Grad Quilt Design Evolution + A Fabric Shopping Mission

Okay, so from those initial ideas I showed you last time, this was the color scheme my senior liked best for his graduation quilt design, the one with the royal blue flying geese against chartreuse:

The Chosen Colorway

But of course I can't just leave it at that, because, well, ME.  Once Lars-of-Ours gave me the thumbs up on the yellow/green and blue idea, I went back to EQ8 for some finessing.  

First concern: I don't want the finished quilt to look too juvenile, which could happen if the colors are all too bright and pure.  Yet I don't want it to be sombre and dreary, either.  Solution: the background is going to be the darkest, inkyest purple that I can find, like if the Amish wore purple, this is the purple they would wear.  But the geese are going to be lighter/brighter so they kind of glow and float against the dark background.

Second concern: If I'm not excited enough about the design, I am much, MUCH less likely to actually get the quilt finished -- EVER -- let alone in time for the Quillow Ceremony in June.  The piecing of this quilt is just as straightforward if I'm working with three solid color fabrics as it is if I'm playing with tints and shades...

So here's where I am with the design right now:

Now I Am Starting to Get Excited!

I am loving the three-dimensional effect that happens when I simulate using gradient fabrics for those geese!  Doesn't it look like chain links woven together?

So, how do I pull this off in real life?  Well, looking at my Kona Solids color chart, I selected Kona Midnight Purple for that background fabric:

Kona Solid in Midnight Purple, on Amazon here

Then for the flying geese, I was looking at ombre fabrics over on eQuilter.com.  

Gelato Ombre in Chartreuse

Gelato Ombre in Olive Garden

...And for the geese themselves:

Evening Ombres in Ocean

Gelato Ombre in Ocean Blue

And this is the part where I wish I was shopping in person at the well-appointed LQS (Local Quilt Shop) that exists only in my imagination.  I found six different online sources for that Kona Solid Midnight Purple fabric, and the exact same fabric looks completely different on each web site because each one is using their own photo of the fabric with different lighting, etc.  Yet I'm confident that I've chosen the right color because I have an actual swatch of it in my hand on the Kona color chart.  With these ombre fabrics, they could turn out to be all kinds of darker or brighter or greener or whatever once they showed up in my mailbox.  

And yes, I know I could just select seven different blue fabrics and seven different shades of the yellow-green to achieve a similar effect, but I like the effect of the colors gradually deepening WITHIN each patch rather than each patch being slightly darker than the patch before.

As I've lamented to y'all before, my nearest "local" source for a decent selection of high quality quilting cottons is an hour and a half round trip, or worse if I time it so that I get stuck in rush hour.  I know I have seen a few ombre fabrics there in the past, but I don't remember it being an extensive collection so it's really hit or miss that they'll have what I'm looking for.  

Ugh.

Well, I do have a bit of a shopping list accumulated:

• I need to find and purchases a replacement green fabric for the leaves on my remaining Frankenwhiggish Rose applique blocks.  I need a tattoo on my forehead that says "ATTENTION FABRIC SHOP: PLEASE SELL ME TWICE AS MUCH FABRIC AS I THINK I NEED BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS DISCONTINUED BY THE TIME I RUN OUT!"

  

  I Did Not Buy Enough of This Fabric Back in 2014, and Now I Am Punished!

• I need the blue inner border/binding fabric, Kona Solid in Denim or something similar, for my pineapple log cabin quilt 

  

  I've Been Joining These Blocks Into Rows Intermittently...

  
  

  

  ...But I Haven't Yet Purchased the Blue Inner Border Fabric

• I need a backing fabric for my pineapple log cabin quilt, too.  

So that probably warrants a journey down to Sew Much Fun, don't you think?  Today and tomorrow it's their End of the Month/End of the Bolt Sale, 25% off any regular priced fabric if I buy whatever's left on the bolt.  The dark purple and the pineapple quilt backing are each going to be over 10 yards of fabric, and check out this photo from their shop that they just posted on their Facebook page a few minutes ago:

This Fabric Is Waiting for ME at Sew Much Fun!

I spy with my little eye some deep, dark PURPLE!  You guys, this fabric is calling to me and I have to go purchase liberate it from captivity immediately.  Wish me luck!

But first, I'm linking up with:

• ·       Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/
• ·       Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/