squares - 36 squares are in each pack:

This is the book + the pack that has months/blocks 1, 2 & 3:

The fabrics are in order in the pack. The first 6 in the pack are fabrics A through F of Block 1, as noted in the book:

These are the next 6 fabrics that are also for a Block 1:

I suggest taping a small scrap of each fabric next to the diagrams in the book as you go. Cut desired shapes first and then use a scrap vs. cutting a corner off of each 10" square.

Here are the 6 greens for month 1 all together:

Here are 6 red/oranges for month 1 all together:

Now, as I mentioned in the Introduction of the book, the intention is that you will have fun making your Gravity quilt and have fun with the subtle color variations within the Gravity quilt blocks. There is no need to stress about precisely matching fabric or color placement from block to block.
The beauty of this design, and the variety of fabrics and colors used to create it, is that each quilt will take on a subtle and distinct look and feel of its own. With that in mind, for those of you who REALLY want to know which colors I used where, I hope you will find these posts to be helpful.
If you're looking to order a Gravity Quilt kit, they are available now from Fat Quarter Shop and Hawthorne Threads, as well as other local and online quilt shops.
Tell us in the comments below: Will you be making a "spot on" Gravity quilt? Will you mix it up with your kit colors? OR are you making a Gravity quilt entirely of your own fabric selection, or something else?
Remember to share your photos on social media with the #GravityQuilt tag & have fun!

© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/