Blog Hop Tour for Jackie Kunkel - Splash of Color

Hi there everyone!  

This is a special day...It is Day #2 on Jackie Kunkel's Book Blog Hop tour.  I am delighted to be here showing off her first book.  I am even more proud to have been asked to quilt five...yes 5 quilts in this book.  Jackie is a great lady, a fellow longarmer, and she has a fun book of quilts suited for all abilities which showcase fantastic black & white fabrics, coupled with bold colors.  Who doesn't love those, I ask you?!

She asked me to choose one of the quilts from the book and show my readers a few pictures.  While I love many of them, Proud Mary is the one I chose.  OK, I am partial to this quilt because I did quilt it, but it is also the only one of the 5 I quilted which is in solid fabrics.  All of the custom quilting is not hiding in the print.  Print is a double-edged sword...It is SO gorgeous and textural, but as a quilter it is challenging because we really want our quilted patterns to show.  So, when it comes my time to make a few of the designs in Jackie's book, you know I will be pulling a few bold prints, but mostly the solids!

Here is the full quilt...

This is a 60" lap quilt, but you could easily extend (or reduce) the size by making more of the 6" blocks.  As an experienced piecer, I will say this for the benefit of those who see a curved seam and cringe.  Curved seams at this size are a piece of cake - you can do it!

The pops of color are cottons and batiks.  I love the use of batiks with the black solids because the batiks just glow with color -- kind of like a piece of stained glass.  My photos here show you what I did with the quilting.  I used a single layer of wool batting.  It has more loft, and especially with the prints, it helps the loft of the quilting to show through.  I quilted this using a few shades of Glide 40wt polyester and YLI polished poly thread.  These threads have a slight sheen, and give the surface of the quilt another dimension.

Each quadrant of the circle received some more modern straight-line work, as well as hook feathers, which are not as traditional looking as the plain variety.  Additionally, I chose an aqua thread for the black circles.  White circles had plain old white thread.  The quilting just shows that much more easily on the white.

The background filler on the black is stitched in a deep plum thread.  It shows best on one of the last photos.  It is subtle, but pretty.

Within each colored crossing is a simple design intended to give the space texture and movement, and to break up the linearness of the cross.  These are stitched in a multitude of matching colors.

The white background moves like the wind with that swirly filler!  I can just envision Proud Mary's skirt blowing in the wind as she's hanging out the wash.  Ok...no more dreamtime for me (for the fear all of my readers will know I am nuts!!)

I will be doing a drawing on October 1st.  If you are interested in winning an e-copy  of Jackie's book, leave me a message.  Tell me what fabrics you'd choose for the Proud Mary quilt.   Jackie and I can't wait to give this copy of her book to one lucky winner.  Alternatively, you can go to her website and order your own copy of the book!  She also sells a wicked-fine assortment of the black & white prints, as well as the solids and batiks! NOTE: you must also leave an email address in the comment!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the schedule for other bloggers who are participating in this Book Blog Hop.  Be sure to go and visit each one!  You are bound to get a good view at the quilts in this book (and they are all having give-aways too)!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, September 23,

Jackie Kunkel - Canton Village Quilt Works - http://cvquiltworks.com/blogs/blog

Kate Colleran -  http://seamslikeadream.com/blog/

Pat Sloan -  http://blog.patsloan.com

Thursday, September 24

Sherri McConnell - http://www.aquiltinglife.com

Shelly Pagliai - http://prairiemoonquilts.com/?page_id=2

Margaret Solomon Gunn -  http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

Friday, September 25

Faith Jones -  http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com

Jenny Wilding Cardon - http://blog.shopmartingale.com

Saturday, September 26

Vicki Welsh  - http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com

Pam Viera- McGinnis - http://pamkittymorning.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 27

Pat Wys  - http://www.silverthimblequilt.com/blog/

Sharon McConnell - http://colorgirlquilts.com/blog

Monday, September 28

Julie Sefton -  http://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com

Victoria Findlay Wolfe -   http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 29

Caroline Critchfield - http://www.sewcanshe.com

Amy Ellis - http://amyscreativeside.com/blog/