Custom Deco Quilt Palette for 2024 + QAL Week 4, 108 Weeks Behind Schedule

56 x 68 Deco Throw Quilt, PANTONE Pairings Palette for 2024

This is the time of year for sleigh bells, twinkling lights, caroling... and complaining on social media about how much we disagree with the design industry's color forecasters' predictions for Color of the Year.  PANTONE Europe's Color of the Year for 2024 is Peach Fuzz:

And Robert Kaufman's Kona Solid Color of the Year for 2024 is a pale aqua they're calling Julep: 

Looking at these two "new" color trend predictions side-by-side, many of us are getting flashbacks of  Margo and Todd's bedroom decor from the 1989 holiday movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  

Pantone Peach Fuzz Walls with Kona Julep Vase and Window Blinds

"Why is the floor all wet, Todd?"

"I don't know, Margo!!"  

"Why does Pantone think our 1989 bedroom set will be the embodiment of global lifestyle trends at the macro level in 2024?"

"I DON'T KNOW, MARGO!!!" 😆

Okay, all kidding aside -- there are no "new" colors under the sun, and just about everything that goes out of fashion cycles back in again eventually -- just look at the renewed popularity of white kitchen cabinets and brass hardware that we're seeing again after consumers had left them for dead for decades.  When designers resurrect something outdated and reintroduce it as a new trend, they always do something different with it.  The white cabinets we're seeing today have a more streamlined, modern profile than the raised panel white kitchen cabinets from the 1990s.  Today's brass hardware is more modern and sleek as well, often with a new satin finish instead of the shiny lacquer finish of years gone by.  And, when Peach Fuzz starts showing up in retail fashion, home decor, and every other consumer product you can imagine, it's not going to show up in the same way we remember it from the 1980s.

Design professionals can log into PANTONE's web site and access additional color reference tools, including suggested color palettes that incorporate the Color of the Year.  I selected one of these palettes called Pairings (pictured above), matched the colors to Kona Solid fabrics from Robert Kaufman, and used my EQ8 quilting design software to create a version of Lo & Behold's Deco Quilt pattern that includes both PANTONE's Peach Fuzz and Kaufman's Kona Solid Julep Colors of the Year (without looking like it belongs in Margo and Todd's bedroom).  Now, how fresh and fun is that?!

56 x 68 Deco Throw Quilt, PANTONE Pairings Palette for 2024

With my interior design background, whenever I'm pulling together colors for a bed quilt or a throw quilt, I'm always thinking about how that quilt is going to function as just one element in a bedroom or living room that also has bed linens, throw pillows, upholstery fabrics, rugs, artwork and accessories, etc.  I love a neutral interior where bright colors and bold pattern on items like throw quilts and toss pillows can bring in a fun pop of color with a low level of commitment that can be switched out seasonally without redecorating the whole room.  Maybe you're going to paint the walls in Peach Fuzz or Julep if it's a child's bedroom or playroom, but most of our grownup living rooms are not going to feel very current with wall paint borrowed from Margo and Todd.  Instead, a throw quilt incorporating the new "It" colors as accent colors would be a lovely way to energize and brighten a contemporary space with gray or cool beige walls.  

Want to Make Your Own Deco Throw in the PANTONE 2024 Pairings Palette?

In case anyone out there is interested in making my PANTONE 2024 Pairings version of the Deco Throw quilt, here are the Kona Solid fabrics (and the corresponding yardage requirements) used in this rendering.  (Please note that this post contains affiliate links):

• Background Fabric: Kona Cotton 346 Regatta, 3 1/4 yds
• Block One Squares: Kona Cotton 490 Honeysuckle, 1/2 yd
• Block One Inner Stripe: Kona Cotton 141 Carnation, 3/8 yd
• Block One Outer Stripe: Kona Cotton 1176 Ice Peach (closest match for PANTONE's 2024 Color of the Year Peach Fuzz), 1/2 yd
• Block Two Centers: Kona Cotton 149 Papaya, 3/8 yd
• Block Two Squares: Kona Cotton 1031 Blue Grass, 1/4 yd
• Block Three Squares: Kona Cotton 2018 Julep, Kona 2024 Color of the Year, 3/4 yd

You'll need to purchase a copy of the Deco Quilt pattern from Lo & Behold Stitchery, available on Etsy here.  Also, if you're an AccuQuilt GO! user, I highly recommend investing in the 1 1/2" strip die for this quilt (it would also come in handy for several other Lo & Behold patterns such as Knitted Star). I probably won't make this one myself because there are so many quilts I want to make and I only have one lifetime -- I am unlikely to ever go back and make the same pattern a second time, even in a different size and colorway.  So please show me if you decide to make this version of the Deco quilt for yourself!

