This weekend was very productive! I finished two quilt tops from my quilt along boxes & a pair of crocheted socks. Today I’m going to talk about the Postcard from Sweden quilt top I finished – the others will be in my monthly roundup. This quilt is all about the color layout & I thought I’d share how I “matched” the colors with different fabrics. I’ll also share some tips for keeping your layout in order as you sew it together.
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Color Layout
This quilt was part of a QAL hosted on the blog Musings of a Menopausal Melon-mmm! quilts . It ran from February to April of this year. The pattern is from Jeli Quilts & you can get it on Craftsy for free. Yay! Here’s what the original quilt looks like:
The pattern comes with a chart of colors to use based on using Kona cottons. I wanted to use the fabric I had on hand to recreate this colorful masterpiece. So, I headed over to a place that has nearly every, single Kona cotton color in stock – Fat Quarter Shop! I simply searched for the color name & saved the color image to my computer. The few that I didn’t find, I found by searching Google. This is my file with the colors in gradient order:
When I saved each image, I labeled it with the number on the chart & the color name. Then I divided the colors into folders based on the color – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, & pink. The first number & letter in my label are based on me organizing the colors. Once I had matched as many as I could from my stash, I realized I would need to fill in some holes!
I ordered Boundless Solids charm packs from Craftsy in these colorways:
The smaller quilt pattern calls for 5″ squares, so charm packs are a great way to get started! Some of these were a bit of a stretch to matching the original color, but I liked the colors together.
Picking out the colors for this quilt took me longer than any quilt I’ve ever made! I wanted to have the same overall feeling of joy in my quilt, but with some prints sprinkled in. : )
Sewing
To make sure I had each HST set correct, I stacked them per the grid that comes with the pattern. Then I labeled each one with the grid location – A1, A2, etc. Once all the HSTs were stitched & stacked, it was time to lay them out to sew together.
This is the last section I sewed together. I broke the quilt into 3 sections of 5 rows. This was mostly because that’s what I could fit on my table without moving too much stuff! There is a handy colored chart included with the pattern to help with placement. You can even use the highlight tool in Adobe Reader to mark off each row as you lay it out.
After each section was laid out, I started folding columns over to stitch. The column on the right folds over onto the column on the left, all the way down the table. Then I stack one column up for stitching, making sure the top two pieces stay on the top of the pile.
Then I can take this pile to the machine & stitch down the right side. I keep them connected & lay them back out on the table. This helps keep the colors in the correct order without lots of labeling. I just continue down the rows until I have all the pairs sewn.
After all the pairs are sewn, I fold over the sets again, keeping everything connected until I have the rows complete. I will use a pin to hold each section together as I add more blocks to it.
Since everything is connected, I can take the whole section to the machine without losing my color order. I just fold over the top row onto the second row & sew it down. Then I fold that over the 3rd row & sew, & so on, & so on. This method really helped me keep all the colors in the right order. The result was a very cheerful & joyful quilt top!
I hope y’all understand my explanation of how I put this together. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m thinking about doing a video using this method, because I use it on most quilts I do. Let me know if you’d like to see that!
Pin it for later!
9 Comments on Finished Flimsy ~ Postcard from Sweden Quilt
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So very lovely! I completely understand your method and it makes perfect sense! I have a Postcard From Sweden flimsy in my sewing room, too, but it’s been there a bit longer. I love how you incorporated prints with the solids in your quilt. Doing that seems to soften the look…a great idea! I’ll be watching to see how you quilt this beauty!
Thank you Kathy! It’s good to know that someone understands what I’m saying ;D I’m going to try to quilt it before the end of the year, but I have a couple of things ahead of it.
LOOOOOOVVVEEEEEE! But then you already know that 🙂
Yes, I do! 😉 It just makes me smile when I look at it!
Love your quilt. It is so bright and cheerful.
Thanks Joyce! 🙂
Wow Kristie I adore your quilt, thanks for explaining the process, when I get some time to myself (yes I’m hopeful that one day soon I will have some me time) I will certainly try this using my scraps. Take care.
I’m glad you found the tips helpful! I hope you find some “me” time soon! 🙂
Hi. This post is the closest help I have found. I want to just use alllll the solids I have on hand instead of buying new. I love the idea of sprinkling with prints. I may start to tackle this today. I just want the finished product to be balanced, but in other versions of HST quilts, there are horizon or ombre looks which are also lovely ideas too. I thought it would be nice to NOT copy the pattern’s layout. But anyway, I have my start, with your file of Kona colors called for and the idea to start matching up like that. Thanks.