Tahoe Quilt and Pattern

The Tahoe quilt is finished and the pattern is being released today!  The Tahoe pattern is now available in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop. 

I have not made an all solid fabric quilt in a while so I was excited to make one.  Tahoe is not only in all solids, but in all blues, my favorite color!  

My version of Tahoe is going to be shipped out to a relative who is undergoing some heath issues.  I hope that they find it to be a hug made of fabric :)

The cover quilt picture below was taken at a pond near my house right after sunrise, you can see a little video I made of the photoshoot on Instagram @MeadowMistDesigns.

FABRICS & MATERIALS

I knew that I wanted to use a dark navy as the background fabric and quickly decided on white for the Irish chain looking parts of the quilt.  Armed with the fabric requirements, I pulled a bunch of fabrics from my stash that I had at least a ½ yard of for Fabrics B and C.  

I laid out the fabrics on the navy and white to see how they would look together.  I settled on more blues!  All of the fabrics I wound up using were Moda Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics.

Fabric A - Bella White Bleached
Fabric B - Bella Capri
Fabric C - Bella Bright Turquise
Bg Fabric - Bella Navy

The blocks are mostly made using strip piecing which makes them sew together very quickly and accurately. 

I bound the quilt in more bright turquoise and used a wide backing by Tula Pink as the backing.

QUILTING PLAN AND DESIGN

When it came down to quilting, my first instinct based mostly on the end use of the quilt (possibly being used in a hospital and being washed a lot) was an allover design.  But when I was thinking about an allover design, I really did not want a light thread on the darker fabrics or a darker thread on the lighter fabrics interfering with the quilt design.

This was one of those quilts that I wanted the thread to match the fabrics so the design could be the star.  

So I decided on a more custom quilting design, but kept it easier with using a more simple design in the majority of the quilt (the navy background).  

Using matching navy Auriful thread in 50 wt, I quilted the background in a stipple / meander design.  I was able to move throughout the quilt between the Irish chain pieces so I was actually able to quilt the entire background without breaking thread (which made the quilting go by really fast).

I switched to my walking foot to quilt a straight line through the white squares using white thread.  I was planning on quilting the fabric B &C areas using a loop design, but then I spied my ruler foot.

I have not ruler foot quilting in a long time, so I changed plans and added an X type design in the block pieces.  You can see the quilting well on the backing.  Have you tried ruler quilting on your domestic machine?  If you are looking to try ruler quilting, I have a post with Five Tips for Successful Ruler Quilting on a Domestic Sewing Machine.

TAHOE PATTERN DETAILS

The Tahoe pattern is written at a confident beginner level. Strip piecing makes the blocks come together quickly and easily and then the blocks are set on-point.

The pattern contains instructions to make a lap sized quilt, about 55 ½" x 63 ½".

Tahoe is on sale in my pattern shop as a digital pattern at a special introductory price of $9.50 through Tuesday, January 26th.  Once you make a Tahoe of your own, you can share it via social media using the hashtag #TahoeQuilt.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.

MANY THANKS

I would like to thank Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl for her amazing tech editing skills and quilting ideas.  I would also like to thank the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting (my favorite!).

ALTERNATIVE COLORWAYS

When I created Tahoe, the first fabric I selected was the dark navy background, then I picked the other colors to compliment the navy.  I wanted to also see how the design looked in light backgrounds and other colors.  Here are some alternative colorways I came up with.

I also played around with using different fabrics in each block.  This would require a little change to the pattern, but I thought it was a fun variation.

PINTEREST 

I have been more and more active on Pinterest (check me out here).  If you would like to save Tahoe for later on your Pinterest boards, here is a pinnable image.

Remember, you can get the Tahoe pattern in the Meadow Mist Designs pattern shop for only $9.50 through Tuesday, January 26th.

In my pattern shop, you can combine this intro sale price with an additional coupon for more savings. Use the code "TWOPATTERNS" for $2 off 2 patterns and "THREEPATTERNS" for $4 off 3 patterns.