Exciting News!

 A few months ago, I was approached by Michael Oakshott to collaborate on designing a pattern that used their new bundle of fabrics, Jett. Jett is a bundle of twelve fabrics with black as the weft. If you are not familiar with shot cottons, there are usually two different colors. The warp threads run parallel to the selvages, and the weft threads run perpendicular to the selvages. It gives a beautiful depth and luminosity to the fabrics, and they are definitely my very favorite fabrics to use in my quilts. This was an unbelievable opportunity for me. 

You can read the back story on Jettstream and its precursor, Color Commotion, here.

I knew the launch of the fabric bundle, pattern, and kit was soon, but I did not know it was going to be today!. What a fun surprise to open this up in my email. (Note: These links do not work because I just copied the email, but if you want to check it out, here is the link to the Oakshott website.)

 

 

 

Jett & Jettstream

A brand new palette and a stunning project to make.

Meet Jettstream, an exciting new design from Cindy Wiens that shows off to perfection the richness of our new Jett palette.

Jett comprises 12 colours sharing a black weft. See how well they work together, so you never need worry about colour combining. Jett comes in Fat 8ths and Fat Quarter bundles.

For Jettstream, Cindy chose black for the lattice and binding. It beautifully complements the individual shades, enhancing their depth and 'movement' as they catch the light.

INTRO OFFER: buy before Sunday 30 October and get 10% OFF.

JETT BUNDLES

JETTSTREAM QUILT

 

 

 

 

More from Cindy: 'Sunny Disposition'

We love hearing the back stories of your makes. Here's a classic:

Things about this quilt: (1) I never ever intended to make a yellow quilt. But that saturated color just worked with the gorgeous, luminous shot cottons.

(2) I don't think I've ever had to work so hard to make one border flow to the next... there were many times the quilt screamed "No!! Go back to the drawing board and try again!"

But once it worked, it worked well.

Read more on Cindy's blog and see her work in our Inspiration Gallery.

Thanks to Oakshott for this amazing opportunity. I look forward to making many more beautiful quilts from your fabric.

 

 

Going Back in Time, Part 2: Color Commotion and Jettstream

 COLOR COMMOTION

 Anyone who knows me at all from a quilting perspective knows that my favorite fabric of all time is Oakshott shot cotton.

I have been privileged to correspond fairly frequently with the owner of Oakshott, Michael Oakshott himself, who is extremely generous. He gave me a deep discount when I made an MCC quilt one year using Oakshott, and when I place an order I will often find "surprises" that he has included. 

He contacted me earlier in the year about a possible collaboration using a bundle that is slated to be called Jett. 

He sent a bundle of 12 colors, with the color threads going one direction, woven with black in the other direction (the warp and weft). One thing I love about Oakshott fabrics is that their dimensions are all larger than the quilting cottons we buy here in the US. For example, we purchase fabric by the yard, which is anywhere from  40" to 44" wide, a fat quarter is about 18" x 22" and a fat eighth is 9" x 11". Oakshott is woven by the meter and is 54" wide. So their fat eighths are a generous 10" x 27" and fat quarters are 19.5" x 27".

I had decided that my Charm Parade pattern would once again work nicely with these fabrics. Each block would have four different colors, with a consistent "lattice" strip of black to tie everything together. 

I made quite a few blocks before I realized that Michael had sent me a generous amount of fabric. 

I sketched the layout to see what it would take to make 20 blocks, cutting the fabric to the exact dimension that would be sold as a fat eighth, and realized I was short the fabric needed to cut the center square. By the time I realized this dilemma, I had made all the blocks. What should I do? 

I decided that the easy solution was to remake all the blocks and use black in the center of each block. And I decided I liked this version much better anyway.

Then I decided to go all out and add a border to this one. I had this cool batik that had a lot of colors that were in the blocks. Ugh.

I switched it to black. Ahh...so much better. If you are wondering what the color is in the black border--I had Darby quilt with colorful variegated thread--just to add a little more "color commotion." 

I had some great fabric in my stash for the backing. Also, a cute label.

We took the quilt along on our trip to Oregon in July 2022, and in this small town of Point Arena we found this colorful mural.

It was a windy afternoon but we got some fun shots.

Title: Color Commotion

Pattern by: Me (a Charm Parade variation)

Date Completed: 2022

Size: 46" x 56"

Quilted by: Darby Myers

JETTSTREAM

Jettstream is a collaboration with Oakshott Fabrics. I rewrote my Charm Parade pattern to specifically use a fat eighth bundle of Oakshott called Jett. 

It's "sister quilt," Color Commotion, uses the same fabric, but the center squares are each a different color rather than black. I actually like this version better as I think the black calms everything down a little.

The Charm Parade block is a simple one and gives you the opportunity to play around with color. It then creates a secondary design where the blocks come together.

I  put the extra blocks on the back, including a couple from Color Commotion. Also, notice the cute label.

When we were in Mendocino, California, in July 2022, we passed a temple and knew it was perfect as a backdrop.

Title: Jettstream

Pattern by: Me (Charm Parade variation)

Date Completed: 2022

Size: 40" x 50"

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Sunny Disposition

 I began English paper piecing these blocks in 2017, a pattern called Mischief by Karen Tripp. The center fabric is a batik that spans the rainbow and I tried to use as many colors as possible and then chose coordinating Oakshott shot cottons. 

When I had 25 blocks, I decided that was enough for a center medallion. But what color to use for the background? 

Cream? No. Way too boring.

Clear yellow? Nope. 

At one point I even thought maybe the batik would work. Again, nope.

I needed something vibrant, something that would make the gorgeous Oakshott fabrics sing. I had a fat quarter of Kona Cotton in Grellow and as soon as I tried it, I knew it was the winner.

I pieced the center medallion and was thrilled with it.

But what to do for the next step? I had some Kaffe Fassett stripes and I thought that might work as the next step. Overpowering.

Smaller striped border, then dark green border and then checkerboard? Still not right.

My dear friend, Elizabeth (opquilt.com) came to the rescue with the idea of staying with the yellow and making 3" square-in-a-square blocks. Brilliant.

Now what? Shades of purple? Green? Stripes? I was fixed on that stripe and kept trying to work it in, but it just wasn't right.

I decided to keep going with the yellow. And added a skinny turquoise border before the next pieced border.

I decided to pull a shape that already existed in the quilt as inspiration--the hexagon in the center of the original Mischief blocks, but to use just half the hexie and make a gradation of colors, then another skinny yellow border and finally the striped border I had wanted to use way back in the beginning. 

I felt like it needed just one more pieced border, so I got out my graph paper and started sketching some ideas. Again, I used an element already in the quilt as inspiration, the square-in-a-square blocks, and then finished with another skinny border of the Kaffe stripe. 

Things about this quilt: (1) I never ever intended to make a yellow quilt. But that saturated color just worked with the gorgeous, luminous shot cottons. (2) I don't think I've ever had to work so hard to make one border flow to the next--each took so much trial and error and there were many times the quilt screamed at me "No!! Go back to the drawing board and try again!"

But once it worked, it worked well.

I do not often get quilts custom quilted, but this quilt definitely deserved a special touch. And did Dawn Haldeman ever deliver! It is absolutely stunning. So many beautiful details.

I used some of my favorite Anna Maria Horner prints for the backing.

This quilt required me to really think of design elements and it paid off. My mood was not always sunny while working on it, but now that it's done, it makes me so happy.

Quilt: Sunny Disposition

Pattern by: Center blocks--Mischief by Karen Tripp, remainder of quilt designed by Cindy Wiens

Date Completed: 2022

Size: 50" x 50"

Quilted by: Dawn Haldeman