An Emerald Table

I'll come right out and say it. Before last year, I had no idea there was such a thing as 'color of the year.' But Tangerine Tango piqued my interest, and I created "Tangerisk". So when Emerald was chosen for this year, I really didn't think twice about joining in the Emerald Quilt Challenge. Daughter dear got us official Pantone swatches so we knew what we were looking for, and the search was on.

Rachel searched out and found a solid that was very very close - Pure Elements Emerald. Green prints I added in my grouping were Lizzy House jewels in dark green and the pearl bracelets in Swiss chard. But it was Art Gallery oval elements in emerald that helped me decide on the rest of my palette, the addition of black and white. So you'll see some of my favorite black and white prints, plus for something a little different, I used just a bit of white Essex Linen and green Dupioni silk, both of which added some nice texture.

Somewhere along the line I decided to multi-task, and rather than make a quilt, chose to make placemats, a project that's been on my list for a while.

I made three sizes of wonky cross blocks. Unfinished, they were 3 1/2", 6 1/2", and 9 1/2". I put the same size assortment in each mat, mixing up their placement, and of course, the colors and fabrics.

I used Aurifil 50wt to piece, but was on retreat when I picked up thread for the quilting, and chose a variegated Sulky cotton for the matchstick quilting on each of the large crosses {lesson learned, use a larger needle}. The best match I could make for the rest of the quilting was a green Amann. It quilted the organic straight-line well though, adding a nice sheen.

And I couldn't resist changing up the binding just a bit. So while the majority is a Sew Mama Sew zig zag, the largest row of small blocks in each placemat got bound with some white on black Remix ovals, which also happens to be the backing fabric on each of the 12" x 18" mats.

So now they are done and were put to use last night at dinner.

 I think they'll work just fine.

Linking up with the Emerald Quilt Challenge and Finish it up Friday.