I’ve been on a quest for 35 years. My goal is to fill out my stash with every color, every shade and tint and hue and value so that when I need something for a project, it is (somewhere) on my shelf. Lately I’ve been filling in the last few slots from the eQuilter scrap bin. As I get ready for a weeklong artist retreat, I have a sense of urgency.
As new color trends and unique color combinations catch my eye, I have to review my stash. A little Plum here, a little Marigold there, and maybe a little Deep Teal and Sprout Green too. Am I done yet? Never. That is half the fun of being a quilter, if I dare say so myself. It is the eternal quest for the perfect color. It never ends, but it is a noble quest.
For those of you on a similar quest, we try to help out by cutting our own special collections of fat quarters in house. I am the one who initiates a new fat quarter packet, and chooses the colors that go into these collections that will hopefully scratch that particular chromatic itch we all get now and then.
This week I am featuring another quilt from the Modern Quilt Guild’s festival – QuiltCon. This cheerful quilt (upper left quadrant of collage above) is more fun than a Spring garden, with pieced blocks that resemble an ombre gradient. It illustrates a warm analogous color story that warms us like sunshine and tulips…chirping robins and giggling babies.
Heather Akerberg is the quiltmaker for this piece, which she titled “Multitudes”. Karen McTavish also helped with the machine quilting, and Heather added some hand quilting.
Heather writes:
“Our unique experiences, thoughts, beliefs and memories all inform who we are at any given moment. We are multitudes. Utilizing simple shapes, this quilt explores how our identities are layered and varied. Using shifts in value and hue, vibrancy and depth are created. ‘Multitudes’ was constructed using a mix of foundation paper and traditional piecing with a mix of shot cotton and quilting cotton, mostly from my scrap bins.”
You can see a larger image of this quilt on this page.
Be sure to check out my photos from QuiltCon 2024!
If you have not subscribed to my artist blog yet, follow this link to see my latest process post about a Fierce Mama Bear art quilt, made for the SAQA Spotlight auction.
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
* Quilt by Heather Akerberg is set im a collage of Fat Quarter images, available now at eQuilter.com
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Travel/Quilt Dates:
April 7-12 – Allegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 1-7 – London & Canterbury, UK
August – World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy
