My longarm has been busy, busy, busy lately! My closet is full of hanging quilt tops, each of which I’m eager to see transformed with texture into a dimensional object. I so enjoy this collaborative aspect of my business because others makers are endlessly inspiring. Come see some rainbow-themed projects that I've been blessed to quilt in recent weeks. May your rainy days be filled with color!

Scrappy Rainbow quilt by Andrea W.

Let’s kick of this rainbow edition of “in the Quilting Studio” with a glorious rainbow scrap project created by Andrea @andreanaeht. This quilt is made from many small scraps, including the low-volume fabrics that serve as a sort of frame. The scraps are organized like a coin quilt, with stacks of rectangle coins set in long columns.

By setting her scraps in rainbow order, Andrea creates easy organization to tame this riot of color, meanwhile the low-volume edge gives the eye a place to rest.

For quilting I suggested Crystal Ball longarm quilting, a somewhat dense style with a deliciously tactile effect. It reinforces the many, many seams in this patchwork while emphasizing the vertical movement.

Quite frankly, this quilt is a favorite! It urges me to return to the magic of rainbow scraps soon.

Awesome Ocean by Liesbeth T.

Liesbeth @liesbethtjaaquilts made this beauty using the Awesome Ocean pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. The rainbow gradient glows with gentle color.

She used a linen fabric for the background. Linen offers a lovely texture, but it can be a difficult fabric for patchwork. It shifts quite a lot and unravels easily. Thus, we agreed a denser quilting motif would be desirable to make the quilt more durable.

I love the Curls Allover design for quilts with an ocean vibe. It’s such a beautiful, organic pattern with loads of movement. By chance a couple of these whales look like they have fantastic water spouts, haha!

If you’re keen to make an Awesome Ocean quilt but don’t want to take the time to choose a rainbow of fabrics yourself, there is a quilt kit available at Fat Quarter Shop, fyi.

Sponsor of the Week

Purple Stitches

Searching for rainbows on a cloudy day? You don’t have to look far! Find Libs Elliott Phosphor 10 and Tainted Love bundles at UK-based Purple Stitches.

Glam Clam by Marieke Baas

Next up is a large-scale clamshell quilt from @MariekeBaas. The pattern is called Glam Clam by Latifa Saafir. I met Marieke when we first moved to The Netherlands at a Dutch Modern Quilt Guild meeting. She has a fun, modern style, so I was very intrigued when she contact me about quilting.

It was Marieke’s idea to custom quit this little quilt with a pattern to emphasize each clam. I suggested Clamshell Fan, a pattern I usually use in an all-over style. This time I mapped each quilting clam to a corresponding patchwork clam. It was a bit of a laborious process, but the outcome makes it all worthwhile.

Criss Cross by Andrea W.

Let’s round out our rainbow collection today with a minimalistic spin on this popular theme. Andrea @andreanaeht is back again, this time with itty bitty solid rainbow pieces criss-crossing a sea of white.

With so much negative space, custom quilting was a logical conclusion. The Trellis motif adorns each white square.

Choosing a motif for quilting in that super thin sashing was a bit of a challenge. I often choose sashing designs after the main design is set, since the style of the main motif gives direction for the sashing. In this case Trellis inspired me to use this pointy diamond shape as sashing quilting for the very first time. I love how it meets beautifully at the intersections of the sashing!

A happy solution!

Would you like help finishing your project? New orders will be quilted in November. Please be in touch if you have any questions or start the process off by placing your order. I can’t wait to see YOUR quilt!