Midpoint - Ocean Inspired One

Being a quilt pattern designer means that the majority of quilts I make are samples for pattern releases. This usually works out great because whatever quilt pattern I’m releasing is one I’m obsessed with at the moment. However, sometimes I get an itch to make a quilt for me – to make a quilt just because I want to, because it makes me happy or because I have that design itch I need to scratch. 

This Midpoint quilt falls into that last category. When I first released the Midpoint quilt pattern, I made two samples. Both were made with Ruby Star Society and featured various colors, but I really wanted to make a monochrome slash ombre version. Of course, due to time constraints and deadlines, I couldn’t make a third sample quilt during the release. So, I sat on this idea until I couldn’t any longer, and I made time in my schedule to make it happen.

Blue is one of my favorite colors and what I wanted to explore in this project. At the time, I had been missing the ocean, so this was my way to get back in touch with it. I picked a selection of blue solid fabric ranging from light to dark, six in total.

For the background, I didn’t want to go with my trusty solid white or another solid. I wanted something with more depth and some detail to it. I had some Speckled fabric with metallic gold touches on hand, and I knew it was perfect for this project. 

Midpoint is one of those patterns that come together incredibly fast, so I did the quilt top in no time. And then I had to stop and think about how I wanted to quilt this. I knew I wanted to quilt it myself and wanted to take the cues from the design itself.

I started by adding some straight-line quilting around the design to anchor the quilt top so it wouldn’t shift during quilting as I twisted and turned my way around it. I used a matching cream color for this. First, I added some just-off-the-ditch quilting around the blue, then added more every 1” all throughout the quilt.

When I was done, I felt like the quilt needed more – more quilting, more texture. So, I matched each blue and added quilting in between the cream quilted lines. 

Then, I came to a crossroads: Should I add more cream quilting on the background or try a different color? I had always wanted to try some metallic thread, and this felt like the perfect project to do so, so I went for it. I got some gold thread and added it in between the cream quilting. 

The end result is a perfectly soft and cuddly quilt! I swear this is one of the softest quilts I’ve ever made. 

For the binding, I briefly considered using one of the blues but instead went with more of the Speckled background fabric because I wanted to keep the focus on the design and quilting. 

Then, I took some not-so-great pictures of it and submitted the quilt to QuiltCon 2022 on a whim. I honestly didn’t think much of it, but it was accepted into the show.

And then I proceeded to tell no one about it… I’m not sure why I didn’t share this quilt on my Instagram or even tell people I had a quilt in the show, but that’s happened.

When I met with my friend Julie at the show, I made an off-hand mention that I had a quilt in, and I had just gone and looked at it, and she yelled at me for 1) not telling her, 2) not taking a picture with the quilt, and 3) not telling her haha. So she made me take her to where my quilt was in the “Negative Space” category and took some pictures of me with it. 

So, when it was time to pick a quilt to highlight during this month’s Pattern of the Month feature, I knew I had to use this sample of Midpoint that never got the love it should’ve gotten.

Alexis of Stitched by Alexis took some incredible pictures of it, and I love how it looks. Please scroll on through and enjoy! :)