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My newest design, a quilt titled "Emerald Cut."  I am quite proud of this one.  Daydreaming one day about nothing at all, the idea hit and hit hard.  I had no intention of entering, making, buying fabric or having anything to do with the Emerald Quilt Challenge, but once the seed was planted, I couldn't help it, it had to be made.

I don't know where the idea came from, but I know I was pondering the color Emerald, and then suddenly, a quilt block constructed in the emerald cut shape!  Then the research began.  What exactly was an emerald cut?  Once that was determined, I drafted a pattern, did a lot of math, ordered a bunch of emerald fabrics from Hawthorne Threads and set to constructing this block.  Three strips sewn together, cut at specific angles, templates developed and then Y seams commenced.  Each corner of this block is a Y seam, and I loved every moment.  My test block turned out perfectly (so I guess I did my math correctly) and I was on a roll!  I was so excited that all that math in high school has finally payed off for something.

After I had constructed six blocks, I stepped back and thought, "What am I doing with these blocks?"  When I ordered my emerald fabrics, I also ordered this beautiful eggplant shot cotton.  I thought if I was making jewels, why not have a jewel tone quilt?  Oh and it helps that purple is my favorite color.  This is my first time working with shot cotton in larger pieces and I will say that I do wish it were thicker, but boy are the results worth it.  So beautiful, it looks different from every direction and in every different lighting, and has such a beautiful hand.  I played with the layout for a while, liked this one the best, so here it is.  My husband does not agree and it bothered him that one was going, "the wrong direction."  I explained that I was really trying hard to make a modern quilt, he didn't get it.  Oh well, you can't win them all over.

Each individual "emerald" measures 8" x 11".  I knew I wanted them to be rather large to be able to showcase the prints, but not too large, I think I found the happy medium.  There are several Art Gallery prints, a shot cotton emerald, a Joel Dewberry print, and a Lizzy House print.  I love how close in range all of the emerald fabrics are and how well they all work together, in my opinion at least.

This quilt top measures 36" x 50" and was made for a specific spot in my house, so yes, the dimensions are a bit odd.  We have this window in our bedroom that is going to be torn out, and for the time being replaced with just plywood until the whole wall is redone, probably a few years from now.  So for the time being, this quilt will hang in that spot to cover up the ugly plywood.  Problem solved!  Hence the size was dictated by the window.

I haven't decided on quilting yet, I've been pondering it for a while.  If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate them.  I did purchase an Eggplant oval elements print for the binding that will reflect the emerald oval elements that appear in the emerald blocks.  I will have a simple pieced back.

I apologize for the tape on the corners and center of my quilt.  Apparently I was trying to photograph this quilt on the windiest day of the year and had to tape it down to keep it from blowing away.  You can still see "movement" in most of the shots, but hopefully not too badly.

I am entering "Emerald Cut" into the Emerald Quilt Challenge sponsored by a.squared.w.  Since this is just a quilt top, I am entering it into the "Just the Top" category and this quilt measures 36" x 50".

I am also playing along with Family Ever After Sew-Vivor Sew-Along, and since the first challenge is Emerald, this quilt top fits right into that category!

At the beginning of the year I stumbled across a great block of the month starting up over at Gen X Quilters.  It is named the Sister's Ten Modern Block of the Month and the finished quilt was presented right up front, no surprises here.  Perfect, I knew what I was getting into!  So I dug through my fabric stash and pulled these wonderful fat quarters from designer Melissa Averinos, the line is named Swoon.  I added in Kona Snow and got ready to start making these blocks.  Each month a new pattern is released, and you make two blocks from the same pattern, just different fabric placement for each.  I am making the 12" version, which will result in a large twin size quilt.

January's blocks are named Grandmother's Frame and had quite a few half square triangles, but it was simple enough.  I love how this block features a rather large fussy cut center.

February's block is named Susannah and the construction of this block was pretty simple and quick.  I love how different each of my blocks look!

I have been keeping up with this block of the month so far, I just forgot to take pictures until recently.  I haven't done March yet, but I think I still have some time!  If you want to follow along and see a TON of great block made by others, you can visit the Flickr group HERE.

I just thought I would pop in to share my fabric choices and first block constructed as part of the Dancing Stars Quilt-Along hosted by Amy Ellis over at Amy's Creative Side.  I only need to make 14 of these blocks because I am making a table runner, and I will not lie, they are time consuming, but I think the result is totally worth it.  It is also nice to brush up on my paper piecing skills.  I am using some Kona solids, this great letter text print and some of my precious Liberty of London fabrics from a swap I participated in last year.  So fun!

The whole family had this terrible stomach virus yuck last week, so it is nice to start a new week fresh and hopefully done with the sickness (fingers crossed!)  Maybe I will actually get some time to make a few more of these blocks.

Interested in joining in this quilt-along?  You can follow along or join over on Flickr.