The Red, White and Blues

     My latest Jaftex packet arrived last week.  I am always super excited to see what treasures will tumble out of that FedEx packet.  The anticipation and then the reveal is a huge part of the fun.  It might seem weird, but that challenge really is fun for me.  I enjoy working with fabrics I may or may not have selected on my own.  The problem solving aspect of the job will normally jumpstart my creativity.  The idea of the challenge is to not simply "make something", but to make something WOW!

    When the FedEx guy delivered the package last Monday, I dropped what I was doing and opened it immediately.  I was already anticipating the possibilities.  I was surprised when the packet contained "My Happy Place" by Sharla Fults for Studio e.  

    Either I seem like an extremely patriotic person to the Jaftex sample department or simply by the luck of a random assignment I have now been sent three red, white and blue fabric lines to work with.  Between those bundles were two black/white fabric lines.  I know the design department at Jaftex has the biggest box of crayons. I'm also sure that they have access to far more color than red, white, blue and black.

    To be honest, the Scarlet Stitches line that I received in July was really a red/white line with a touch of grey.  I added the light denim blue fabric to the group.  I chose that because over the 4th of July I had discovered that I didn't actually own any red/white/blue quilts to display.  I have made plenty of them.  When they had served the purpose of promoting a book, pattern or fabric line, those patriotic projects were donated to Quilts of Valor.  I decided to keep Scarlet Stitches for my own.

    Shortly after completing the Scarlet Stitches project, another red/white/blue line arrived via the FedEx pack from Jaftex.  I dug into my pattern stash and recreated a QOV project from 2004.  That finished quilt was returned to Jaftex so that they could use it for promotion and then donate it to QOV.  I had the Scarlet Stitches quilt in my collection.  How many does one person need?

    Then last week I opened the packet and I sat staring at another patriotic line.  Actually, My Happy Place is a summer fabric line.  In addition to the stars, stripes and flag prints the group includes watermelon slices on a checkered cloth and a cute strawberry print.  The coordinating panel print includes 10" squares, perfect for pillows, that feature bicycles and travel trailers.  I chose to use the bikes, because I'm not excited by travel trailers or motor homes.  There are also 8 smaller images that would be perfect to feature on Four Square Placemats.

     I just couldn't find the "wow" in another red/white/blue fabric line, so I decided to go back to basics.  Having to use all of the prints in the line in one project makes it tough.  Especially when the scale of the prints is pretty similar and even the coordinates are high contrast.  This is the type of line that screams to be partnered with tone-on-tone blenders so that the prints really shine.  Unfortunately Jaftex didn't send any blenders and I have a limited selection of their favorites in my stash.  Luckily one is red and the other is blue.

    Back to basics it is!  The table topper was made with my original set of Scrap Crazy Templates.  I used the white on white print for the "A" template and mixed the other prints for B, C and D.  Those white slashes remind me of fireworks and they give some order to the overall design.  The strawberry print became Easy Mitered Placemats that can be used all summer long.  I partnered the bicycle squares with my favorite basic navy "Just Color" for the borders and backing of the throw pillows.  Not exactly the high point of my creativity, but the projects are done and they look good.  

    While cleaning up the scraps, I began trimming them into 1.5" by 4.5" strips and started sewing them together with the scraps of the previous groups.  I tossed in some more solid navy prints to break up the busy prints.  I'm not sure how large this is going to get, but it will definitely be one firecracker of a quilt when it is done!