My August 2022 One Monthly Goal was to make a Break of Day quilt top (pattern by Erica with Kitchen Table Quilting and her Break of Day Quilt layout). This was an extremely satisfying project to work on though I had to painstakingly check that I was selecting correct fabric colors. When making this quilt top, I did much less chain piecing than I usually do and took many in-process photos of blocks to make sure I was accurately following Erica’s 18 color gradient layout.

Of the 18 solid fabrics used for Break of Day, Erica suggested using 13 Kona colors, 2 Cotton Couture colors, 2 Pure Elements colors, and 1 RJR Cotton Supreme color. For the non-Kona solids, Erica suggested Kona equivalents. I used all Kona colors for my Break of Day quilt. While Alison Glass Kaleidoscope fabrics are my all-time favorite solids due to them being woven using two different colors resulting in a luminous quality, I often choose to use Kona solids because of the wide range of 365 colors. I also like that Kona solids fray less than Kaleidoscope solids. The 19 Kona colors I used are Raisin, Hibiscus, Lupine, Plum, Cerise, Gumdrop, Valentine, Honeysuckle, Carnation, Camellia, Creamsicle, Persimmon, Papaya, School Bus, Cheddar, Corn Yellow, and Canary plus Titanium for my background fabric.

I am diligent about labeling my solid fabrics when they arrive in the mail. I generally buy my Kona solids from Stash Fabrics who always label their solid fabrics and Hawthorne Supply Co. who do not label their solids, but I can look at all my past orders with excellent photo images of fabrics ordered, so I make my own labels from little squares of paper safety pinned to the selvedges of the fabric. I will say that even though Hawthorne Supply Co. is in New York, I get orders from them very quickly.

The stars below are made from the more vibrant fabrics.  Nectarine, Papaya, and Corn Yellow are on the top row, and Honeysuckle, Cerise, and Hibiscus are on the bottom row.

Erica’s original Katie pattern uses strip piecing for the sashing, but that was not possible with the Break of Day layout since the sashing provides the complex transition of the more muted colors to the brighter colored stars. The pic below shows a portion of the sashing strips. I made 168 flying geese for this quilt using Lee Heinrich’s paper-pieced Perfect Flying Geese templates. Not only are my flying geese more accurate, but I can label my units on the paper side with the color of the fabric used. I know there are people who hate tearing out paper from paper-pieced projects, but it doesn’t really bother me. I often find ripping out the paper to be oddly satisfying!

For the back of my Break of Day quilt, I used a pretty digital print by Windham Landscapes 2020 called 5 O’Clock Somewhere purchased through FabricUtopia on Etsy bordered by a wide border of Kona Lupine and a more narrow border of Kona Hibiscus (though it doesn’t look much narrower since I have allowed extra inches that will be cut off after it is long-arm quilted).

I sent this quilt top/backing off on Monday to Melissa at Sew Shabby Quilting. She’s going to quilt some spirals with a pretty variegated sunrise-colored thread.

Linking up to Elm Street Quilts: August 2022 OMG Finishes.