Last month, we introduced our latest grand bundle, Protea, named after an amazing flower found in South Africa. As I often do, the colors for this bundle we’re pulled from a photograph the Studio’s manager, Rebecca, took while on a trip there in 2017. If you are interested in this process of capturing colors from a photo, I wrote about it in a blog when we introduced the Irish Heather bundle. There are 40 fabrics in the Protea bundle and we have broken it up into five smaller bundles of eight fabrics each. Once a month we offer one of the smaller bundles as our web special.
Whenever we introduce a new bundle, we always discuss possible projects to give you all an idea of how you can use the fabrics. Both the Thousand Pyramid and Tumbling Blocks quilt were shown in the Irish Heather blogs and would be perfect for this bundle as well. Another suggestion is a quilt, Potomac Charm, designed in 2013 for the Quilters’ Quest shop hop.
Potomac Charm used 99 five-inch charm squares so, in order to have enough to play with, we cut two squares from each of the 40 Protea fabrics and staffer Nancy and I started arranging them on the design wall. We decided on a setting of 54 “blocks,” set six across and nine down. Swatches were added, moved around and taken down. Just when we thought we had it set we would change it again. Then we added border prints down the sides to audition them. What do you think?
After the positioning of the squares was set I created a digital image and played around with border options. Since the quilt was so small, I chose to start with the narrow border from the Casablanca fabric. The best outer border was just a wider black piece. To determine the best width for that last border I got out my trusty Golden Gauge Calipers. This gave me the perfect size for that last border. If you are not familiar with the Golden Ratio, check out my blog on this topic from a few years ago.
I tried another version using the border print from Miyako.
The finished quilts are approximately 59” x 67”. We always have people wanting to make our quilts larger. So I decided to play around with the digital image. I removed the top and bottom rows of squares then made two exactly alike and two that were the mirror image.
Since the quilt is larger, I used the wider stripe from the fabric and then used the calipers to determine how wide the black should be. Here is the quilt with the two different borders.
No longer a charm quilt (charm quilts do not duplicate fabrics), we decided to name this Protea Squares. The small quilt measures 34” x 50.5” without the borders and 59” x 67” with the borders. The large quilt is 67” x 78” without the border and 84” x 95” with the borders.
The finished width of our smaller quilt outer border is 3 7/8” (cut 4 3/8”). The finished width of the larger quilt outer border is 8½” (cut width 9”).
We are giving the Potomac Charms pattern here as a free download. You can use that as a guideline for creating your own 5” square quilt. We encourage you to play with fabric placement and settings, adding more squares or less, (depending on the size you want) or even adding fabrics from your stash. Once you get started, I’m sure you will have as much fun as we did.
Can the Protea quilt be made with just the bundle that is on special this week, or are earlier/ upcoming ones needs?
In order to make the entire quilt, you would need the complete bundle which is made up of five mini bundles.
The last border really brings out the colors!
It is very tempting, however because of postage costs and the difference between the Australian and American $ it would make sense to buy all the bundles at the same time. Obviously would prefer to have them at the Special price. Let me know what arrangements can be made. No hurry, I have plenty other projects to finish.
Just love the colours of Protea. Rosalind Gray Victoria, Australia
If you want to purchase each bundle on sale, we can hold them all for you and ship at one time. Please e-mail service@jinnybeyer.com and we can make special arrangements.
All I can say is I wish I could buy every one of your pallets.
I want to make the large quilt exactly as it is. Does that mean I will need 40 fat Quarters to cut 8 x 5″ squares out of each fabric in some cases and 4 x 5″ in others?
Are you planning to make a kit for this Protea Squares, it is so beautiful, using 5″ squares rather than fat quarters? If forecasting the border fabrics!
At this time, we will only be offering this as fat quarters. If you have the entire Protea bundle and follow the pictures you should be able to make it as the image shown.
As the person above asked, are you planning to make a kit for the Protea Squares? I would like to make the large quilt. Is there a description of the size of the squares, amount of black needed, etc., to complete the large quilt. Or could you recommend the amount of each pallette needed, for example, one-half yards, yards, or fat quarters. Thank you for your help.
Mary Teets Shepherd
dlshep1049@aol.com
Hi, Pat –
There isn’t a printed pattern for the quilt, but Jinny did go into more details in this blog post:
https://jinnybeyer.com/protea-a-bundle-with-so-many-possibilities/It was adapted from a pattern, Potomac Squares, which is a free download from the blog mentioned above.
What if you put the dark in the center and the lights on the outside?
Stay Tuned. Watch for the blog when the next Protea bundle goes out, Jinny might present some more possibilities!
How much fabric should one get for the largest one that you display towards the bottom of the blog? And is there a kit for this available? Thanks for your help.
Please refer to the downloadable pattern link, available here. Three and a quarter yards of the border should be plenty for the large quilt.
Hi tHere
I wish to have a kit for the protea charm quilt to be shipped out to the United Arab Emirates.I just love the colors of this new fabric collection. Can you please advise me what the total cost is and send me a PayPal invoice?
I am not sure what border to choose-maybe the Miyako is a bit brighter- would be grateful for your advice!
Regards
Sarah
Please contact service@jinnybeyer.com with your question and they will be able to help you with the necessary information.
Hi Just love the Protea Quilt. Have you had a kit up for this or if not what is the price for the five bundles and will I need the complete five bundles. How much of black is also needed. I Have been waiting to see if its a kit as I am from Australia and postage cost would be more reasonable to purchase in one hit. Thanking you
At the bottom of the Protea blog is a link to the Potomac Charms patterns which is a free download and will provide you with all the information you need to make this quilt. Have fun!