When orange is a restful color

Do you ever make the exact same quilt twice? Many quilters reuse a favorite pattern over and over, trying out different fabrics or color palettes each time.

But what about a room with twin beds? Would you make the same quilt, with the same fabric, a second time? Might get boring to sew. So jazz it up a little!

Designers Joanie Holton and Melanie Greseth avoided this situation when sewing quilts from Kanvas' Lili-fied collection—they used the same bold fabrics, but two different designs. The like fabrics tie the room together, but you won't get sucked into monotonous piecing!

Both ''Lily's Beach Party'' and ''Tangerine Sunrise'' are featured in the current issue of Simple Quilts & Sewing magazine, appropriately under the tagline of ''Double Duty."

We asked this designing duo to share what went on behind all that orange and fuchsia goodness:

How do you work as a team to come up with your designs?

Melanie: Joanie and I tend to scribble and doodle ideas and then scribble and doodle on each other's scribbles and doodles… in most cases the quilts we design go through both of us at one point or another…. if she figures out a layout, I figure out the color…. if I have an idea for structure, she figures out how to construct…  we are a team in every sense of the word.

Have you ever made an all-orange quilt before?

After creating the [Lili-fied-themed Kanvas] booth for Fall Quilt Market with all this fabulous color, we needed a ''rest'' for our eyes. So we made one more quilt—just with the orange—and called it ''Tangerine Sunrise."

(When bright orange (or tangerine) is called ''rest,'' you can tell Joanie and Melanie have been looking at Lili-fied too long!)

What attracted you to the fabric line?

It is just so bright and fun! The line has really great color, which shines in the simple designs.

           

Photo courtesy of Simple Quilts & Sewing

See the entire Lili-fied collection here. 

(Don't forget, it comes in green/blue/aqua too!)

Find the kits for both quilts here.

Find Quilt magazine here. 

Find the pattern for the coordinating throw pillows here.