There are some quilt patterns I can make over and over again without getting bored, and Bear Path is definitely one of them. It is fast, fun, and a great way to use up bigger prints. When I first started quilting, I was drawn to big and bold fabrics in quilt stores, only to realize that most patterns on the market have you chop them up into tiny pieces. Now that I create my own patterns, I can make some for those hard-to-use fabrics in your stash!
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I love all the new collections FIGO Fabrics is bringing to the quilting world, and Rollakan by Cathy Nordstrom Designs is no exception. It screamed “SUMMER”! to me, so who was I to resist?
I made the throw size Bear Path quilt with the Rollakan fabric collection, which really packed a punch with its bold colors and flowers! I decided to get this quilt long-armed by Cathy Roeder, who did such a wonderful job walking me through every decision (I’m a long-arm newbie!). We settled on a fun modern floral pantograph and light peach thread.
I had planned on machine binding this quilt, but realized that since I didn’t have the same exact thread at home that Cathy had used, it would bug me to no end that the binding thread, which you would be able to see from the front, didn’t match the rest of the quilt. Whenever I hit a snag like this in the quilting process, I yell out “PIVOT!!!!” (sometimes just in my brain, and sometimes out loud), and find a different solution. For this particular quilt, I decided to do big stitch hand-binding instead with 12 weight orange perle cotton. It contrasted nicely with the blue binding and wasn’t visible from the front, so it didn’t detract from the free-motion quilting. (psst! I have a tutorial for this sort of binding).
This quilt has been in heavy use this summer. It came on vacation with us (I brought 5 quilts, no joke) and since coming home has found a permanent home on the couch.
Fabrics are all from the Rollakan fabric collection by FIGO Fabrics:
- Ditsy Geo in Orange
- Meadow in Navy Multi
- Painterly Leaves in Blue
- Pears in Mustard
- Binding: Ditsy Geo in Navy
- Backing: Fruit Garden in Pink Multi
In an effort to reduce the amount of scraps that end up in my scrap bin, I’ve been making a small project from every quilt I make. (Need some ideas? I’ve got 9 (fun!) ways to use up scraps!) From this quilt, I made a quilt-as-you-go zipper pouch. I mixed hand and machine quilting for it. This collection is just too darn cute!
Beautiful quilt! Love the colors!
Thank you so much!