As graduation season rolled around again this spring, I decided to make another Pixelated Heart quilt, this time for my niece.
This time we decided to go with a blue/navy color pallette, and once again, I think it's a winner! I've officially decided (for the 89th time) you can't go wrong with simple patchwork.
I really loved playing with the variety of shades of blue - it was a fun excuse to pull out tons of blues from my stash and throw them in! Here's a close-up of the variety of fabrics used. I really loved throwing in so much Blue Carolina in this one - both lights and blues!
Also fun to cut up and use low-volume (light tones) prints for the background. A scrappy and playful way to give the quilt some personality and textures, but still a defineable background for the heart. And another good use for busting through some stash.
I was determined to only use what I had already on hand to finish this quilt. The woven navy Riley Blake gingham made the softest, perfect backing! And I used my navy pin dot from Sunnyside Ave for the binding. I think it's a winning combination. 😉
Here's a post explaining how I made my first pixelated patchwork heart quilt last year. I did not come up with this concept, but I'd seen many versions that I loved, so I put a link to pattern and shared the fabric requirements for the version I made in that post.
This one is also sentimental because my oldest daughter helped piece some of the rows before she left on her LDS mission a few months ago. I'm so glad (and mildy impressed) that we had the vision to plan ahead so she could contribute to this quilt for a special cousin, even though she wouldn't be here for graduation in the spring.
Before I gifted the quilt, we (me and my favorite, trusty quilt-holder) drove up to a cool spot in some foothills not far from where we live. At the end of spring wild poppies bloom in a grove of trees up there. I hadn't been for a long time and wanted to see them again.
The foundation of a 115-year-old house are there along with poppies, trees, and a wild yellow rose bush that were planted by those original homeowners. The poppies have been self-sowing ever since and have spread to cover a larger area. It's such a cool spot with a gorgeous view across the valley.
When we took our kids 5 years ago it was a hidden gem - now it's become a bit of a photography stop for lots of family pictures. There were probably 5 family photo shoots going on while we were there. I was the only one with a quilt though, so we were still the weird unique ones. 😉
Here's a picture I took that time we went 5 years ago. A lot fewer people and a lot more poppies back then. It was a particularly dry winter for us this past year, so hopefully more poppies will be back again another year.
While we were there, we randomly ran into a friend of mine who is a professional photographer. So I handed her my camera and she shot this for me! 🙂 It's not too formal - we weren't planning to shoot pictures of ourselves that day - but I like this capture. And at least I'd washed my hair that day.
StoriedQuilts
Love your pixel heart quilt. The navy blue with a sprinkling of bright flowers is just awesome. Great location for pictures too. I've started working on some pixel HST blocks with my bushel of 2.5" scraps. Not sure where that leads to!
Kathleen Mccormick
Beautiful quilt and wonderful your daughter contributed. Such good fortune to run into your photographer friend.
Kay
I love the simplicity of this quilt, I have made cushions intros design but not a quilt yet. How special to have a lovely photo of you both, it is something we rarely seem to get done, we tend to take more photos of the dog the days. x
Danette
So lovely! I'm sure your niece will love this quilt! Also, very cute photos!
Allison
Lovely quilt (love the blue!) and lovely photo of you cuties!!
Barbara Kramer
Such a beautiful quilt! I always enjoy the photos.
Karen Seitz
I always love your photos, and I love the one not taken by you too! 🙂
Mary E. FEE
Love the simplicity! And anything blue ?
Little Quiltsong
What a beautiful picture of you and your husband! Love the spot 'where the poppies grow'. Makes me think of the ones who first planted them and the lovely rose bushes. Gorgeous quilt - and gift! I need to make a smaller version of this - soon :)!
Debbie
Once again, another darling quilt. My youngest daughter had her bridal photos taken there nine years ago. They just celebrated their 9th anniversary this month. Fun to see it again!
Robby H.
Your quilt looks filled with love. We are not huge fans of having our picture taken, so something spontaneous would be preferable for us. I always think the photos of how people mostly look "in real life" capture the true them the best. Y'all look happy together!
Lilpuddin
Love the pixelated heart pattern, and it's spectacular in blues! So far I've made one quilt with a scrappy heart, I've cut out the squares for a traditional white & pink version, and I just bought fabric to do a patriotic pixelated heart quilt. And now you've got me thinking about that lovely blue version ?
CherylB
Beautiful! I always enjoy your quilts and backdrops! YOU started ME on my quilt journey 4 years ago! Your blog being my guide for my first quilting!
And poppies how beautiful.... you just don’t see them that much anymore. An heirloom plant. It reminds me of my grandmothers round bed of them in hues of red and pink
Amy
Oh wow! That is so awesome! I'm so glad you're still enjoying quilting! xo