Jaybird Quilts

Friday, November 14, 2014

Robert Kaufman 30 Quilts for 30 Years - A Celebration of Kona Cotton

Kona Cotton from Robert Kaufman Fabrics is 30 years old this year, and they asked 30 designers to create 30 quilts to celebrate the occasion. Today is my day on the 30 Quilts for 30 Years Blog Hop. I'm so excited to share my Lotus Quilt in Kona with you.

When I starting pulling fabrics for this Lotus quilt I was also working on my wedding quilt... so those colors were kinda stuck in my head.

At first I was thinking I'd use blues for one set of blocks and greens for the other... But I ended up splitting them more by darks & lights. I picked the colors Honey Dew & Storm for the background triangles. Here is a complete list of all the colors I ended up using.

I picked Caribbean for the binding.

Quilt Details Fabric is Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman
Pattern - Lotus, JBQ 128
Designed by me
Quilted by Angela Walters
Started on 7/16/14
Finished on 7/28/14
Quilt measures - 52" x 60"

I adore this quilt and I'm going to miss her so much while she travels around in a trunk show for the next year. I think I might have to make a second one...

Lotus is one of my Hex N More ruler patterns. You can find the pattern and the ruler at online and local quilt shops.

I think it is really cool how Angela quilted a medallion into the center of the quilt.

More detail of Angela's amazing quilting.

I used a bunch of the trimmings from the front to make my quilt label strip on the back.

Here I am showing the quilt at schoolhouse during Quilt Market.

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After I made the Lotus quilt I decided to make a Mini Lotus in the same colors.

I wanted all of the colors to be in the exact place, so I sewed together my triangle scraps in the exact order of the blocks. I pinned it up on my design wall for easy reference.

Here are some photos from when I made the mini...

All the mini jewels cut from my Mini Hex N More ruler, lined up and ready for piecing.

Here's some detail of Angela's amazing quilting on the Mini Lotus.

Here is the Mini Lotus hanging up at quilt market on the Bird on a Branch Ackfeld Wire Quilt Hanger.

Here you can see a video of Angela Walters quilting the miniature version of my Kona Lotus:

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To see more great Kona quilts, take a peek at the 30 Quilts for 30 years Look Book and check out some of the other stops on the 30 for 30 blog hop:

Week 1:
Saturday, November 1st: Johanna Masko
Sunday, November 2nd: Alyssa of Aria Lane
Monday, November 3rd: Dorie of Tumblingblocks
Tuesday, November 4th: Megan of Canoe Ridge Creations
Wednesday, November 5th: Daniela of Cozy Quilt Designs
Thursday, November 6th: Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts
Friday, November 7th: Anita Grossman Solomon
Saturday, November 8th: Debbie of Esch House Quilts

Week 2:
Sunday, November 9th: Alex of Teaginny
Monday, November 10th: Darlene Zimmerman
Tuesday, November 11th: Nichole Ramirez with Aurifil
Wednesday, November 12th: Rita Hodge of Red Pepper Quilts
Thursday, November 13th: Lee of Freshly Pieced
Friday, November 14th: Julie of Jaybird Quilts
Saturday, November 15th: Latifah of The Quilt Engineer

Week 3:
Sunday. November 16th: Elizabeth Hartman
Monday, November 17th: Erica of Kitchen Table Quilting
Tuesday, November 18th: Karrie of Freckled Whimsy
Wednesday, November 19th: Valori Wells
Thursday, November 20th: Marilyn of Quilt Moments
Friday, November 21st: Cortney Heimerl
Saturday, November 22nd: Shayla and Kristy of Sassafras Lane Designs

Week 4:
Sunday, November 23rd: Shea of Empty Bobbin Sewing
Monday, November 24th: Carrie Strine
Tuesday, November 25th: Rachel of Stitched in Color
Wednesday, November 26th: Liz of Lady Harvatine
Saturday, November 29th: Carolyn Friedlander

Week 5:
Sunday, November 30th: Elizabeth of Don’t Call Me Betsy
Monday, December 1st: Emily of Carolina Patchworks
Tuesday, December 2nd: Ken Kaufman
Wednesday, December 3rd: Grand Finale!

