Shimmer Quilt Reveal

As we get close to wrapping up another year, I’ve learned a few things… I’ve learned to be more realistic with myself. Would I like to finish 27 quilts? Yes. I certainly would, but reality is that is not going to happen.

I can shoot for the moon and aim high, but I can’t beat myself up for the ones I didn’t get to. Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day and I can’t lose sleep over that. (oh my gosh, have I become that mostly chill woman in her 30’s or what?)

I’ve been working on this quilt for several months. I’m going to share a review of the Shimmer Pattern and share the reveal of the Quilt Top.

I also have a few tips for buying Solid Fabrics for you at the end 🙂

I’ve been baking a few blocks at a time here and there. Its mostly been my project to come back to when I’m frustrated with another project and need a break 🙂

I think it is always good to have these kinds of projects laying around. Keeps the brain happy and the work fresh.

Shimmer is a pattern I fell in love with from CluckCluckSew. Her patterns tend to have a more traditional quilting/piecing vibe to them and I get lost in their simple beauty every time. She doesn’t even know I exist because I’ve been a quiet follower of hers for a while, but I encourage you to check out her website if you get a chance. It’s a real quality quilting site to follow!

Shimmer Quilt Pattern Review

The pattern had me at “no Y seams to sew”. And it was absolutely true. Yay for the complicated block being broken down into simple terms! These are my favorite patterns to sew.

This quilt pattern uses 20 fat quarters that are then cut up and interchangeably dispersed throughout the blocks.

It is amazing how each time I finished a new block I had a new favorite 🙂

There are many suggested sizes from a baby quilt to a king sized quilt.

These beautiful blocks do take time.

There are a lot of steps involved, but they were simple sewing tasks that a beginner-ish level quilter could tackle with a little practice. The hardest part for a newbie would be marching the corners, but you’ll never get there unless you try, right?

The instructions were clear and I am so pleased with the finished pattern and really enjoyed working on it between other projects!

You can purchase this pattern on Amazon here.

Pictures of my finished quilt top!

Disclaimer: I am a rule breaker… I’m sorry. I followed the pattern blocks but I didn’t finish the quilt the way the pattern intended.

You can see here on my design board how the blocks are meant to be sewed right next to each other creating the secondary “block” in the middle of each starburst block.

I loved the way it looked but I felt like I needed a little space between the blocks to allow the eyes to rest between busy fabrics. I just wasn’t feeling the really busy quilt top.

I think I was a little overly stressed with the holidays and needing more calm in my life. 🙂

So instead, I added a 2.25″ strip of fabric between the blocks to make a grid layout.

You can still see all the lovely free spirit fabrics, but there is a little more room to breathe. I really loved the way it turned out. 🙂

I could totally see myself making another one of these quilts in the future!

A monochromatic quilt would be so stunning!

Fabric Buying Tip: Please Read

This is more of a suggestion, but I’d like to point out something that I ran into with this quilt.

If you’re buying solid fabrics. I highly suggest buying them in bulk. Especially whites. You can see here that my grid lines were an afterthought because my white fabrics DO NOT match 🙁 – It isn’t as noticeable indoors, but in the sunlight its very noticeable.

I almost was tempted to rip it up and go with a light grey or something all together different for the grid fabric… but I believe that when I go to quilt this one the 2 color whites won’t be as prominent in my eyes.

Next time you’re in the fabric store, go to the solid whites and take a look, there will be similar whites but no two white bolts will be the same.

Some have more of a yellow tinge to the color than others. – Maybe this doesn’t bother you like it does me? Years of art school have trained my brain and my eyes to look at colors differently.

While I’m not ready to make another 15 of these beautiful
Shimmer blocks just yet (I have so many more quilts I want to get to!) I might make a few of these for mug rugs or over-sized tea coasters!

What do you think? Is this a pattern you would like to sew?