Glam Clam Quilt

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. 

Birds of a Feather (a Glare quilt)

I've finally finished my quilt from Sewtopia! Latifah Saafir taught her Glare quilt pattern, and I was excited about it. Latifah's patterns are graphic and modern, and I already had several patterns and templates. When I decided on fabric for the project, I wanted to make sure I used a focal print that the large centers would really show off. I opted for Tula Pink's Daydreamers flamingos. And from there, it just kinda snowballed. I ended up using exclusively Daydreamers fabric for the quilt, and even used Tula Pink solids for the alternating blades and background. I don't think I've EVER made a quilt from exclusively one line. I always mix in other fabrics even if it is primarily from one fabric line. But I don't often use Tula Pink fabric. When my friends saw my quilt, they said how unlike me it was. I disagree, I think, but I can see where they are coming from. Even thought the Daydreamer line doesn't have the garish clashing colors that some of Tula's lines have, it is ALL BRIGHT, and my quilts tend to be at least a little tempered. 

I really love how it turned out, though, and my kids fight over it right now, even though I backed it with a Tula wide back instead of the usual minky. I love how the rounded corners give it a little extra something, and that it wasn't that hard to bind. 

This quit pattern was a fun one to sew and went together relatively quickly. The blocks are large. It does take some finessing, some getting used to the technique, and I did do some unpicking. It's interesting that on curves, the way you iron (whether toward the curve or away from the curve) can impact the puckering, and not every circle was the same. 

I would definitely make this pattern again. I loved how it turned out and would love to try out some different fabric choices. I used the background fabric as some blade fabric as well on a couple of the blocks and hoped it would blend into the background to make it appear more spiky, and I'd love to try that with all the blocks, to give it a feel like the suns we all used to draw in elementary school. I think that would be cool.