For weeks now I've been admiring on Instagram and in the blogging world the progress of several quilters as they have played along in the Rainbow Rose Quilt Along hosted by Modern Quilters Ireland.
I was the shy little kid in the shadows of the playground to scared to take the plunge because I knew my stash is lacking in some color varieties. It's not that I don't own all the colors of the rainbow. I do paint with all the colors of the wind. It's just all of my oranges seem to fall within the same shade of red orange and a rainbow needs a little yellow orange too. So I decided to live vicariously through all of my friends and set this one out.
Enter my quilty BFF, Sandra from mmmquilts. She just happen to ask one day in passing if I was participating in the Rainbow Rose and I explained how much I loved the idea of creating a rainbow themed quilt but my stash just didn't quite support the color transitions. She asked if I wanted her to cut me squares as she cut hers (how could you not love her??) and I told her I appreciated it, but I would just set this one out. About a week later I received a package in the mail...from Sandra. My first thought, was Awesome! She must have sent Cindy's round robin block to me early, meaning I could get started. (If you haven't read about our mini round robin hop over and check out my post here) But no.
She actually sent me 40 squares! I could not wait till the weekend when I could dive into them. Since my stash was already spread across the floor from my fabric pull for a heart quilt to send to Orlando, I decided to pull a few of my fabrics to see how they played with Sandra's.
Step one, creating the middle pieces, went together very quickly. The middle sections consisted of simple squares and HST's in the colors of yellow, turquoise, purple and red. The hardest part was figuring out my background fabric. I'm fibbing, it was easy. I immediately went for some FQ's in Zen Chick Modern Backgrounds-paper.
Then came the actual hard part. Step 2, piecing the corners. The corners would be the transition colors. The flow of how one goes from red to yellow, which is orange, but finding shades of red orange down to yellow orange (remember I said I was lacking).
Sandra's squares where the perfect fillers to bridge the gaps in my stash! I actually didn't take a lot of pictures during the construction phase of this project because I was so engrossed in the process.
Step 3 would be to create the center star. This step flew by before I realized I didn't photograph it at all. Basically, I pulled from left over triangles to create the center.
And low and behold, I think I went from being three weeks behind to one week ahead. I had to piece it together. I had to see her in all of her glory. I just couldn't help it.
A storm had just rolled through, but the sun and a breeze came out and allowed me to take a few pictures. So this is the rainbow after the storm. (If you have some good vibes and prayers to spare, please send them WV's way. The storms that rolled through our area have been devastating to the southern part of the state. We were extremely lucky in the north central area.)
A huge thanks to Sandra for being kind enough to share part of her stash with me! This quilt would not have been possible without her generous heart. Also, Sandra was the Desire to Inspire Designer over at Henry Glass Fabrics this month. She did an amazing job creating wonderful quilted projects using the Better at the Lake Collection. If you have a free moment hop over to Henry Glass Fabrics and get to know this amazing talented lady and check out everything she was able to create this month! You will not be sorry.
This quilt isn't quite close to done, but I love it soooo much. I can hear the little spools of Aurifil thread calling it's name. It's just begging to be quilted. But it must wait just a bit longer. All good things come in time.
This quilt isn't quite close to done, but I love it soooo much. I can hear the little spools of Aurifil thread calling it's name. It's just begging to be quilted. But it must wait just a bit longer. All good things come in time.
Today I'm linking up with TGIFF and Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!
24 comments:
I love how Sandra helped push you over the edge on this one. :) It looks beautiful and I love that we both have such stained glass like photos of the finished quilt tops.
A Rainbow floating in the wind, so beautiful. Friends are better than any diamond. Ditto to Yvonne's comment.
So lovely Tish!!!
Yay Sandra! And good for you for taking the plunge!! It's another beautiful Rainbow Rose.
Beautiful Tish. I love the background.
Quilty friends are just the best! Thanks to Sandra for helping, and yay to you for forging ahead. You now have a beautiful rainbow quilt and you'll smile whenever you look at it because of all the good vibes sent by Sandra!
It's gorgeous! Sandra is a doll!
How special that Sandra helped you with this one. It is lovely.
Quilty friends are the best! I love the next to last picture! Beautiful!
How à propos that you got the shot of your rainbow after the storm. I LOVE it! I love that some of my stash mixed in so well (was there ever any doubt?) with yours. Like I said to you, I love yours more than mine! Thanks for the Henry Glass Challenge shout-out! ;-)
What a great friend! I've been admiring these as they start to appear all over blogland as well. I didn't realise it was so big! You've done a lovely job with yours.
Thanks a million for quilting a long! I loved reading this and fair play to Sandra for sharing - it looks gorgeous!
How did I miss this? I sorted out some batiks today, just in case I do manage to start/ sew along/ or by a miracle even finish it. It is a stunning pattern , and love your surprise in the mail., that is really true friendship.
What a sweet friend. And the quilt looks stunning! I love when a project comes together quickly. Have a great weekend!
I have been watching this through IG too! I'm so happy you jumped in with a little help from a friend!! You are so lucky to have Sandra in your life...you guys are two peas in a pod!
Aren't quilty friends the best :) Great rainbow rose finish
Your quilt top is GORGEOUS!! How wonderful of Sandra to share fabric with you. There are so many quilters whom I'd hire in a heartbeat to go fabric shopping with me, I am that enamored of their stash!
Your Rainbow Rose is just so pretty...as is Sandra's. I'm very proud of her Desire to Inspire projects...I think they are just "so her!"---lovely, practical and fun.
That photo with the light shining through your Rainbow Rose is simply gorgeous Tish!
Sandra is a total sweetheart - how wonderful that she sent you the squares needed to get you started on this quilt!
Great photo! I really like the rainbow combined with the low volume prints.
This is absolutely gorgeous! And how can you go wrong with Zen Chic backgrounds?
What a lovely gift. Your quilt is beautiful!
I am still trying to grasp the act that Sandra cut and sent you 40 squares!!! I was supremely jealous for five seconds and then I saw my OM mini. All is well with the world. Loving the rainbow rose and looking forward to the finished quilt.
Hugs,
Preeti.
It's a gorgeous quilt, I agree that Sandra is a wonderful lady!!
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