Whimsy and Onyx—a fabric blender dynamic duo

Whimsy and Onyx. Sound like names of comic strip characters, don't they? 

In the quilting world, Whimsy and Onyx are two blender collections from P&B Textiles. And I'm using this dynamic duo for the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2022 sew-along.

Fat quarter bundles of Onyx (far left) and Whimsy from P&B Textiles.

What's to like about Whimsy and Onyx

When Whimsy was first introduced as a P&B basic, I was immediately drawn to it because:

• it covers the full color spectrum without being overwhelming—there are 50 pieces in the collection.
• the collection includes a range of grays—with both cool and warm grays.
• there is a variety of prints with a 21st century aesthetic—ditzies, florals, and geometrics.
• these small-scale prints are well-suited for "supporting cast members" to coordinate with larger scale designs and other focal prints.
• however... the designs are unique enough to stand on their own!

Onyx is a tonal black-on-black basic that also offers a variety of designs—dots, lines, bursts, grids, geometric and organic patterns. This collection definitely provides a contrast and counterpoint to the colorful Whimsy.

Onyx is a black-on-black blender collection from P&B Textiles.

In addition to the 12 different designs, other characteristics of Onyx are:

• the base cloth is dyed black—check the "wrong side" of this fabric! There won't be any white threads or whiskers showing when cutting, piecing, doing fusible appliqué, embellishing, or quilting by hand or machine.
• because it's black throughout, you can use the back side of Onyx if you're in need of a solid black.
• the collection's versatile designs. This blender can be used in traditional quilts, contemporary/modern quilts, college and T-shirt quilts,  and "guy" quilts. Several of the designs are geometric or gender-neutral.
• and who doesn't love an accent of black—or black and white—to add sparkle and zing to a quilt???

Not having used much tonal black-on-black fabrics as a major part of a quilt, incorporating Onyx into the 100 Days 100 Blocks project this year is a challenge I set for myself. (So far, it's going well.)

Making 100 blocks with Whimsy and Onyx

The 100 Days 100 Blocks sew-along started August 1 (but anyone can jump in at any time!). My first blocks were pieced with the cool colors from the Whimsy line with accents of Onyx. 

Whimsy and Onyx blenders with Bloc Loc half-square triangle and flying geese rulers.

A sampling of the cool color blocks on the design wall...

33 patchwork blocks of the Kinship Sampler quilt. Blocks are 8.5" square and 4.5 x 8.5" (unfinished).
Whimsy and Onyx fabrics from P&B Textiles.

As I approached cutting pieces for Block 50—the halfway point—I dipped into the warmer hues of Whimsy.

Warm yellows and oranges from Whimsy and black-on-black Onyx.

A sampling of the warm color blocks...

Several blocks using the warmer hues of Whimsy.

Batch processing

For efficiency, I create the blocks in batches—ahead of the posting schedule. I cut a bunch of blocks... piece that batch... photograph that batch... and format the photos for the Instagram posts. Then I post the block on its appropriate day.

This is an example of a stack of blocks ready for piecing.

Batch cutting the blocks.

There is a 100 Days 100 Blocks tracker available for the program. I haven't kept up with filling in the "post" column, but it's fun to color in the other activities as I do my batching processes.

100 Days 100 Blocks 2022 event tracker.

Make it your own—throw in a little Onyx

The Kinship Sampler pattern is shown in three shades of blue + white to give a sense of the patchwork. Sometimes I follow the value [lightness or darkness of a fabric] placement provided in the pattern... sometimes I don't. 

Sometimes I use leftover pieces (or mis-cuts) from previous blocks. And sometimes I remind myself, "Hey, throw in a patch of Onyx!"      Zing!

Onyx (top) and Whimsy blenders from P&B Textiles.

Whether these 100 blocks make it into a single quilt, two or more smaller quilts, or something else... the Whimsy and Onyx blenders from P&B Textiles are producing dynamic patchwork results for my Kinship sampler blocks. 

Ask YLQS [your local quilt shop] for these fabric collections. They should be on everyone's color wall and in every quilter's stash.

It's a quilt top finishing weekend

An email reminder about my guild's annual charity sew-in popped into my Inbox this week. It prompted me to search the studio for any blocks or tops that could be readied for next weekend's group-baste session (an extremely expeditious way to get quilt tops basted).

