umbrella prints trimmings quilt

I’ve seen so many cool things come out of the umbrella prints trimmings contests of past years. So glad I got to take part this year!

I bought two packets of trimmings – one for now and one for later – and decided to use the rust/salmon/coral packet in my quilt.

I didn’t immediately know where I wanted to go with the project, so my packet waited on the bedside table. Then Lynn’s book, Every Last Piece and Sherri Lynn’s book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters arrived at my house at about the same time. The resulting quilt is a mash-up – it’s what I’d make under their collective influence!

My quilt uses the flying geese modern block score from Sherri’s book and uses the ring layout of one simple shape from Lynn’s pattern, “Don’t Fence Me In”. Both authors encourage you to play and to try different takes on their techniques and patterns, which I really appreciate. It’s good when a book inspires you to do your own thing. And, for goodness sake, I really like both those women.

I surprised myself by picking up the gold colors from the packet. The trimmings I got would have looked equally beautiful in a more neutral (ahem, gray) quilt. But, I had this Robert Kaufman dotted denim that I had been thinking of using with a hand print, and I really really like it, so it seemed perfect. And that denim and salmon and gold all really liked each other.

Thanks to umbrella prints for putting on a fun contest. I’ve seen some of the other entries so far and they are really great. Can’t wait to see the rest!