Shady Directions

I'd like to introduce you to "Shady Directions." I designed this quilt for the winter issue of Modern Patchwork magazine. 

Here's how it was photographed in Modern Patchwork:

I designed the quilt before finding the fabric to use for it--my original plan was to use scraps from dark to light. When I saw the Essentials Gradation collection from Benartex, I knew I'd found an easier (and sleeker) answer. The fabric runs from dark to light in the center and back to dark. So every blue shape you see in the quilt was cut from the same piece of fabric--just cut from strategically valued places! 

I took the quilt outside today to photograph it--the snowy background helps it to pop, as do the vibrant blues and reds!

The quilt itself is easy to assemble--almost like quick corner flying geese--and I really love the sense of movement that the varying shades of each color creates.
I machine quilted it myself--straight lines on the diagonal to go with the pieced arrow designs. After I got it back (right before the holidays), I washed it--I wanted to see the crinkle effect, and you certainly can in this photo!

Here's a close-up of the units as well as the quilting. Love the value changes the fabric creates, as well as the vibrant hues! 

 And speaking of that, let me tell you--I laid out all of the cut pieces into rows to make sure that it truly was going from dark to light--there were many pieces of fabric that looked different depending on where they were placed! One good example of that is the 4th blue from the left above. I guarantee you that if I swapped it with the 5th blue from the left, which in the photo looks darker than #4, they would look "wrong" the other way too. I finally decided to stop making myself crazy and just go with it--the overall effect would be dark to light regardless of whether each individual piece was perfect.

You can find this issue of Modern Patchwork here.

Benartex also featured this quilt and a short interview with me on their blog, Sew in Love with Fabric.

And one last picture, just for fun...before I sent the quilt off for photography, I had to sew a hanging sleeve on the back. I had some "help" while I was working on it--he proclaimed the quilt "modern, yet snuggle-able!"  

:)

Thanks to Modern Patchwork for including my quilt in their winter issue! It's always a thrill to be published!