This is part of a series of posts about my new book, Modern Patchwork. You can read more here.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but Escape Artist may be my favorite quilt from Modern Patchwork. I had been playing with the design idea for a while, thinking about things like screens, fences, and woven construction paper placemats.
I liked the idea of having the one strip in each block made in a contrasting fabric - as though it could be pulled right out of the composition.
My original design for this quilt was just the white and charcoal blocks, but I feel like the contrasting turquoise and white block that I added at the last minute really pulls things together.
Escape Artist quilt back.
I liked the contrasting block so much that I made the quilt back into a gigantic version of it. The quilt back block is exactly the same proportions, but 300% larger than the blocks on the front of the quilt.
I love how having so much turquoise on the back means there's a great pop of color every time one of the edges of the quilt flips over to the front!
When I have a quilt like Escape Artist, with areas of both very light and very dark fabrics, I almost always choose quilting thread that matches the lightest color. With bold, graphic quilts like this one, I find that going with the lighter color for allover quilting is the best way to maintain the integrity of the negative space and the crispness of the pieced shapes.
Quilting detail of Escape Artist.
The white quilting stitches in the Escape Artist quilt are visible when you look closely at the piecing, but I don't think they detract from the quilt design the way darker stitches on white would have.
Glam Garlands quilt.
Glam Garlands is another quilt where quilting with white thread helped to create bold, white negative space.
Glam Garlands quilt back.
All of the quilts in Modern Patchwork have a coordinating back that somehow relates to the design on the front of the quilt. In the case of Glam Garlands, I used the same sizes and shapes of colorful pieces from the quilt top, but put them together in a different way.
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Would you like to win a copy of the book?
Today's prize package includes a copy of Modern Patchwork, templates for the Happy Hour quilt from Jill at Tabslot, and 3 Kona Solid fat eighth bundles inspired by the Escape Artist, Happy Hour, and Glam Garlands quilts. (The bundles include some of the new, not-yet-in-stores, colors. Thanks, Robert Kaufman!)
Escape Artist bundle includes: Kona White, Medium Gray, Charcoal, Pepper, Turquoise, Lagoon, Peacock, and Teal Blue
Happy Hour bundle includes: Kona Mushroom, Ash, Cerise, Berry, Dark Violet, Jade Green, Caribbean, and Emerald.
Glam Garlands bundle includes: Kona Amber, Corn Yellow, Citrus, Peapod, Chartreuse, White, Steel, and Iron.
To enter the giveaway drawing, leave a comment on this post. Comments will be open through Friday. A random winner will be selected and announced on Saturday. Good luck!
