Once again I start a story with, “Long, long ago there was a fabric collection lost deep within a closet.”
Back in 2013, I went on one of my many trips to Seattle and discovered a new quilt shop. It was in a sweet little shopping area that had a pioneer theme, which entertained the kiddos while I shopped a bit in the sale section. I found this amazing black fabric with a pattern of flowers in red, yellow, blue, and green. The fabric was a yardage sale, so I purchased a 2 yard cut.
I was already thinking of snowball flower patterns and what fabrics would compliment this amazing fabric. With a plan in hand, I went to Rosies Quilt Shop during a San Diego trip and found a line of fabrics that was color on color dots in bright primary colors. I also found a great black fabric with multicolor dots. Perfect for the background of the snowball flowers.
I was so excited to get to work, but when I got home life took over and I was distracted. The few minutes I had to work, I was a bit overwhelmed by the math to figure out the flowers and ensure I had enough fabric to do what I wanted.
During the quarantine, I’ve been able to complete many of my other UFO projects. This one still sat there… and it was time.
I’ve actually come a long way with my ability to calculate fabric needs, which really helped my confidence level. I made up the snowballs and constructed the flowers. It felt like it was missing something so I added a border on each flower in the black multicolored dots fabric. I had just enough to border each block, phew.
I wasn’t sure if the flowers should be on-point or squared, but after much debate and lots of others opinions heard, I went with on-point. I used the original flower fabric in between each of the flower blocks and matched the color pattern with the pattern on the flower fabric.
It still felt like it needed a little more but I was out of fabric from the original collection, so I just went with a simple solid black. It created a really nice frame and I used the same black for the binding.
The last step was finding a backing. I recently discovered that one of our local quilt shops sells yardage cuts for $5/yard in bundles. I have found so many backings this way, and this is another example. I absolutely love it! It was the perfect size for this project; totally meant to be!
This quilt was such an awesome finish. It’s exactly what I envisioned all those years ago when I bought the first fabric. I actually did finish it in 2020, which is what the label says, but I haven’t been able to get it on the blog until now. That said, we are still in quarantine doing online schooling, avoiding going out, and wearing masks when necessary. I have a feeling that will continue until at least June. So, here’s to many more quarantine quilts to come in 2021! I’m ready for it!
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