Tula Pink Gravity Quilt Top

Towards the end of last year, I decided I really wanted to make a Gravity Quilt (a pattern designed by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts). Just like I did with my version of Aviatrix, I wanted to use prints rather than solids for my version - and I thought it would be the perfect way to use my (ahem) rather extensive stash of Tula Pink fabric. So I slowly started making the diamond blocks, taking rather long breaks in between each of them.

A couple of weeks ago, I started teaching this pattern at Frangipani Fabrics, and it got me really motivated to finish piecing my quilt top. So over the last few weeks, I've made the last ten or so diamond blocks and the background blocks - and today I finished piecing the quilt top together! I did a fair bit of fussy cutting for some of the larger pieces (the hexagons in particular), so I've included a few close ups of the quilt top so you can get a better idea of what the blocks look like individually.

This is a bit of a beast - it measures close to 100" square (I think it's 96" x 97"-ish), so I'm quite surprised by how quickly it came together. And considering it's all diamonds, triangles, hexagons and other shapes with lots of bias edges, I'm very happy with how my points have come out. They aren't perfect (there are a few dodgy bits), but overall I'm thrilled - and once it's quilted I think the little discrepancies in my piecing will virtually vanish ;o)

I came pretty close to making a completely Tula quilt with this one - the only non-Tula fabric are the two lightest background fabrics. It was a fun challenge figuring out which prints to use to achieve the colour wheel effect of this quilt, and I learnt a huge amount about colour while making it. Not all my choices are spot on, but it's still an effective quilt, I think. There is something really enjoyable for me in making a quilt using a single designer's fabrics - especially someone like Tula who varies her colours between collections, so they aren't matchy-matchy.

This quilt was the perfect way to finally use some long hoarded out of print fabrics. Almost all of Tula's collections are represented in this quilt - including Neptune, Nest, The Birds and the Bees, Fox Field, True Colours, Saltwater, Prince Charming, Moonshine, Parisville, Nightshade, Eden and Elizabeth. It makes me so happy being able to use so many favorite fabrics in one quilt top!

I'm pretty excited about quilting this one - and I'm planning on using a wool/poly batting (like I did for my Aviatrix), so that the quilting shows up as much as possible. I'm still debating whether to order some Freefall wideback for the back - or whether to piece a back using some of the larger pieces of Tula fabric I've been keeping aside for quilt backs. I have several other class samples to make before I start quilting this though, so I have a while to decide ;o)

xx Jess