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Sunday, May 31, 2020

Sunset Radiance

I've seen the quilts from the annual quilt along hosted by Sandra of mmm! Quilts for the last several years, but never joined in.  This year, though, the design really spoke to me.  And when I learned it could be made with a jelly roll, I knew the stars had aligned.  I had a strip pack of Island Batik's Sunset Blooms that was essentially burning a hole in my pocket, if fabric can do that.


The hardest part of the Centered pattern for me was figuring out the placement of my fabrics.  I used Sandra's coloring chart to figure out placement of the three color families in Sunset Blooms (teals, purples, and yellows) but didn't choose specific fabrics until I cut each block group.  The Quilt Along was perfectly paced and I really like the size of the finished quilt--I like my throw quilts smaller than many, so the 40" square seems really versatile for me--could still be a baby or kid quilt, but can also go over the legs when sitting on the couch or in bed. 



I absolutely love the finished quilt!  If I were starting over, I might keep each corner with exactly the same fabrics instead of the mirrored blocks that I ended up with--I know you can tell it's a little on the scrappy side in the corners where the fabric colors are the same but the prints are different, and I'm not sure I like that as much as I would a consistent corner.  But the limitations of working with a precut is I only had so much of each print. And who knows, maybe if I had done each corner the same I would be wishing I had symmetry!

Bottom Left
Bottom Right
I named this Sunset Radiance, to honor both the name of the fabric line and how the pattern radiates out from the center.  I wanted the quilting to also radiate out from the center.  My original plan was straight lines radiating from the center, much like Sandra did on her original, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it work that I could do and achieve the look I wanted.  So I did a large spiral that starts in the center instead--always one of my favorite quilting motifs, and it's fairly fast to do.  It also gave me the look I wanted of the quilting radiating outward from the center.



I set finishing the top for Sunset Radiance as my One Monthly Goal with Patty at Elm Street Quilts, with the understanding that I was really hoping to complete it.  And I did!  This is my 18th completed project in 2020.


14 comments:

  1. Oh my this is truly stunning. I have my first one as a flimsy not quilted yet but have some spare blocks when I began this,then ran out of one fabric, so think I will fo another with each corner different but have all the outside strips the same.love the spiral quilting that so suits the quilt and Sandra's name :centred".

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  2. This turned out just fabulous Emily!! I love the glow of the quilt, and I really like how you quilted it with the spiral, a perfect contrast to the sharp lines and angles in the quilt, and totally goes with the 'Centred' idea. I, too, love quilts this size for the same reasons as you, but also for my take-to-yoga quilt! I can roll them up to sit upon when I'm leading the meditation and closing sections of my class, and have been glad to throw them over my lap when the thermostat in the room was acting up! I am so glad you joined us this year, thank you for giving of your time to do so, and wow finished 2+ weeks early, yay you!

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  3. Wow! Totally an unexpected version. I never thought of coloring it differently! I really like the corners that are shadow! The circular quilting is just right and looks perfect. Congratulations!

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  4. I like the golden corners and how that just adds to the whole quilt. What a fun finish, Emily!

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  5. It’s beautiful. Love the subtle variations in the blocks.

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  6. We both know you can't go wrong using IB fabrics. Your quilt is so pretty in blues and purples and the spark of yellow just makes it shine more.

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  7. Wow,beautiful quilt, and sew fast! Quilted and all. Love the circle quilting! Eighteen finishes--yay!!!

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  8. Sunset Radiance is gorgeous! Those are really pretty fabrics for the design. I participated in the QAL, too, and ended up with blocks in that same sort of mirror image as you did, and I like the layout that way! I haven't quilted mine yet, but love what you did - thanks for the inspiration!

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  9. Fun quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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  10. Turned out great! Your quilting lines are smooth and so evenly spaced. Well done!

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  11. A beautiful quilt, I love it!
    Feel free to join us at TGIFF party, and at Patchwork & Quilts linky party on Sunday!

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  12. Beautiful finish! The colors are gorgeous. Congrats on another finish. You've been motoring on those this year.

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  13. Lovely. The colours are so pretty & uplifting in this time of turmoil. Glad you joined. Take care, stay safe & hugs from down under.

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