The Color Crystals Quilt, the king sized beauty from Angela Walters and the Midnight Quilt Show (see video below), is a daunting project to begin especially after a long hiatus from the sewing machine. However, I know that this beast is made from many, many half-square triangles so I decided to tackle just one set of colours at a time. It might take a minute to refresh my memory on how to do all these steps but for sure I still know how to iron...so I'm starting there!
I've had this kit in my stash for years(?!) so the fabric has been folded ever since it was bundled by Craftsy. There are some pretty good creases and wrinkles and since I haven't taken a road trip to the States in forever, I am all out of my favourite Faultless spray starch. :( I did find an alternative in my ironing caddy, Flatter, from the Soak company. It is in the lovely Celebration scent, my go-to choice when I stock up on Soak wash for gentle laundering of my quilts, bicycle shorts, and bathing suit. It smells so fresh and contains no harsh chemicals so I can spray away with no worry. It also works amazingly well and my first two lengths of fabric are perfectly pressed and ready to cut.
I need to cut 512 triangles of the dark blue and 384 of the jade so that in itself will take more than a few sessions in the workshop. I will sew and square up the first 384 half-square triangles before moving on to the next set of two colours. Those sets, along with some solid coloured squares, will eventually make up 32 A blocks. I can't even think past these steps let alone to the assembly of Block B or the pieced border!
Making a quilt is not usually a speedy endeavour and I think this Color Crystals quilt is going to take me longer than any other I've attempted. The Downton Abbey double wedding ring quilt is the only other king size quilt I've made and it was challenging! The actual construction of this one should be pretty straight forward but I find I'm simply busier now than I was 2014 so I know I am going to take it slowly and really just enjoy the process. I was always anxious in the past to get one quilt project finished so I could start the next but now I'm definitely more calm about letting this one last. I'm looking forward to simply hearing the sewing machine stitch as I chain-sew the squares. I won't rush and just get done what I can, when I can. I can't wait to get cutting in the morning!
Here's the Midnight Quilt Show episode featuring the Color Crystals quilt...
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