Two completed Cuddle Quilt tops ready for basting.

The search for tops and blocks

One top made with orphan blocks and the disappearing cutting technique that was finished this January was ready for basting. 

A stack of retired fabric samples from a Poppie Cotton fabric collection (Hopscotch and Freckles) was transformed into this second Cuddle Quilt top.

Cuddle Quilt top ready for basting. 35" x 43"

One for the kids, and one for the kitties

Combining the remaining Poppy Cotton fabric swatches, a handful of improv blocks, and other scraps, I got a second, smaller, quilt top for a kitty quilt.

Improv scrap blocks in a kitty quilt top.

Improv scrap blocks.

This scrappy little kitty quilt top went together quickly.

Kitty quilt top combining fabric swatches and scrap blocks.
29" x 25.5"

And a UFO 

And this quilt top that was patiently waiting on the design wall got its borders attached! The blocks are from my 2021 100 Days 100 Blocks Kinship Sampler quilt-along for which I used my favorite Australian aboriginal prints from M&S Textiles Australia.

Twenty-five blocks from the 2021 Kinship Ssampler with M&S Textiles Australia.
58" x 58"

I'm targeting this sampler quilt to satisfy my second "UFO finish" prompt for Make Nine 2022. I just have to pick a backing fabric and then clear off the tables in the workroom for pin basting.

I’m in! The 100 Days 100 Blocks 2022 starts August 1

Are you ready for the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2022 sew-along? It’s my 5th year participating!

100 Days 100 Blocks 2022: fabric bundles [P&B Textiles] and block tracker

I’ve got:

• three lusciously squishy P&B Textiles fat quarter bundles, 
• my Block-Loc rulers for half-square triangles and flying geese units, 
• the Kinship Sampler pattern on my iPad, and
• the 100 Days 100 Blocks event tracker printed.

I’m ready to go!

Specs and prep for the Kinship Sampler 2022

This year, I’ll be using fabrics from the playful Whimsy basics line from P&B Textiles. Whimsy sports a variety of small texture-like patterns and a full color gamut of warm, cool and neutral hues. 

My Personal Challenge will be experimenting with combining these rainbow hues with black tone-on-tone fabrics—P&B's Onyx basics—rather than using white or light colors for contrast. This will be a new exploration for me in this year’s sew-along. Where's the "spice in life" if you don't mix it up a bit??

I've begun pulling and cutting fabrics for the first few blocks in preparation for the August 1 start date. The sew-along goes through November 8, 2022 and uses the Kinship Sampler pattern (available from Gnome Angel). 

Fabric pull: cool colors from the Whimsy collection and black tone-on-tone fat quarters from Onyx collection [P&B Textiles]. Bloc-Loc rulers for flying geese and half-square triangle units.

The Kinship Sampler is a fun, skill-builder project

There are 50 square blocks that finish at 8”x8” and 50 rectangle blocks 4” x 8” in the Kinship Sampler quilt. Here's why I like it:

• The sampler is appropriate for confident beginners but the two block sizes keep it interesting for advanced quilters.
• Angie at Gnome Angel describes the blocks as "borrowing from the traditional and reflecting the contemporary."
• It’s great practice for perfecting your 1/4” seam.
• You can make it scrappy or plan a controlled color scheme.
• The pattern has suggestions for block layouts, or you can see what others have done using the #100blocks100days or #kinshipsampler hashtags for previous years.
• Doing the 100 Days 100 Blocks sew-along with others is always motivating, encouraging and inspiring. Everyone uses different fabrics and we cheer each other on!

Watch my daily block posts on Instagram [@veronica.fiberantics] and on Facebook.

Wrapping up the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2021 project

The 100 Days 100 Blocks Kinship sampler sew-along is approaching the finish line—next Friday, October 8. Over the last three months, I've been piecing the sampler blocks in batches, using fabrics from several of the fabric companies I rep. Here's a look at the journey...

Blocks from the 2021 100 Days 100 Blocks sew-along.
Fabrics from Dashwood Studio and Simply Primitive batiks from Batik Textiles.

