Berry Lime Sublime

It's true: I'm naming this quilt after my favorite Jamba Juice drink. Which I haven't had one for several years because I'm rarely near a Jamba Juice. But I passed a Jamba Juice yesterday (no, this isn't a plug for the company or a sponsored post despite the use of a corporation name three times in three sentences), and had a naming epiphany. So back to the quilt itself....it emerged from two complementary interests: 1) a desire to use off-white (Moda Snow, I believe) as the neutral and 2) a stack of yellow, orange, and green fabrics (the purple inserted itself later -- fabric having a mind of its own, after all).

Square-in-square blacks may be my favorite go-to block. As per usual, I started with a stack of fabrics cut into strips and some sense of which fabrics might serve as the center focal points. Of course, the size of the starting square and variation of surrounding squares can make the center more or less of a focus per se, but that's just another reason why I like the improvisational nature of this block.

The first three blocks were made from only yellow, green, and orange fabrics. Then a piece of the reddish-purple fabric I was using in another project landed on the square and I knew that purple was an absolutely necessary addition. In keeping with my current proclivities, negative space was a must. I made 9 blocks but discarded one when I decided a rectangular layout spoke to me more than a square one (the voices, sometimes you just have to listen to them).

The quilt also grew from its intended size, which meant that my initial plan for the back (which is to say, sans framed panel in the middle, would be too small. A problem, indeed. It was not until I rummaged through my stash to modify the back that I realized the Laura Gunn Lantern Bloom prints matched perfectly. This oversight arises from my stash organization: although most of my fabrics are stored by colorway, I have a separate box that houses the few fabric collections for which I have the majority of prints. Lantern Bloom lives there.

In one of my rare efforts at quilting forethought, I carefully measured the purple tile mosaic print (the big stripe above) to make sure I could use some on the back and have enough left over for the binding. That way, the color-coordinated front and back would also share some fabric. Well, technically the two sides already shared the yellow (from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom) and green (from Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden), but Lime Sublime lacks the pizazz (and taste) of Berry Lime Sublime, so the purple was necessary.

Assuming my courier did his job, the quilt made it to a baby shower for my friends Trevor and Allison last Sunday. Allison's due date is the day before my birthday, but I'm all for sharing birthdays, since the July 27th is such a fine day. And when they head to the hospital, I get to borrow their amazingly sweet and well-behaved dog, Cricket, so it's a pretty win-win situation for all.