When I’m not quilting, or working the day job, I’m dancing. One of the studios I dance at, is holding a benefit show this weekend to help raise money for OnePulse Foundation. I’m really excited for this show and not just because every show this studio does is amazing. This show has given me the opportunity to create some quilts to help those affected by the Pulse shootings last year.
After the Pulse night club shooting, quilters poured their hearts into quilts that would give comfort to those affected. Sadly, at the time, I wasn’t able to. This act of violence hit too close to home for me, as I have some friends who frequent Pulse. As soon as I found out that we were doing a benefit, I started planning quilts for the raffle. After too much time trying to figure out what to make, I decided on two rainbow quilts.
Rainbow Hearts
The first quilt I knew I wanted to do, was a rainbow version of the Tender Hearts quilt. The second time with a pattern always end up better. Except the dark orange all of the hearts are made up from the Moda Marbles fabric line. The dark orange is Grunge Basics Tangerine from Moda. I think the addition of the tangerine makes the rainbow flow better. (Even though I’ve used them before, I’ve fallen in love with Moda fabrics because of this quilt.)
Initially, this was intended to be a lap quilt. Somehow, it turned out to be one of the biggest quilts I’ve ever made. That being said, I’m really happy with how it turned out. I also think this is the best I’ve done on a long arm to date. While doing another quilt, my long arm trainer pointed out I go too fast, which was leading to density problems among other things. With this quilt, I slowed myself down considerably. End result is that the density is exactly what I have been trying to achieve since I started long arming.
Rainbow Bargello
I wanted to do a Bargello quilt as soon as I saw one, but was always too intimidated by them. When deciding what to do for these quilts, I came across this tutorial. This tutorial breaks down Bargellos into something so easy to make! I followed it exactly, using the same fabric and everything. The most difficult part of this quilt was pressing the seams open (I’m a press to the dark side girl) and figuring out how to quilt it.
When it came to quilting, I ended up in my local long arm center with a group of their employees auditioning different colored threads. Initially, I planned to use a rainbow variegated thread, but when we were auditioning threads, it was the first one on the cutting block. Ultimately, I decided on a navy blue thread in an all over loopy meander. I wasn’t sure about the blue thread with the yellows, but I think it turned out fine.
This will be the first time I am present at a raffle of my quilts, and I admit I’m insanely nervous. So far the reaction has been positive. I just hope we can raise a lot of money to help those who have been hurt.
Pole Love: A Benefit for Pulse is Saturday, November 10th at 7pm at Buttercup Pole Dance. If you are interested, I suggest getting tickets soon, since they always sell out.
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