I kept this fabric pull on my shelf for months before committing to a quilt pattern. Some of the prints are large scale, so I needed pieces large enough to show them off. And, I'm always adding and subtracting fabrics until I actually cut into them. I was pretty sure I wanted to use the Clammy ruler, of which I had bought two at Quiltcon a few years earlier. But, what style? Traditional clamshell? Or orange peel, which I've had on my list for ages? Or, half circles?...in the end, I decided that since I had some low volume prints as well as some really saturated ones, the clamshell was the best choice because I couldn't decide on a background fabric for the orange peel. White would have been out of the question, and what other color would work?
I'm really glad I went with the clamshell. It's a fun pattern, and it's a quick sew when you use the clammy ruler because they're so large. Of course, the painful part of clamshells is the copious waste from cutting them out, especially if you can't nest them because of directional prints or because the cut isn't wide enough. And, since they're so large, I had to put back a few of my fabrics because they weren't wide enough, but they would have worked for the orange peel. And, it's rather painful to trim the quilt when it's time to bind it: Latifah has a couple extra inches all the way around so you can trim it precisely and not lose any points/curves. The finished product is amazing, but man, cutting that much off...it hurts a bit.
I am really thrilled with the finished quilt, though. Once I had it put together, I thought how perfectly me the color scheme is. It's bold but not harsh, and warm with enough coolness...and I got the color distribution pretty even. I love it. So very much.
As far as the pattern goes, sometimes I feel like Latifah's patterns are a tad lacking on the explanations. But she makes up for it with thorough video tutorials easily accessed on youtube and her methods are top notch once you figure it out. She accounts for the little details that make a big difference while not requiring extreme precision.
I backed it with navy minky and bound it with a caramel color I had left over from another project...the travel tags quilt I made a few years ago. It's not a perfect match but I think it works pretty well, and I love clearing out leftovers from my solids drawer. I love the drape and coziness of minky fabric for a backing and this is the current favorite for my girls to snuggle with in the living room right now.
