30 May What Shade Are You?

Welcome to my stop on the RJR What Shade Are You? blog hop!  My answer is ALL the shades!  Not in one project of course, but there really isn’t a color I don’t like.  Follow along on the What Shade Are You Facebook page!

I hadn’t really had a chance to work with RJR Cotton Supreme Solids until earlier this year when Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics was putting together her Color Inspirations Club (10 gorgeous RJR solids colors picked by Brenda herself every month) and we matched two of her months with two of my patterns and I joined the blog hop line-up.

Secondary

As my house is still in major need of new pillows, that seemed an obvious win for a new project.  I played around with a few design ideas and settled on the traditional Orange Peel block.  This one has been on my mental to-do list for quite a while.  It fits right in with my love of simple shapes, secondary patterns and circles.  When it came time to select the colors, it was hard – there are so many beauties!  I decided to go with a mostly secondary color scheme – purple, green, orange with some yellow/gold added in.  Specifically the colors I used are:

Sunny Delight – 326

Sunnyside Up – 132

Saffron – 221

Golden Topaz – 285

Oriole – 314

Mandarin – 159

Pumpkin – 130

Tangerine Dream – 276

Grape – 121

Amethyst – 215

Jacaranda – 317

Purple Haze – 279

Bowood Green – 267

Martini Olive – 343

Bayou – 344

Army Green – 350

Linen White – 32

French Vanilla – 111

Canvas – 150

Cream – 227

Four of each of the colors for the blocks and four background colors.  Each color is only used once in the pillow, but I think having so many adds a wonderful richness to the palette.  I named the pillow Secondary for the color scheme and the secondary circle pattern the blocks make.

For the pillow front construction, I debated between piecing and applique.  You know I love applique, but I also would like to strengthen my curved piecing skills.  A fast internet search didn’t turn up a pieced block in the size I needed, so applique won.  I used a new-to-me technique that I have been meaning to try for ages.  The term I’ve heard most often is window applique.  You trace your shape onto fusible as usual, but then also cut out the center of the shape at least 1/4″ inside the cutting line.  In this case, I was left with a “peel” shape about 1/2″ wide all around.  I fused it to the fabric and cut on the line, so the end result is only a 1/4″ outline of fusible left on your project.  This works particularly well when fusing larger shapes to reduce any stiffness the fusible might cause.  I had been concerned that cutting out the center might cause the shape to go wonky, but I didn’t have any trouble with that at all and the lovely silkiness of the fabric was retained.

RJR has generously offered to give a fat quarter bundle of the colors I used to one of my US or Canadian readers.  So, leave me a comment and tell me what you’d make with your bundle – PLEASE be sure to include your email address so I can reach you.  I’ll pick a winner at random at the end of the day on Tuesday, June 3.  I can’t wait to hear all your wonderful ideas!