MSQ’s Bar Charts Quilt

This month, we’ve been sharing lots of fun photos of the process of making our Bar Charts sample over on our Instagram feed. In this post, let’s dig into the details!

Amanda’s pattern comes in one great throw size, big enough for keeping warm but not too big to be considered for a really impactful wall quilt. Imagine this as a commemorative quilt in a veteran’s office!

Our sample was pieced by Jessica Schunke, who pulled a bunch of chambrays and other blue fabrics from her stash for the “bars.” Chambrays and linen blends have become extremely popular in the modern quilting world in recent years, and there’s no shortage of great options out there if you’re looking to create a similar look. Our sample includes three colors of Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn-Dyed and Essex Yarn-Dyed Homespun linen blends, along with several chambrays from Robert Kaufman’s House of Denim collection. Art Gallery Fabrics also has an impressively large collection of chambrays in their Denim Studio collection. The background is Lori Holt’s Pin Dot in black — a perfect random dot print that could be used in so many applications (it also comes in navy, red, and denim dots, among other colors).

This quilt is also a great example of using fabrics of different weights and structures together. The chambrays and linen blends consist of several different weights, and combined with a handful of quilting cottons, this quilt is a textbook in texture and movement, especially up close.

You know how we love to share the other mockups our web designer, Christine Boyd, makes, and this month’s options are especially fun. We can’t decide which one’s our favorite, but there’s something about the balance of the top right one that’s just aching to be brought to life.

This pattern’s dynamic middle design is balanced by a lot of negative space, so it was important to choose a quilting pattern with impact to fill it. Lilo Whitener-Fey of Trace Creek Quilting chose the Baptist Diamonds pattern to hearken back to the diagonal lines of the “bars” while adding a lot of movement to the background space.

Jessica added the final finishing touch to the quilt with our favorite big-stitch binding. Don’t you love how those big white stitches just pop on the red binding (which, by the way, is another wonderful Essex Yarn-Dyed Homespun linen blend, this time in Flame)? And we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that fabulous flannel backing, which not only brings in just the right amount of red but increases the quilt’s coziness factor by 10. It’s Robert Kaufman Organic Mammoth Flannel in Americana. Flannels make wonderful backings for honor quilts because their softness and warmth is like a loving hug.

If you’re inspired to jump in to create your own version, then head on over to Amanda’s store to grab your copy of the pattern. And don’t forget Amanda is donating 100% of the proceeds from the Bar Charts pattern for the month of September to Home Base, so grab your pattern this month to stretch your impact for some very worthy veterans. You can check out this post for lots more about Amanda’s collaboration with MSQ. Happy quilting!

Photos of the finished quilt were taken by Angela Armstrong of Todd Studios Photography. In-progress photos were taken by Jessica.