2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge - Radiant Orchid

I started the New Year out wonderfully by winning this gorgeous bundle of Radiant Orchid fabrics from Hawthorne Threads.  You see I had planned on entering the 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge hosted by On the Windy Side and Play Crafts, but I had a very different idea in my head, that included only one Radiant Orchid print, because honestly I didn't have any of this color in my stash, which is odd because purple and pink are my favorite colors.  Once I won the bundle (thanks so much Hawthorne Threads) a new plan started to form and I immediately ordered three black and gray prints, also from Hawthorne Threads.

I started to sketch, form a plan and design some blocks.  I knew I really wanted a very graphic modern quilt.  One that only featured two colors and a design that was based solely on triangles and arrows.  Right away I realized that some of the blocks were not going to be able to be pieced traditionally and I hoped they could be accomplished by paper piecing them.  Well it worked!  I drafted two different paper pieced blocks for this quilt, totally designed by me!  The "arrow" shaped and the large "zig-zag" blocks are paper pieced.  The rest of the blocks are traditionally pieced, mostly a lot of triangles.

I am so proud of this one.  My first original designed quilt!  She measures 54" x 63," a good lap quilt.  It did take me longer to get the top finished than I originally planned, those paper pieced blocks took a while and then the actual layout of the quilt took longer.  I thought I was being clever by having both 16" and 12" blocks, but when it came time to lay them out, it just wasn't what I had pictured in my head.  Then I decided to turn the blocks on point and voila, it was perfect, except I had a lot of gaps to fill in.  Thus meaning I made a lot of (10 to be exact) 4" x 12" filler blocks.  Oh and all those outside triangles to figure out!

When I was about 3/4 of the way done with the top I realized I was going to run out of my three background prints.  Paper piecing eats through fabric and I had only ordered 1 yard each of the three prints.  I started to panic because I realized I now needed to try and buy more of the three or add in another.  Late one night I started to dig through my stash and found the perfect fourth print, which I had a little less than a yard of, it was the text print seen above.  Actually the four background fabrics are:
Art Gallery Chromatics (the lightest gray print)
Art Gallery Oval Elements (the black print with large ovals)
Timeless Treasures Dream (the black with tiny metallic dots)
Michael Miller Madrona Road by Violet Craft (the black with white text, the one I added last minute!)

I am really glad that I added in the forth background print and since I still had to make a lot of those 4" blocks, plus the outside edge triangles, I was able to blend in that print without it being noticeable that it was a last minute add in!  I used every single print from the Hawthorne Threads bundle, and I tried to scatter the prints throughout the quilt randomly.  Some blocks are more successful than others, but the majority have a high contrast, which I really enjoy.

Oh and I don't want you to think I am some super math genius to figure out the different sized outside triangles, otherwise known as quarter square triangles or setting triangles.  I used a great free app called, The Quilter's Little Helper Essential Quilting Calculators by Robert Kaufman.  This app was a lifesaver and I was able to figure out every one of those triangles without any problems.  I highly recommend it!

Here she is in all her Radiant Orchid beauty!  This is my entry into the 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge - Radiant Orchid hosted by On the Windy Side + Play Crafts.  I am entering it into the "Just The Top" category and it measures 54" x 63."  Click on the little circle below to go and see all the other entries, trust me, there are some beautiful quilts being entered in this competition!

Linking up to My Go-Go Life: Sewjo Saturday!  This was my only finish this week, heck this was the only thing I really worked on this week period!  Glad to have the quilt top done and looking forward to working on new projects!