Quilts

Jaybird Pattern Review – Northern Lights

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This post is part of the Jaybird Quilts Sew Along. For schedule of guest post pattern reviews, prizes, and contest rules, click here. Today’s guest post is from Debbie of A Quilter’s Table. Debbie writes free tutorials, hosts sew alongs, and of course posts all of her finished projects on her blog. She’s extremely prolific, so check out her site!

 

When Sara asked if I’d like to participate in a blog hop for Jaybird Quilts‘ patterns, I didn’t have to think twice. Of course I knew about Julie/Jaybird and her patterns, and had heard of her specialty rulers, but just hadn’t gotten around to trying any of them myself. Boy am I glad I did!

 

When my project assignment came – Northern Lights – I knew I would need to go shopping for solids that coordinated better than what I had in my stash. I went “window shopping” at Pink Chalk Fabrics one day, and saw a Modern Solids bundle I fell in love with – “Sunset Blvd.” I wanted just one little tweak, and in chatting with Diana there, I ended up with the stack you see below: Burnt Orange, Pumpkin, Spice, Gold, Daffodil, Stone, Lead, and Metal.

On retreat shortly after, I started cutting my fabric, and serious. The Hex N More ruler made it a snap.

 

In no time, I was piecing rows and before I knew it, I had a completed quilt top.

Ingenious is what it was. In glancing at the quilt before actually seeing at the pattern, I never guessed how straight-forward it really was. Soon, I was chatting with Diana at Pink Chalk again, asking her to match some Aurifil 50 wt for quilting.

 

I chose 3 spools: #2625 Arctic Ice, #2140 Mustard, and #2230 Medium Peony, a trio that basically matched the fabrics on both ends plus one from the center. And that is pretty much how I used them in my quilting.


Inspired by Anita Shackelford‘s “Modern Orb pattern,” I created my own off-center orb using my machine’s wavy stitch with the mustard thread. From there, I used the peony to the left, and the arctic ice to the right, gradually increasing the distance between my lines.

 


It was a logical choice to me when it came time to bind. This one needed matched binding, and that meant using all 8 solids. This is a finishing technique I’m quite fond of for certain quilts. If you’ve never done it, there’s a tutorial for straight matched binding here, and a brand new one for angled matched binding here.

 


I give the pattern itself a confident-beginner rating. It’s easy to follow, more than informative, and color-coded, which really was a help with this particular pattern. The only bit that could be tricky for a very beginner would be the angles, but with the way the ruler works, it’s super easy to line things up for piecing. I’d highly recommend this quilt pattern for its simple construction with a bonus “wow” factor for the design. And there’s 5 quilt sizes to choose from which is a terrific feature. The ruler was so handy (obviously) for this pattern, and I can see where it will come in useful for future quilt designs. I’m honestly glad to have it in my tool-kit. And I’d seriously consider another Jaybird pattern just to see what else my Hex N More ruler is capable of! Overall, this quilt which I’ve nicknamed “Aurora,” was a very satisfying experience on pretty much every level. 
Many thanks to Sara and Julie for including me in their blog hop!

 

 

Finished Statistics
In order left-right: Burnt Orange, Pumpkin, Spice, Gold, Daffodil, Stone, Metal, Lead
Fabric Back: Metro Living Ring Dots in Pewter by Robert Kaufman 


and Cat Mint from Catnap by Lizzy House for Andover
Batting: Warm &Natural
Thread: Aurifil 50 wt #2600 for piecing; 
Aurifil 50 wt #2625, #2140, and #2230 for Machine Quilting 
Finished Size: 52″ x 65″ Photo-shoot Location: Mukilteo State Park, Mukilteo WA

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25 thoughts on “Jaybird Pattern Review – Northern Lights

  1. DeeAnn Forrest says:

    Love the matched binding and the quilt is gorgeous!

    1. Debbie says:

      Thank you so much! Decided this was a perfect case for that binding!

  2. Marci Girl says:

    Well the photography just compliments the quilt so much, it truly is beautiful! Oh and amazing quilting!

    1. Debbie says:

      Thanks, Marci! It was SUCH a beautiful day!! Glad you like the quilting!

  3. Toni says:

    What a gorgeous quilt, Deb! I love the unexpected quilting. Great job on the photo shoot, too!

    1. Debbie says:

      Thanks much! I wanted the quilting to mix things up a bit, so glad you approve. Thanks RE: the photos – we sure had fun!

  4. Hi Debbie, Your quilt is stunning! I am in love with everything about it. The quilting is incredible and I don’t even know what to say about the fabulous binding. Thank you for all the shout outs.

    1. Debbie says:

      Awww. That makes me happy! You gave me the confidence I needed to go with a palette I loved – thanks again! Yay for fun binding, eh?

  5. Donna Baker says:

    this is gorgeous, I love the colors you chose and your matching binding is just divine. I love this pattern, I made a Northern Lights pillow for my couch and dream of making a quilt some day too

    1. Debbie says:

      Thank you! Cool about the NL pillow! I bet the quilt won’t take much longer! 😉

  6. Debbie, I love the color scheme you chose! And the quilting! Gah!

    1. Debbie says:

      Thanks Jess! So glad you like the palette! Pink Chalk gets some credit as I tweaked one of their bundles! 😉 Glad you like the quilting – kinda went out on a limb there.

  7. KatieQ says:

    I bought the Hex and More ruler, but haven’t tried it yet. After seeing all of the great quilts on the blog hop, I am excited about picking a pattern to use with it.

    1. Debbie says:

      oh my goodness! Seriously, I was SO impressed! Pick a pattern and jump in! One of the quickest quilt tops I’ve ever made!

  8. becky m says:

    Really beautiful fabric choices and quilting!!

    1. Debbie says:

      Thank you so much! It was a joy to work with those fabrics and threads!

  9. Vera says:

    Interesting quilting choice. Great colors and awesome pics!

    1. Debbie says:

      yeah, I know. Trying something new. 😉 Thanks RE: the colors and photos – great fun.

  10. Janet from WI says:

    Gorgeous! I wish you would have shown the back. I love quilt backs when they are pieced and wish more bloggers would share the back too. I think I need to invest in the Hex n More. Looks like a great tool. Thanks much for sharing. Your pictures are as beautiful as your quilt!

    1. Debbie says:

      Sorry about that! I’ll try to get a photo of the back and share that too….Thanks for your kind words though!

  11. Linda Hall says:

    Between the quilting, sewing and photography, I can’t tell where the bigger talent lies. All I know is there’s a whole lot of talent jumping off these pages. OMG. Amazing work.

    1. Debbie says:

      Thanks so much, Linda! 😉

  12. Lisa in Dallas says:

    I am ready to sew my rows together — is there a trick to this (I know – you have to think “way back”!)? Everything else has gone together smoothly but this step has me stumped.

    1. Marie Doll says:

      First I Have seen one of your patterns. I hate quilts that you spend months on that end up looking like you bought them at WALMART. This design is very unique and would look great with the warm earth tones I am using in my house. The use of the grey avoids people thinking Halloween in the back of their mind.

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