Sunday, December 7, 2014

Colorado Beauty

Since we got back from our Colorado Thanksgiving break, I've been working to finish my very exciting Colorado quilt top. I am very excited to finish and gift this one! I hope it's done in time for Christmas.

I wanted to make a Colorado inspired quilt, and thought it would be a little boring to make a pixelated quilt in the shape of Colorado (a rectangle). I got a lot of inspiration from pinterest, and decided to do a quilt that looked a little like a map of Colorado, with the desert, mountains and plains.
 

I started by making these improve/scrappy squares in different color groups. Red was for the western desert/red rocks, purple & blue for the mountains, and green & orange for the plains. I haven't been quilting for long, so I was very surprised at how many scraps I had from the last 6 months..

 

I turned all of those squares into HSTs and started playing on my design wall. My plan was to have a star where Denver was, and have the rest of the HSTs arranged randomly on the rest of the quilt.


While I was playing, I realized I had made a Colorado Beauty block in the center. I decided to keep it--it went perfectly with my theme :) and I drew up the plan for the entire top.


To plan the top, I printed out a map of Colorado and drew a grid on it. Then marked off my center block (the Colorado Beauty block) in the Denver area. The rest of the HSTs just framed it.

I finished up the top and basted the quilt today:

It was hard to get a good picture in my living room, but I'm really excited about this one.

This quilt represents a lot of firsts for me--my first scrappy quilt and my first roygbiv quilt. I am also in love with the design! I love the colors, the layout, and how this represents Colorful Colorado so well. I am already planning another one for myself, though I don't think I'll do all of the scrappy squares. I need a good rainbow bundle.  

I'll leave you with one more photo of Colorado before I go:

The Flatirons in Boulder
 Happy Sunday!

This week I'll link up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story,  WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced,  NTT Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and the Weekly Inspiration Linky Party at Nini and The Sea

And before I forget, I've also joined instagram (kateyates8). I've been posting a lot more of my WIP posts there, because I'm a lazy blogger :)

22 comments:

  1. What a great finish! Thanks for walking through your thought process; that's my favorite part. You can look at a finished piece, but knowing the story behind it gives it so much more life.

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  2. I love how this came together and that your inadvertently created a Colorado block, how perfect!

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  3. Kate, so beautiful. Really well thought out and it just came together like a dream!!

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  4. This is soooo pretty! I really like your design and I love the scrappiness of the quilt. Isn't it fun to sketch a design and then see it come to life on your wall? :)

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  5. Lovely! Really like the fabric transitions in this!

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  6. How effective!
    You have just given me an idea for a bee block! Ask everyone to make the scrappy blocks. Then, when they are sent in, the queen bee cuts them in half diagonally and adds the solid triangles.

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  7. I loved reading about the story behind your quilt and your design all came together in such a cool way!

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  8. That my dear is gorgeous!

    Come see what I linked up for fabric Tuesday as well. :)

    www.stitchandquilt.com

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  9. I love the stories behind the quilts. It helps understand the quilt design better. Love how you have captured CO in the quilt.

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  10. These projects are fabulous! Can't wait to see what you make for the Stash Bee!

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  11. I love this! I need a few scrappy projects to get rid of my mounting scrap bin and this is so bright and cheerful!

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  12. Very pretty top! Isn't it nice when it all comes together? :)

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  13. I love the color gradient you've got going!

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  14. Love the idea for your Colorado quilt. It's beautiful. I live just outside of Boulder so the Flatirons are a familiar sight.

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  15. I love how you made your HSTs...what a great idea!

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  16. Wow! I love everything about this quilt top! The colors, the scrappiness, the layout, the HST from your square scrappy blocks. Awesome.

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  17. Stuig. What a beauty!!! I love it.

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  18. Great quilt - and I love hearing about your inspiration and how it evolved.

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  19. Awesome. love the scrappy look and the layout.

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  20. Wow! Love the color nd fabric choices! Sew pretty!

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  21. What a great idea to represent the state. Love your colours and the design!

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