I'm not sure about where you live... but here in Winnipeg, spring is always a little reluctant to make its annual appearance.
But the snow has melted and I can finally feel the warmth of the sun! (At least for now, I'm ignoring the snowy forecast!) Even though our plants haven't really started sprouting yet, the Canadian geese have returned. Ask a Canadian... that's a true sign of spring!
Over the last few weeks, as I've eagerly awaited spring's arrival, the anticipation of warmer days and blooming flowers sparked my creativity. I've been experimenting with new colours that I think capture the essence of the season.
I'm so pleased to introduce you to our latest release of fabric bundles, inspired by the fresh hues and lively essence of spring.
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The Rockwood Quilt
This fat-quarter friendly quilt pattern is a favourite of mine and a little extra special to me. The original Rockwood Quilt on the cover of the pattern was the first quilt of mine to be accepted into QuiltCon! It was displayed in Austin in 2022 and even though I wasn’t able to go see it in person, I was thrilled to have been a part of the show!
When the pattern was originally released, I made multiple samples including a black and white two-colour version (check them out here). Since then, I've made three more.
This quilt is made from a curated collection of 24 fat quarters (see the full listing of Kona Cotton here). For each block, I paired two fabrics with a similar hue (colour) but contrasting value (light vs dark) to create dimension.
Whenever I make a quilt without a notable “background fabric” or a quilt top without white/natural, I love to use a black and white/natural print on the back! The contrast is so pleasing and it usually makes my choice easy!
I chose Wildflowers from Darlings 2 by Alexia Abegg for Ruby Star Society. Don’t you think the flowers are a perfect finishing touch to a spring-inspired quilt?
I decided on a more intricate quilting design than I often do because I love the balance and dimension of the large blocks paired with dense quilting.
I used Aurifil 50wt thread in Moonshine (6724) on the top and 50wt in Muslin (2311) on the back (bobbin thread). First, I quilted a straight-line grid over the entire quilt with 2.25” spacing. I then went back and added straight-line quilting on the 45-degree angle, ensuring I intersected the original grid directly in the corners.
I finished the quilt with Essex Yarn-Dyed Classic Woven in Mustard.
The Steep Rock Quilt
Back in fall 2023, I made possibly one of my favourite quilts to date. And let me tell you, the autumn-inspired Steep Rock Quilt was also a fan favourite! It's hard to go wrong with a deep, saturated rainbow of solids paired with scrumptious Essex-Linen.
The Steep Rock cover quilt is made up of rich, yet more traditional rainbow colours. (Check out that quilt and a few other samples here!)
I decided to challenge myself to reimagine the design by featuring a light and airy colour palette perfectly suited to spring.
The pattern is a great chance to play with a gradient of colours or ombré effect. I knew I wanted to have the shades of yellow be prominent in the quilt, so I started with those first. From there, I selected colours to complete the gradient! (See the full listing of Kona Cotton here)
I’ve had this totally adorable print in my stash for a while now called Jubilee Midnight from Flight Path by Jessica Swift for Art Gallery Fabrics. It is an absolutely perfect backing for this quilt! I love how the navy contrasts with the front, but all the colours are still so complementary.
The 45-degree angle created by the HSTs in this design creates a perfect opportunity to have a little fun with the quilting! If you’ve ever tried quilting on the bias (diagonal to the grain of the fabric), you may have noticed some shifting. This is due to the slight stretch in the fabric bias.
To combat this, I decided to start with straight-line quilting horizontally across the quilt with 2” spacing. Next, I quilted a line at the 45-degree angle, following the seam created by the half square triangles. From there, I worked my way out in both directions, again with 2” spacing.
Once I was done, I stood back and assessed the quilt. I really wanted to add a little extra pizazz, so I went back over the quilt and added an additional line with 1” spacing (both horizontally & diagonally). I opted to add this quilting only in every second space and I love how it came out!
I used Aurifil 50wt thread in Natural White (2021).
I finished the quilt with Essex Yarn-Dyed Classic Woven in Mustard to match the Spring Rockwood Quilt.
The Paint Lake Quilt
If I had to choose just one TBS Quilt pattern to make for the rest of time, I think this would be it! The Paint Lake Quilt proves over and over to be unbelievably versatile, a gorgeous and satisfying quilt to make and undoubtedly the top selling fabric bundle in the shop!
Check out the original Paint Lake samples I made in this blog post or scroll to see a few I’ve made more recently.
I actually made this quilt back in Spring 2022 and dubbed it a palette cleanser! I had just spent months making (no joke) thousands of half square triangles and I felt like my brain was turning to mush!
This spring-inspired Paint Lake Quilt was the perfect reset. Nothing fussy, only FUN! My goal was to make something fresh and spring-y and the results were delightful!
For all the details about this quilt, make sure to check out this blog post.
For those of you who are ready to make your own spring-inspired quilt, we’ve made things easy for you! There are curated bundles in the shop for the Rockwood, Steep Rock and Paint Lake quilts!
If you make one (or curate your own selection of fabrics), can I please see it? It makes my day when I can check out your TBS quilts! Just make sure to use the #rockwoodquilt, #steeprockquilt and #paintlakequilt hashtags or #blanketstatementpatterns… and you might just get featured on social media or in my newsletter!
Have questions about this pattern or any other ones in the shop? Please reach out to hello@theblanketstatement.ca and we’ll help you out!