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And I have a Kona 30 Quilts for 30 Years Giveaway for you today, too!

You can win a Kona Sunset charm square pack, my Mini Lotus pattern and a Mini Hex N More ruler!

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 about a project you're inspired to make with Kona Cotton fabric.

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 2PM PST on Saturday, November 15th to enter.~~

Giveaway Now Closed.
Winner Announced Below.

Winner will be selected by

True Random Number Generator.

Good luck! The winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Gravity Quilt

I've got a fun and special quilt for you to meet today. Introducing my next block of the month book that will be available January 2015, Gravity.

Quilt Details

Fabric is Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman

Pattern - Gravity, JBQ 150

Quilted by Angela Walters

Started on 9/1/14

Finished on 9/24/14

Quilt measures - 97" x 96"

I partnered with Robert Kaufman Fabrics to offer a quilt kit that has the exact Kona colors I used. It will be available February 2015 in online and local quilt shops as a quilt kit OR as a block of the month club. The kit includes all of the fabric to make the quilt top and binding.

Want to know which 114 Kona colors I used??

You can find them listed here.

You can see which colors to use in each block in these blog posts:

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Here I am showing off the kit at my schoolhouse during quilt market.

The book also contains the pattern for a bonus pillow. Clearly, I was really excited to reveal the pillow!!

Gravity is made with the Hex N More and Super Sidekick rulers. Both rulers are available now in shops. Click the links to the rulers to see the video tutorials on how to use them.

The book is printed in full color, and it includes templates. Plus there's no Y seams!

Outtake Photos

The day Gravity was finished, we had just enough sunlight to snap a few photos at a local park before the sunset. The wind, however, was not cooperating.

But it did give me an opportunity to get a detailed shot of Angela's quilting:

Then we ventured to a less windy spot in the park...

Oops, feet still showing...

And then I was able to get this photo, which was the first photo I publicly shared of Gravity. You can find it on Instagram with the tag #GravityQuilt.

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A few days later, Lawrence and I took a vacation (and quilt pattern cover photo shoot trip) to Hawaii. As soon as we arrived, I snapped some photos on my phone of Gravity near a pretty waterfall.

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And then we ventured out to the beach with the quilt to see if we could get a good photo for the book cover. Again, the wind was not in our favor...

We spread the quilt out on the ground & needed to use weights in the corners to keep it from flying away and into the water.

Lawrence stayed with the quilt to protect it.

I really liked how this spot looked like a mix of earth & moon (which reminds me of actual gravity...), but we just couldn't get the right shot.

Luckily, Lawrence is patient, because it was not comfortable on those rocks, trust me.

I got a smile when I told him we were done at this spot.

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Finally, it was back to the waterfall where I had snapped the awesome photos on my phone a few days earlier. Which was promising, but the lighting wasn't right.

We waited a bit for the clouds to move & we moved the quilt a bit, too...

At last, we got the right shot. What you don't see in the cover photo is that Lawrence is holding onto the bottom corner of the quilt to get it in the perfect place!

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Once we returned home, I put Gravity on our bed & fell in love with it even more....

And then I shared the first image of the Gravity quilt bonus pillow on social media.

I did the straight line quilting on the bonus pillow all by myself.

And I got another photo of Angela's amazing quilting on Gravity.

I love the colors in this detail shot of the bonus pillow.

I LOVE this quilt, and I hope you do, too!

I can't wait to see photos of your Gravity quilt creations, and the variations that will happen as quilters begin making them. I know that each quilt made with the Kona Cotton kit (available for pre-order now) will take on it's own look and feel given how many colors of fabrics are included in the kit.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing it in Batiks, blenders of all kinds, your rainbow inspirations will be endless!

Will you be making your own Gravity quilt next year? What fabrics will you use for your creation? Tell us about it in the comments below. Thanks so much!