Reverberate

Sometimes it's really hard to keep a quilt a secret! That's especially true when I really, really love the quilt, like I love this one I'm calling Reverberate 😊 It's even more true when I'm keeping it secret because it's part of a larger project I'm really excited about, like the Stash Artists membership. Thankfully the membership is now open for Founding Members, so I don't have to keep anything secret anymore! Learn all about the Stash Artists membership here.

*** Edited to say the Stash Artists doors are now closed. Join the waitlist now so you don't miss out when they open again! ***

If you follow me on social media, you've seen plenty of sneak peeks of Reverberate, including some that showed almost the whole quilt, but this is the first time I'm actually sharing the full quilt. I love quilt blocks that create secondary patterns, and this one is no exception!

Sometime last year I was invited to submit a block for Benartex's Block Remix page in their newsletter. The block being remixed for that particular newsletter, published in December, was the log cabin block. Of course I said yes, then started playing around with different possibilities. I wanted to play on the repeating lines of the log cabin, and eventually I ended up with the Reverberate block. It doesn't necessarily look much like a log cabin block anymore, but it does still have the repeating lines radiating out from the center.

They only needed a digital mockup of the block for the newsletter, but of course I wanted to actually make the block, and to make enough of them for a quilt. I made the 9 blocks during my 100 Days of Scrappy Sewing, and the fabrics were all pieces leftover from previous projects. There are two different background fabrics, though it's hard to tell, even in person.

I love how the lines seem to suggest soundwaves or the ripples after a stone is dropped into a pond. I also love how they match up with the lines in the neighbouring block in some places and not in others. 

The blocks are assembled with a partial seam, and I wrote a tutorial for that last week. I also made a Reverberate block with a black background for the tutorial, so of course now I want to make a bunch more!

I quilted overlapping spirals, starting in the center of each block, in Aurifil 50 wt thread to match the colour of each block. I thought about using white thread for all of them, or only doing one spiral in white, but chose to go with all the colours mostly for the effect on the back. It's subtle, but I do love the overlapping colours!

Walking foot quilting is not my forte! Those lines are anything but smooth. They're not always the same distance apart, even though I was using the edge of my walking foot as a guide. I started each spiral with my free motion foot, and more than once I considered just finishing the whole spiral with that foot. I know the distance between lines would have been even worse without the edge of the foot to guide me, though, so I always switched back to the walking foot. At one point I sent a friend a message that said, "Every now and then, just randomly, you should send me a message that says, 'Remember, you don't enjoy quilting with your walking foot. Don't do it!'" 

Where the spirals come together, I have some tucks and pleats. I didn't even consider trying to fix them, to be honest. That would have required ripping out too much quilting to be feasible, plus it's a baby quilt. I figure once it's washed the pleats will be even less noticeable, and whatever little one ends up dragging it around and snuggling in it won't care about (or notice) less than perfect quilting. 

Since it's a 36" square, this little quilt let me use another scrap of my Warm and Natural batting. Gradually the pile of offcuts is getting smaller...not small, mind you, but smaller!

I debated for a while what to use for the binding. I considered a scrappy binding, using some of the fabrics in the front. I also considered white, but that didn't seem practical for a baby's quilt. Then I remembered this stripe, designed by Kristy of Quiet Play, and it seemed like the perfect frame. I'm so glad I had enough, though now I only have a piece a couple of inches wide left.

Reverberate is the first Stash Artists pattern, available to Founding Members members right away. You can learn all about the membership here. Stash Artists will be open for Founding Members until July 5th, after which the doors will close, and the Founding Member price will be gone. If you join now, you'll lock in the Founding Member price for as long as you stay a member.

Along with the one I've started with the black background, I'm also thinking Reverberate would make a great Christmas quilt. Or go monochrome and choose all blue fabrics (my choice!) or all whatever your favourite colour is. What colours would you choose for your Reverberate? 

I'm linking with NTT, Beauties Pageant, Finished (or not) Friday, and TGIFF.