Many moons ago, when I was an Island Batik ambassador (2018-2019), I received this lovely collection of fabrics, called Graphic Gems. I was thrilled with the gears and the graphic motifs – but I never made it work with one of the challenges – or maybe I just wanted to save it for me. The colors, well let’s just say they are among my favorite combinations, purples and greens and teals. I held on it until something crossed my path that felt right and it was the Kimberly Quilt Along with Gudrun Erla of GE Designs this past July. You can get the pattern here.
Mock Up in Electric Quilt
I almost always mock up my quilts in Electric Quilt 8. I sometimes am very exact about things, but this can be a bit frustrating with a quilt like this. In reality, I cut and paired colors together and did not replicate the exact matches in Electric Quilt. I could have, but it would have been time consuming. What I prefer to use Electric Quilt for is to see how this will work and not sweat the small stuff. So, I have a mock up and I know it will work….on to the construction.
Construction of the blocks
The blocks were fairly easy to make. The cutting instructions from Gudrun are perfect. I do own a Stripology* ruler but it was in another location so I made do with my other creative grid rulers. Looking at that picture above makes me dizzy! It truly is the hardest part of making this quilt – the trimming of the blocks. I did discuss what saved me, a few weeks ago, in my tips and tutorials post.
Quilting
I choose the Peaceful Swirl from Ann Bright Designs. This is a pattern that can be used in corners…but I wasn’t doing that. I liked adding the curves to the quilt, as the lines are all straight in the piecing.
The design also mimicked the fabric in places, so it turned out even more delightful than I imagined. I set it up with two rows, one indented to make it less “regular” on the quilt, which you can see in the bottom right corner, below. For quilting threads, I used So Fine Lorenzo Lavender and a Wonderful DMB-103 Grey in the bobbin.
My label was added to the back. My binding was once again sewn to the back, and then brought to the front and sewed by machine. It works, and I think it gives the best finish for a machine binding. It is so easy to do it this way when the binding matches the border and there was no need to worry about cutting off points or anything.
The Whole Quilt
I love the way it turned out! I tried a random layout, but I did not like it. It worked better to keep the pairs and the color groupings together, except for a few blocks in the bottom. This is the first time I tried the “remove background” on a quilt – tell me if you like it.
The backing was pieced with another Island Batik fabric inserted. The celery colored fabric came with the collection but worked better as a backing than on the front. I needed a touch of something and that fat quarter fit in perfectly.
Here is the picture before cropping and the remove background. What do you think – do you like it with the remove background? I would work harder to get a flat picture – in the best of all worlds – but already delayed getting this done.
Quilt Stats
Diamond Gears 48″ x 56″
Fabric: Island Batik – Graphic Gems Collection, Celery
Pattern: Kimberly by GE Designs
Threads: Piecing: Aurifil dove for piecing
Quilting: So Fine 50 wt Lorenzo Lavender & Wonderfil Grey Decobobs 80 wt
Batting: Quilter’s Dream Request Cotton*
Coming Up on the Blog
Next week I host TGIFF…so come back and show your finishes. I have a binding to finish on my table runner that I will show you.
A Christmas TableRunner/TGIFF
Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd (12/22/22)
Shades of Blue Blog Hop 1/20/23
Tips and Tutorials 1/22/23
Villa Rosa Blog Hop 1/24/23
Linky Parties
TGIFF
Finished or not Friday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Friday Foto Fun #258
Wednesday Wait Loss
Monday Musings
Kathleen, your quilt turned out beautiful! I think you chose the perfect quilting design for it also. I too have a bit of IB fabric left and should get busy this winter and do at least one quilt! For me it depends on what the background is if it should be removed or not!
It turned out really well, and the quilting design is perfect for the quilt. What a fun finish!
It looks great! I love these colors, too, and swirling quilting is perfect!
I love how this turned out, Kathleen! And I really love that line! I wish they would bring it back again!! Great job! The quilting motif is perfect!! And I love the little monster you created from the trimmings! Cute!
Kathleen it is stunning! I love the peaceful swirls, and it’s good to know I can use a panto on my quilts that is intended for borders – I am learning new things! I kind of like seeing your real background! 😀
Fantastic quilt!!! I love how you paired all the fabrics! It looks great! And, I’m like you, if the quilt has all straight lines, I want curves on it! Great choice for quilting!!!
oh that’s so pretty! I admire your quilting and set up, looking out the window now and then must rest your eyes. Speaking of eyes…. the scrap monster is adorable
LeeAnna
What a pretty quilt you ended up with, Kathleen! I’ve never made a quilt from GE Designs, but I have used her Stripology ruler. Such a time saver!
Hi Kathleen! That’s quite a range of years for being an IBA! I think you ended in 2019? Gosh, those fabrics are Gorgeous!!! I’m sorry you saved them but you found the perfect pattern to let them shine. The quilting design is perfect, too – those swirls are found throughout those lovely batiks. And what a nice loose design it is. The end result is a beauty – and I love that ‘remove background’ feature. That’s cool! I wonder how you did that??!! {{Hugs}} a bunch. ~smile~ Roseanne
Ooh, beautiful finish and I always love to see how similar a quilt finish can be to the mockup. 🙂
Congrats on the very pretty finish! In this case, I don’t find the background distracting. 🙂
Great finish Kathleen. Love those purples and the block is perfect. Swirly quilting is perfect on that fabric.
Wonderful Kimberly finish, Kathleen! Great choice for quilting too–love those swirls! I just quilted a Kimberly quilt for my quilt friend yesterday so watch for it on my blog soon. My own Kimberly quilt just came off the bed to make way for a flannel winter quilt.
What a fabulous finish, Kathleen! Your swirl quilting is the perfect complement to the fabrics 🙂
Oh what a great finish!!! THose are some of my favorite colors too and you used them wonderfully!!!
What a lovely quilt! Such a pretty collection. Thanks for sharing on my weekly linkup, Wednesday Wait Loss.
PS: Thanks for linking up with Monday Musings!!