Spectrum Quilt using RBD Small Gingham

I know it’s summer already, but I gotta catch up on all of my quilt posts 😉

It was the dead of winter here in Columbus and I was in desperate need of a pick-me-up. The Spectrum Quilt pattern popped up on Riley Blake Designs (RBD) blog and I knew it was going to be my next project….especially since I had a FQ stack of Rainbow RDB Gingham sitting on my shelf!  (*Make sure you scroll down through the comments on the blog post. There is an edit to the instructions there!)

This is a perfect project for a beginning quilter…Lots of plain squares and enough Half-Square Triangles (HSTs) to challenge you. But the quarter turn of the squares make it so visually interesting and sets it apart from “another” block quilt. You eventually have to cut off a bunch of triangles to square the quilt off, but I’m sure the more ambitious can bind around all the angles…not me yet!

Laid out and Ready to Piece

An Aqua Medium Chevron Wideback (not pictured) from RBD was used as the backing. It was so perfect because the Aqua gave the Rainbow a “Sky.” The binding was made of Architextures Grid in Shadow by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman. The binding reminded me of the clouds and was a great neutral for all the colors in the quilt.

Spectrum Quilt Close-Up

The hardest part of this project was the quilting for me….it’s always the quilting! I’m not very good at Free Motion Quilting (but I’m working on it!) and thus why you see lots of straight-lines in most of my other projects. In this case, I used a template to draw out all of my “Rainbow” curves. It was long and tedious. Using my waking foot to quilt this all was even longer…I’m talking the entire winter season. No joke.

In the end, I love this quilt. It’s a bright and cheery rainbow….and who doesn’t love a rainbow?!? However, my most important lesson learned: I need to find a long-arm quilting friend ASAP…or work on my FMQ skills 😉

Spectrum Quilt Side-view

This quilt has been donated to my dear childhood friend, Capri, who is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society‘ Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter and is a finalist for their Man/Woman of the Year Campaign. It will be on silent AND online auction at the Grand Finale Gala on June 13, 2015. If you are interested in donating to the cause, please visit Capri’s donation page here….

This is truly the best part of sewing.  I love being able to use my craft to give back.  How have you used your sewing to give back???

Hugs and Stitches,

Cristy