Equinox Fabrics, Day Two

Day Two. Did you miss Day One? Here's the link from a few weeks ago.

In case you can't remember how beautiful these Benartex fabrics are, let me remind you!

I love basics! I love having a collection of fabrics that take backstage but without which, the "jazzy" fabrics couldn't stand on their own. They do what a perfect picture frame does for a prized oil painting.

Equinox is just that sort of collection.

Equinox fat 1/4s from Benartex

I didn't have a particular project in mind, so I began by making blocks. One of these is my Royal Star. I first made this updated vintage block 25 years ago using Benartex's Fossil Ferns. It first appeared on the Cover of the Big Block Quilts (where I was an editor).

This also appeared on the cover of my first book. But, you've seen that before. What I want to show is my Equinox Royal Star block (in process). What you see on the left border is that dark blue 9 Patch, which I didn't like. Glad I saw it before I stitched the seams.

12" Royal Star block with 3" pieced borders (18" block)

I switched that top left corner 9 Patch with one in a better contrast (in red).

Since February is the month of love (and hearts), I pulled a pattern from my upcoming Block a Day Calendar (C&T Publishing). Guess what I called it - yes, the Heart Block!

12" Pieced Heart from my Block a Day Calendar

What I love about blenders is that are the SUPPORTING cast for other motifs and prints. I pulled out some older Benartex fabrics (Dog Gone It) and used 4 dog panels as centers of the Nonsense block. Nonsense is the actual name of this vintage block! (This also appears in my Block a Day Calendar).  I've used it many times before because the center is a large 10"! Wanna see?

15" Nonsense block using Equinox and Dog Gone It

As a Benartex Sewcial Star (Ambassador), we were asked to create a project with our particular blender collection for the purpose of then donating it to charity. This will be a very fun quilt for some little child, don't you think? I bet the little kid will have trouble sleeping during nap time. I used a wide backing (108") for my borders and backing which takes its cues from the Dog Gone It fabrics. It's called Paisley Style.

Paisley Style 108" wide backing

Here she is, beautifully quilted by Jeanne Culbert. This will be donated to our local kids' charity endeavors (probably Young Lives).

Gone to the Dogs: 49" x 52"

Now you can see what I mean by blenders being supporting cast. But those dogs would not be as cute if they had other busy fabrics next to them.

Go check out the Equinox collection at the Benartex site to see each of the glorious colors.

Hope to be back soon with the finished quilt and sharing a few other ideas I have for this collection!