Sunday Best Quilts

Happy Wednesday friends!

As I was typing up my post on the Sunday Best Sampler quilt this past Monday, I was planning to link to the post where I shared all about the books in my quilt….only to realize that I never shared that post!  Goodness me!  I shared the quilts on Instagram (PS…that’s the best place to stay up to date on my news as I post there almost daily…look for me @corianderquilts) but never here on my blog—aside from the cover picture.

So, without further ado…these are the quilts and the story behind the book Sunday Best quilts which I co-authored with my friend Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.

First, the back story…Sherri and I began to talk about writing a book together a couple years ago.  We wanted the idea to be something that made sense for two quilters to work on together.  As we were talking, we came up with the idea of a quilter’s bucket list…those quilts that we have on our to do list that we’d like to make at some point but haven’t quite gotten around to yet.  We thought it could be quite fun to design a book around those “must make” quilts.

Sherri and I each came up with our top 5 bucket list quilts and then narrowed those down to 6 categories: Favorite Star, Scrappy Quilt, Red-and-white quilt, Christmas quilt, Pineapple quilt, and Courthouse Steps quilt.  From there, we each designed a quilt within each of those categories–and didn’t share our designs with each other until the end of the process.  We threw in lots of chit chat so you could get to know us each a bit better, many fun tips, and behind the scenes design information.  Sherri and I could not be more thrilled with how the book has turned out.  The photography in this book is one of my favorite things.

So, let’s see those quilts!  First up the quilts in the “Favorite Star” category:

The first quilt is Sherri’s On A Whim quilt pictured above.  Sherri used fabrics from Clover Hollow to create her quilt.  It is fat eighth friendly and finishes at 48 1/2″ x 48 1/2″.

For my quilt, I used V&Co’s Confetti Ombre fabrics.  This was my first time working with these Ombre’s and if you haven’t tried them out yet, you need to!  My quilt, Starling, finishes at 60 1/2″ x 75 1/2″.

The next category is Scrap quilts–you know this is one of my favorite type of quilt!  My quilt Sweet Confetti use a mix of Moda fabrics from many designers in my favorite warm palette and finishes at 54 1/2″ x 72 1/2″.

Sherri’s Quilt, Driftwood Drive, features fabrics mainly by Sweetwater (Harmony) with just a little bit of my Pepper & Flax line thrown in for good measure–it’s scrappy but in a more controlled color palette.  It finishes at 64 1/2″ x 64 1/2″.

On to the Red-and-White quilts category.  How many of you have wanted a red/white quilt?  I know they are so eye catching!  Sherri designed Remembrance using scrappy reds, and white tone on tone fabrics.  Her quilt finishes at 34″ x 34″.

While I designed Linen & Berries, a quilt finishing at 72 1/2″ x 90 1/2″ and using a scrappy mix of reds and low volume creams.  I used mostly Fig Tree fabrics with some Sherri & Chelsi fabrics thrown in.  I am always so drawn to Sherri & Chelsi’s low volume prints.  And you can’t go wrong with Fig Tree!

Christmas quilts are on the agenda next.  We both designed simple quilts for this category.  The holidays are always so busy that sometimes a quick to piece quilt is just the thing.  Of course, these quilts could easily be pieced in fabrics that aren’t Christmas-y and they would have a completely different feel.

My quilt, Gladdening (above), features Return to Winter’s lane fabrics by Kate & Birdie and finishes at 56 1/2″ x 70 1/2″.  Sherri’s quilt, Delight (below) uses mostly Christmas Figs by Fig Tree Quilts and finishes at 67″ x 75 1/2″.

The cover quilts are from the Pineapple category.  Sherri designed a traditional pineapple quilt with scrappy bright fabrics, Pier 44.  You can piece these blocks using paper foundation with the provided template or by using one of Sherri’s favorite ways to piece pineapple blocks, with the Creative Grids Pineapple Trim Tool.  Pier 44 finishes at 56 1/2″ x 64 1/2″.

For my quilt, Dayflower, I designed a quilt that has the look of a pineapple quilt but with straightforward piecing.  Dayflower uses two jelly rolls (I chose two lines by Lella Boutique) and finishes at 72 1/2″ x 90 1/2″.  And that great background fabric is Moda Cross Weave in black.

The last category in our book is the Courthouse Steps category.  My quilt, Rainwashed, finishes at 64 1/2″ x 80 1/2″ and uses my Sunnyside Up line of fabric.

Sherri’s quilt, Nantucket, has a more traditional feel using fabrics from Minick & Simpson.  Her quilt finishes at 40 1/2″ x 40 1/2″.

And those are all of the quilts in the book!  I hope you have loved a little bit of a peek inside the book.  As you can see, the photography is beautiful.  A green thumb I have not and I always enjoy seeing the gardens of someone who does!

If you missed my announcement on Monday, Sherri and I will be hosting a quilt along beginning the end of September using our book.

Sunday Best Sampler in Sugarcreek

You can read more about the sew along here.  More information including fabric requirements, starting date, etc. will be shared as we get closer to our kick-off.

Which is your favorite quilt in the book?–I’d love to know!  Chat soon.