Sometime in 2021, I joined the Ruby Star Society quarterly fat quarter club through Fat Quarter Shop (FQS). I joined because I love the modern designs of the fabrics put out by Ruby Star Society and I wanted to support them, but I didn’t have enough money to buy every bundle of fabric designed by every designer they have. Since FQS makes it super simple to join (and leave) their subscriptions and this particular club includes a pattern with each delivery, I figured I could justify the cost for a little while.
I don’t remember if it was the first or second shipment, but one of them included a beautiful bundle of teal fabrics. They were bold. The fabric patterns were complimentary. The included quilt pattern showcased the fabrics well. In short, this bundle made my heart sing.
I dove into my stash to find the right background fabric. I loved the idea of having another bold color with the Ruby Star Society bundle so I compared, and hemmed and hawed, and considered… I had two fabrics in the right color, but not enough of either one. I thought “this quilt deserves to have a non-scrappy background.” So, I went out and bought the right amount of fabric in a 3rd pattern. (How’s that for saving money?)
I don’t have a picture of the perfect magenta background that I’d chosen to go with the teal bundle, but trust me when I say it was glorious!
So I was set. I had the fabrics gathered. The fat quarters were pressed and stacked. I had my 60mm rotary cutter out so I could get them all done at the same time (I was gonna be efficient, y’all!).
As soon as I made the first cut, I realized I had mis-cut the entire bundle of this beautiful fabric. There was no way to salvage it. My heart sunk. I was sick to my stomach. I had actual tears in my eyes. My vision of this bold teal and magenta quilt went by the wayside.
I walked away. I closed that sewing room door, and then I went out for a walk. When I came back, I glared at the offending pile of fabric. Obviously, it was the fabric’s fault, right? Couldn’t have been that I mis-counted the inches, and my mental math went wonky, right?
Then I remembered: Pat Sloan had just put out a block she called Twinkle Lights (from her Summer Soiree Quilt Along). If I used scraps from my stash and saved that magenta yardage for later, I could probably get at least a small throw out of my mistake. So, I did some math, went into my scrap 5″ and 10″ square piles, and made 12 blocks. Put together, they were way too busy, so I added some sashing and corner stones – and the top was done.
It sat in the closet for months with me feeling annoyed that it wasn’t the quilt I wanted to make.
Fast forward a few months (to maybe October?), and I added a Grace Q-zone Hoop Frame Pro to my arsenal of quilting tools. I decided to test out this new toy on quilts that I didn’t really care about, and this “lemonade” quilt fit the bill. The quilting went quickly, and this quilt went back into the closet while I decided what I wanted to do for the binding.
Now, it’s January, and I finally decided to finish this quilt up. Why let it sit? It’s perfectly good, even if it’s not what I originally set out to make. The colors work well. It’s a happy looking quilt – exuberant! So, I went back into my stash. This time I looked through my 2.5″ strip scraps. I found several that would look OK with the quilt and continue with the scrappy feel.
So here it is: My Ruby Star Society Lemonade Quilt.
Now that it’s completed, I think I like it. And it’ll make a nice gift for my fellow neighborhood watch block captain.
Have you ever made a Lemonade Quilt? How’d it go?
Take care, and I’ll see you next time!