Deco QAL Week Four, 108 Weeks Later

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...  My Scandi Deco Bed Quilt project is coming along slowly but surely!  I hit another milestone last night when I completed the last of the 27 Block Twos, only 108 weeks behind schedule for Week Four of the 2021 Deco QAL hosted by the pattern designer!  You guys, I am wishing I had only committed to making the throw size version now but I'm too far into it to turn back!

All 54 Block Ones and All 27 Block Twos Completed for My Bed Size Deco Quilt

Here's a reminder of where I'm going with this one.  As with the PANTONE Pairings rendering, I created this custom colorway for Deco Quilt in my EQ8 software.  

EQ8 Rendering of My 102 x 102 Deco Bed Quilt Currently In Progress

My next task for this quilt is to make 36 of Block Three in the Indigo/Willow pairing and 18 of Block Three in the Indigo/Thistle pairing.  The pattern instructions call for strip piecing these but I decided to cut out all of those little squares and rectangles individually for some reason -- is Temporary Insanity a legal defense for bad patchwork decisions, or is that only good for murder?  Just kidding.  Anyway, lots more piecing still on my horizon with this quilt.  My personal quilting "To Do On Tuesday" goal is to make a start on these Block Threes, but I know I won't finish them because I still have one client's quilt left with a holiday deadline before I am on vacation for the holidays, and I still have so much Christmas shopping left to do...  Do you think my 20 and 23 year old sons would like fabric for Christmas?  😵

Here's a screen shot of the yardage calculation generated by EQ8: 

Yardage Estimates for My Scandi Deco Bed Quilt from EQ8

See how handy that is?  Ignore that one patch of Coal fabric it's calling for; I must have colored one tiny little square patch with that fabric by accident as I was merrily mouse-clicking away.  Even if you never create an original quilt from scratch with EQ8 software, it's still a worthwhile investmen for trying out fabric combinations on screen before you order any fabric and start cutting into it, and in a situation like this one I was using more colors than what the pattern called for so yardage calculation was really important for me to know how much of each color to buy.

PANTONE's Peach Fuzz in Debbie's Beach Sunset Quilt

Ooh, you guys -- I was just about to wrap up this post when I suddenly remembered a client's quilt from months ago that incorporated PANTONE's 2024 Color of the Year to beautiful effect!  This is my client Debbie's Beach Sunset quilt, which I quilted with a dense and highly detailed edge to edge design called Nautilus Shell with Pearls E2E (this took forever to stitch, but it is so worth it!):

Detail of Nautilus Shell with Pearls E2E in Glide Sunkissed Peach Thread

Here again, the peach color is an accent, recalling the interior of a seashell or the color of the sand when it's awash with the glow of a fiery sunset:

Debbie's 68 x 79 Beach Sunset Quilt

I just love the textural contrast in this quilt between the larger nautilus shapes and the dense pebble or pearl quilting between them.  It creates a three-dimensional effect like the shells are actually partially buried, and partially sticking out of, the sand.  I used Glide thread in color Sunkissed Peach for the quilting, and Debbie provided COM (Customer's Own Material) Quilters Dream Cotton Request Loft batting for this one -- it's thinner than the Quilters Dream Cotton battings that I stock and normally use.  Here's what Debbie's quilt top looked like prior to quilting:

Debbie's Quilt Top Prior to Quilting

Debbie, did you know you were such a savvy trendsetter, with PANTONE peeking into your quilting studio to pick their Color of the Year for the whole world?  Thank you for choosing me to quilt this for you!

And now, seriously -- how many Block Threes for my Deco quilt do y'all think I could have sewn in the time it took me to write this gargantuan blog post?!  We really need to end this now!  😂. Every one of you who made it all the way to the end deserves a cookie!

I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

FRIDAY

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework