River Rocks quilt – the cover sample

As the title suggests this is the quilt that is featured on the cover of my River Rocks quilt pattern. You can get your copy here.

Maybe a bit ironically for an “improv” inspired design, this quilt is the one that underwent by far the most intense planning of all my different versions. I wanted to be sure to pick a set of colours I really love and not feel limited by my stash. So I made tons of mock-ups, picked my favourite and ordered all six solids and the background. I am almost certain that this the first quilt I ever made without any contribution from my stash!

Then I actually made my first pattern draft before starting to cut and sew. And wow – I didn’t think it would require that much discipline to meticulously follow my own instructions!

It was also one of my first quilts not being dedicated to someone specific while making it. Not that I’m liking the quilt any less for that reason, but it was a different feeling for sure.

Looking at the quilt now the palette doesn’t seem too wild any more, but I remember how neon (for my standards) the bright Kona Nectarine rocks felt when I first chain-pieced all my blocks.

Having made four River Rocks quilts by now I can clearly say that my favourite part of the process is having all the rocks pressed and trimmed and nicely stacked in front of me, to then assemble the columns and finish the quilt top, rotating the rocks and shifting them around a bit where needed to have them sit nicely on top of each other. Almost better than lego! 😉

I had originally considered leaving the quilt as a crib size but then decided to add borders and upgrade it to a throw.

I found a sweet sand-coloured duvet cover with little white specks which I used as the backing and went for a simple straight-line quilting,

And of course I added my typical label and bound the quilt with big hand stitches, like most everything these days.

And the finished beauty…

… also very useful as a quilt cape! 😉

If you like this particular colour combo, these are the fabrics I used: Kona Nectarine, Primrose, Pickle, Limestone, Bison, Grizzly – and Snow for the background. You can also get them ready as a kit from Fabric Bubb.

I’d love to see your favourite colours for the rocks! Be sure to use the hashtag #RiverRocksQuilt on social media!