Australian Aboriginal designs

In July, I started the 100 Days 100 Blocks program with Australian aboriginal prints from M&S Textiles Australia. The bold colors and aboriginal designs offer a lot of interest and movement. These prints definitely keep the eyes moving across the fabric. Several of the blocks have made it into the center section of a new quilt top.

Progress on the center section of a quilt top.

Felicity Fabrics bridges traditional and modern styles

The next batch of blocks features prints from the Nightfall Floral collection and basics from Felicity Fabrics. The prints from Felicity are ideal for patchwork—smaller scale prints in contemporary color schemes that maintain their presence even when cut into smaller units. The Felicity basics are familiar, tried-and-true designs that support and coordinate with a range of focal prints.

Fabrics from Felicity Fabrics.

A contemporary European flair from Dashwood Studio 

Next up is a batch of blocks made with fabrics from the UK company, Dashwood Studio. These fabrics are relatively new to US quilt shops. The prints have a continental, contemporary feel and the Twist basic line has a random seed pattern that offers subtle movement with an easy flow.

Blocks made with fabric collections by Dashwood Studio.

Aviary, Hedgerow, Habitat and Twist fabric lines from Dashwood Studio.

Mixing in primitive style batiks from Batik Textiles

The last batch of blocks incorporates prints from Dashwood Studio with the Simply Primitive batik collection from Batik Textiles. These unique batiks have a minimalist design style and a dusty, darker color palette—quite unlike what usually comes to mind when people mention "batik." The sparse designs of the batiks provide a contrast with the more detailed cotton print deisgns from Dashwood Studio. The darker colors shift the focus to the brighter prints and offer a richness and sophistication to the patchwork blocks. 

Simply Primitive batiks mixed with prints from Dashwood Studio.

I'm having a particularly good time choosing and coordinating the colors and textures of the batiks with the Dashwood Studio Habitat collection. 

The Habitat collection features animals from all parts of the world.

This is my fourth year participating in the 100 Days 100 Blocks project. It's always a fun project and it keeps one's patchwork skills finely tuned!

Ask your local quilt shop [YLQS] for these fabric lines and start your own sampler block project.

I've joined the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2021 quilt-along with M&S Textiles Australia

It snuck up on me this year, but I decided to again participate in the “100 Days 100 Blocks” quilt-along. This is my 4th year. 

It’s gonna be a riot of color and pattern... 
     'cause for 2021, I’m using Australian aboriginal fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia. 

Blocks from the 100 Days 100 Blocks Quilt-along 2021.

My Fabric Pull

Classified as a “Go bold or go home!” color story, these are several of my fabric picks.

Fabric Pull for 100 Days 100 Blocks 2021. Fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia.

The Kinship Fusion Sampler

This year, the quilt-along coordinator, Angie at @gnomeangel, has offered a few layouts that use subsets of the 100 blocks to make smaller quilts... or possibly multiple quilts. I have a *tentative* goal to make a quilt top with a subset of my 100—even before I've finished piecing all 100 blocks. (Let's see if this works out...). I saw one layout that uses about 20 blocks that I'm considering. 

I'm having fun doing selective cuts [fussy cuts] from the Aborigianl fabric designs this year. I'm also learning a lot by auditioning my fabric pull... considering which fabric will be a background and which will be the focus. Below is a selection of blocks from the first 25.

Block 1 with a focus cut in the center.

Block 15 with a focus cut center.

Block 17 with focus cut wheels in the center 4-patch.

The blocks in this sampler quilt are alternately 8.5" x 8.5" and 8.5" x 4.5" (unfinished sizes).

Block 24 is 4.5" x 8.5" (unfinished).

With this quilt-along, quilters gain proficiency with sewing a 1/4" seam and learn the value of "spinning the seams" to minimize bulk at intersections. My stitch length is set at 2.2.

Spinning the seams in Block 7 (back view).

100 Blocks Quilt-along time table

The 100 Blocks 100 Days quilt-along goes from July 1 through October 8, 2021. Gnome Angel provides a downloadable Event Tracker to keep participants organized. With 25% completion (today, July 25), it's going by fast and looking' good so far. Perhaps with this being my 4th year, I know what to expect and how to manage the process.

If you haven't tried an online quilt-along, consider this one. You can join in any time.

