The end of the Blues

We're wrapping up "The Blues" with a look at the dazzling quilts we've featured over the last two weeks. And, we've come to a few conclusions. First, we love the color Blue, in all its manifestations. Second, we are captivated by bold graphic designs with high contrasts: there is nothing bland about these quilts! Finally, just looking at these quilts makes us feel serene and hopeful... which means that color psychology is for real!

Top row, L-R: Bachelor’s Wedding Ring, by Eric Gunson, at Pieceful Expressions; Kaleidoscope, the 2010 ASIJ Auction Quilt by Julie Fukuda and colleages, as seen at My Quilt Diary; Yuletide Snowflake design, by Joanna Figueroa, at Fig Tree Quilts (the quilt shown was made by Connecting Threads). Row 2: Glowing Splendor, by Barbara Cline, at Delightful Piecing; Teacup, by Maria Elkins, at Maria Elkins Art Quilts; Embroidered Japanese Crests, by Susa Glenn, at Susa Glenn Designs. Row 3: Victorian Gingerbread, by Janice Lee Baehr, at Pacific Rim Quilt Company; Albers at Sea, by Debra Levin, at the Empire Quilters Guild; Delft Storm, by Ionne McCauley, at Ionne Quilts.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.

Winter Blues

Today's beautiful blue quilt is "Yuletide Snowflake", 82-1/2 x 82-1/2, based on the pattern by Joanna Figueroa and Sue Falkowski at Fig Tree Quilts. The quilt shown below was made by Connecting Threads.

The Yuletide Snowflake pattern is a beautiful, traditional Bethlehem Star that looks very challenging to piece. As quilters, we are aware of the difficulties in joining small pieces of diamond shapes together, since they are cut on the bias and easily stretch at the places where 3 points must be sewn together simultaneously. Star quilts like this are usually thought of as a pattern for advanced quilters, but Joanna and Sue have figured out a way to create this star without using a diamond template or needing to join the three-point "y-seam." To make the construction process even simpler, one could use pre-cut Jelly Roll strips. Joanna remarks, "The Star would be even wonderful on its own without any snowflake appliqued 'stems' on the corner if you like."

We see many possibilities in this pattern, as it could really be a star for all seasons. Here is the warm color scheme shown on the Fig Tree Quilts pattern cover.

Think how pretty this pattern would be in soft summer colors of raspberry sherbet and sage green, on an ecru background. It would also be perfect for springtime in colors of lemon yellow,  lavender, and lime.This quilt lends itself beautifully to complimentary or triadic color schemes. How many color combinations can you imagine for this pattern?

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Joanna Figueroa, Fig Tree Quilts, and Connecting Threads. In addition to patterns, Joanna designs fabric collections for Moda Fabrics. She is currently working on her 17th collection!