Jeni's Colorado

Hello, my quilting/blogging friends.

Once again, it has been a while. I wish I was in a better place and I wish it could be different. 

But I do have a new quilt and we will focus on that, for now. 

With Marcia

It began with Marcia, who is my former boss. She retired after her 81st birthday. Kudos to her, because I am sure I can't make it to my 60th before calling it quits. 

When Marcia learned about my quilting hobby (obsession), she introduced me to her neighbor - Lesley. Lesley is an art quilter. I need a whole separate blogpost to describe Lesley's work. She takes her inspiration from nature and excels in applique and embellishments. 

Lesley (notice the elephants in the quilt behind her)

We, Lesley and I, admire each other's work. She appreciates my sense of color and composition and I am totally floored by her microscopic attention to detail and excellent workmanship.

When Lesley's daughter, Jeni, got engaged,  Lesley asked me to make a quilt, embodying the feel of Colorado, Jeni's after-marriage-new-home-state. Jeni's favorite colors are green, purple and crimson. 

I shared several mock-ups with Lesley, inspired by my previous quilts/patterns. 

Shanvi/Phagun

Yamini

Niko

Honi

Fireworks

Arboretum

Lesley had also seen and admired my interpretation of the Moon over the Mountain Quilts.

This is what Lesley picked, a combination of Arboretum and Moon over the Mountain.

Final!

A queen size quilt with curved piecing, lots of angles and a scrappy border. My work was cut out for me. 

I knew that Green and Purple would have a sufficient contrast against the white background. But I wasn't sure about the Yellows.

I chose Solid White instead of Egg White, due to better contrast. Background confirmed, it was time to pick out Purples and Greens.

Island Batik Purples

Island Batik Greens

Sufficiently excited, I decided to make one each of the blocks and show it to Lesley.

Tree Block

Sunrise Block

Once all blocks were made, I sent another picture to Lesley.

I sent her several in-process pictures. I wanted to make sure she was with me on this journey.

Once the top was completed, I asked Lesley if she had a preference for the backing color.

She chose Green. I chose Dark Purple for Binding. And here are the pictures of the finished quilt - Jeni's Colorado.

Finished!!!

Since it is a Queen-sized quilt, I knew taking pictures will be a challenge. For Paul's ease, I added a temporary sleeve wherein a curtain rod was inserted. Hence the perfect pictures and a much happier quilt model.

Island Batik Fabrics

Crushing on you

Sunny & Labelled

When I took the finished quilt to Lesley, there were oohs and aahs. Marcia and Lesley posed with it and I took some more pictures.

You two are adorable!

One week later, Lesley sent me a picture.

From Jeni

I am told they love the quilt!

My work has been stressful and I have been struggling. While Paul has been very supportive, I feel like I must carry on for now. 

  

Bourbon Street Bash

Designing for the May/June 2023 Issue of Quiltmaker Magazine, I chose the fabric line Celebrate. Designed by Kathy Engle, this fabric line will be available in stores in May 2023.

Imagine my surprise when the magazine was published in March 2023.  It is Island Batik's guidance to release patterns as close to the fabric availability as possible. If the fabric is not available (at the time of pattern release or shortly thereafter), then it feels like a tease or even a torture, especially when the fabric is this gorgeous!!!

For this reason, I have been slow/reluctant to share this quilt.  It is April. I can safely say that the fabrics will be coming to the stores next month.

Picture Courtesy - Quiltmaker Magazine, May/June 2023

Here are the pictures showing my journey of making Bourbon Street Bash.

The first block

Pieced Border

These fabric screams Spring. The colors make the blooms blush and the bright hues are reminiscent of a party or a bash. Since no one parties like the Bourbon Street, I named it Bourbon Street Bash.

Balloons and Streamers = Celebration

Quilting

I quilted slowly, enjoying the deep greens and bright citrusy prints.

Binding

The backing is Pistachio (Island Batik Basics) and it is yummy enough to eat :-) 

The binding is Egg White (Island Batik Neutrals).

Bound and Labelled

Bound and Labeled, it was time for the photoshoot. Paul, my love?  

Will you please...

You are the best!!!

Can we get one with the reflection, I asked. We can try, Paul replied. Although it was a beautiful day, it was just too breezy for a good reflection picture.

Sunny but too Breezy

Garden Party, indeed!

Very Happy Me!

I received many comments and emails praising this gorgeous fabric line. So, I cut up the leftover fabrics into 5" squares.  Since I only had 17 fabrics (out of the 20 in the Celebrate line), I added three matching fabrics from Island Batik Foundations (top three fabrics in the picture below - orange, yellow and pink) to make two complete sets of 40 squares (2 squares of each fabric).

Giveaway Prizes - Two Charm Packs

Yes, there is a giveaway.  Two prizes. I will announce the winners on April 10, 2023.  To be eligible to win one of the two charm packs, please leave me a comment telling me your favorite party food or drink, along with your instagram handle. Please make sure that I have your email address.

And one last look because you are such a juicy quilt :-)

Citrusy Yumminess

My friend and fellow Island Batik ambassador, Connie Kauffman also has a quilt in the same issue. Her sweet mini quilt is called - Have a Cuppa. Do check it out.

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In other news, Purple is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for April. I have picked out my fabrics - some reddish purples and some bluish purples. 

Plenty of Purples from Island Batik

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties (see full list on the sidebar), including Angela's Linky Party.  As usual, my bash is incomplete without your input :-)