Chasing the Sun - Introduction

This is so exciting!  Where has this past year gone?  I cannot believe it is time to release my second mystery quilt.  I'm so excited that you are choosing to take this journey with me and have some fun along the way.  If you are new to mysteries, please give this a shot.  I PROMISE it will not be difficult and that we will have fun together throughout the process.

We have formed a Facebook group for those doing this mystery.  Please join in and share your progress.  Here is the link to the group:  Chasing the Sun Quilt Mystery

Last year Ribbons of Love produced so many absolutely beautiful quilts and I feel fortunate that about 200 people made my quilt.  What a great beginning as a designer and I have had the honor of either signing or being photographed with many of them.  I could not be more honored or humbled by your willingness to make this journey with me.

 Are you ready?  I know I am.  I could not be more in love with this pattern if I tried and the colors . . . . oh the wonder of these colors.  Rich, rich, rich.  Let's get started.

This past year it seemed as though every time I turned my head I was presented with the wonder of either a sunrise or sunset.  From the Surfside Beach, to Brazos House, to Montana, to Colorado and so on.  I was given glimpses of majesty from the ground and the air.  In fact, it was in the air that this idea literally took flight.  I was literally chasing the sun my whole flight and it was a magnificent way to fly.

Sunrises and sunsets have always played a role in my life.  No matter how rough things got, I could look at one and be at peace again.  The majesty and glory of them simply speak to my soul.  Now -- let them speak to you and put your soul at peace as you embrace their hues and tones.  Remember that no two sunsets are alike and thus - no two mystery quilts will be exactly the same either.

I posted so many sunrise/sunset pictures that I thought for sure everyone would figure out what I was doing.  The logo picture at the top is a sunset in Sweden, taken by my good friend, Michael Gehrisch and epitomizes most of the colors that I wished to use.  With that being said, obviously they are not the only colors in a sunset so I will give you a few options to get your own creative juices flowing.  Just notice all the differences in the pictures here and you will see what I am talking about.

Even my photographer friends starting posting pictures.  This one is from a friend in Sweden.  I truly love these colors too.  They are so rich and warming.

The Dallas Zoo

And then, even today:  my hometown of Billings, Mt.  Ah yes, the colors I love.

Once I was really into this, I started thinking about a panel for the back.  Seriously.  Wouldn't it just be a perfect statement.  After some searching, I found two by Hoffman and ordered them without looking back.  They are both fantastic and one will go on my scrappy quilt back while the other will grace the back of the constant one.  Aren't they wonderful?  The one on the left plays into my own personal color scheme more than the one on the right but I love them both.

It's was time to go get paint cards and so Mister and I hit up Home Depot.












Okay, okay.  I hear you.  "Get with the colors already chicka."  Here ya go with the first ones -- which are the ones I am using.  Drum roll please. . . . . . . .

TA-DA

OPTION ONE (MY CHOICE)  The paint cards are from Glidden this year so hit that rack up.  And . . . . . here they are:  From left to right - Raindrop White, Sun Rays, Fresh Tangerines, Cherry Red, Raspberry Pink, Sugared Plum, Regal Purple, and Deep Onyx.  What do you think?  I cannot tell you how over the moon excited I am.

And here they are with the focus fabric I started with.

"So what about yardages?" you ask.  Well, look no further.  Please enlarge the pictures if you need details.

Fabric Number One - White - 1 1/8 yards  --- I am keeping this constant in both the scrappy and the constant top.  If you wish to use scrappy neutrals I would highly suggest that they be tone on tones or VERY TINY, LIGHT prints.

Fabric Number Two - Yellow - 1 1/8 yards -- I played in the scrappy but still kept them true yellow.  Some have bits of orange in them as it is also one of our colors.

Fabric Number 3 - Orange - 1 yard -- I did the same thing as with the yellow -- some have bits of red or yellow in them.

Fabric Number 4 - Red - 7/8 yard - Again, keep the prints small and within the color families.

Fabric Number 5 - Pink - 1 1/8 yards - My fabrics have small prints in varying shades of pink or minimal white.

Fabric Number 6 - Lavender - 1 1/2 yards - This is where I struggled a bit as I didn't have much in my stash.  I picked up a few pieces but remember that they MUST stand out against the dark purple if placed next to each other.

Fabric Number 7 - Dark Purple - 1 7/8 yards --- DARK is the key here and yet still a difference between it and black.  Like the lavender/purple, the purple/black must stand out against each other.

Fabric Number 8 - Black - 1 1/4 yards -- I went with a constant here as well in both the scrappy and the constant tops.

Now, as I said before --- there are always options.  You can use ANY eight colors that you wish but you must number them 1-8 and keep them in the right gradated order.  That is so important in this quilt.

OPTION TWO:  Here is an example of another grouping from the sunset palette.  Just make sure that your gradations stand up next to each other.  Left to right:  Raindrop White, Sun Rays, Egyptian Sun, Orange Slice, Pumpkin Patch, Fresh Tangerines, Red Geranium, Deep Onyx.

OPTION THREE:  This one brings in the blue as seen in a picture at the beginning of this post.  From left to right:  Raindrop White, Buttercup, Orange Slice, Raspberry Pink, Kissable Pink, Sugared Plum, Dusty Violet, Deep Blue Shadow.

You are free to choose and do what makes your heart feel happy.  Just remember that they need to stay in numerical order throughout the mystery.  I'm so excited to start.  You have all summer to gather fabrics from all your vacation quilt store stops.  Have fun and I'll see you when the kiddos go back to school - August 27 start.

The finished size will be 85" X 85".

One last picture of the fabrics one of my editors is using along with all the cards we had to play with.  I cannot wait to see her final quilt.

Remember that there is a summary page for this mystery that contains all posts relating to it.  It can be located at the top of the blog.  Please become a follower so that you get all clues when they are released.

Now ---- Go Chase the Sun.