UFO quilt assessment

One of my Make Nine goals for 2020 is to finish one of my UFOs [unfinished objects]. 

Oh, where to begin?! 

Work in progress: crumb quilt.

Crumb Quilt
If I choose to finish a project from the "Quilt UFO" pile, there are four *relatively* recent quilts in progress. The one above is a crumb quilt made with leftover bits, trimmings and fabric swatches. It's the most recent project which developed out of the crumb patches I started making in October 2019.

I started piecing crumbs into strips in October 2019.

I was using fabric bits for leaders and enders while working on other projects. So, the crumb patches morphed into strips and the strips began to grow.

Crumb strips in November 2019.

By December, the crumb strips needed to be a project of their own.

15 inch quilt block made from fabric crumbs.

Kinship Sampler
In early December, forty-nine of my Kinship Sampler blocks made it into this top. While traveling in early December, I found fabric for borders and backing at Neff's Country Loft, a quilt shop with a fabulous selection of Diamond Textiles' textured wovens. So, I have the remaining fabrics needed to complete this quilt. I need a plan for the quilting, however.

Work in progress: Kinship Sampler from the 2019 100 Blocks 100 Days project.

The Farmer's Wife Sampler
In August of 2018, I started work on blocks for my version of the Farmer's Wife sampler quilt. The blocks I decided to make were completed in June of 2019 to make way for the July start of the Kinship Sampler.  I've decided on a "kitchen sink" layout for these Farmer's Wife blocks... but the blocks are still on the design wall... awaiting top assembly.

Work in progress: Farmer's Wife blocks

A curated subset of my Farmer's Wife blocks are set on-point for a small quilt or wall hanging. The center section of this project is pieced.

Work in progress: Farmer's Wife blocks

What moves to the top of the 2020 To-Do list?
Do I tackle the smallest project first? the most recent one? the one with all the materials on hand? the one that's been around the longest?

I guess it will be whatever mood strikes me. Unless, of course, there is a deadline.

Kinship Sampler layout: kin to a Hot Hash square dance

The layout of my 100 Days Kinship Fusion Sampler blocks has been like a hot hash square dance with the blocks turning, sliding, passing and do-si-do-ing on the design wall. The plan is to get a graduated flow of color and value across the quilt top while working with the two different size blocks. It's been an ongoing process of auditioning, arranging and rearranging...

Tentative layout of my 00 Days 100 Blocks Kinship Fusion sampler blocks.

I've been working on a 49 block layout with the lightest blocks in the center. Since I didn't devise a master color plan for the blocks at the onset, I now have the task of making all the pieces to this puzzle fit into a cohesive composition—or at least one with an organized randomness.

The sashing I chose is a creamy beige Monks Colonial solid from Diamond Textiles.

4-block unit from my Kinship Sampler.

Between the "dance" sets, I pulled fabrics to make blocks for my guild's charity quilt project...

Cuddle Quilt blocks.

and ironed a bag of crumbs to use for leaders and enders.

Crumb blocks.

Now and then, it's good to take a breather from the dance floor... and the design wall.

100 Days 100 Blocks Challenge: Day 49 perspective

At the nearly half-way point of the Kinship Fusion Sampler sew-along—aka #100Days100Block—here is what my first 49 blocks look like together. 

#100Days100Blocks2019 Kinship Fusion Sampler progress at day 49.
Fabrics are Tweed Thicket and Nikko III from Diamond Textiles.

I'm using yarn-dyed wovens from Diamond Textiles for my fabrics this year, so at a distance, the fabrics look much like solids. Up close, their inherent woven textures becomes apparent—especially the Nikko III fabrics.

Nikko III yarn-dyed cotton wovens from Diamond Textiles.

Still time to change navigation
The current process is that I compose each block individually—pulling colors and value for a single block's composition. Now, with only half of the blocks complete, there is still opportunity to rethink color and/or value placement for the remainder of the blocks.

The final block layout is not yet determined. The arrangement of the blocks (with color in mind), the introduction of sashing or background fabric(s) will play a part in the final composition and flow of the eye across the quilt.

Discovery
One thing I did discover while putting the blocks up on the design wall was a missing piece in Block 46 (the block was smaller in one dimension).

This is the corrected block.

It's good to stand back and look at the progress of your work every so often.

Perspective.