2020 Robert Kaufman Kona Color of the Year- Enchanted

Written by Brittany Lloyd

As ya'll know, Robert Kaufman, Kona Solids are my FAVORITE. There is such a variety of colors (365 to be exact!), and the weight is perfect for quilting. They stitch up so nicely, and I love the texture that they give a quilt after its first wash.

Robert Kaufman does a limited edition "Color of the Year" (COTY), and I was so excited when they asked if I would be a part of the 2020 COTY launch! Of course my answer was YES!

SO.....DRUMROLL PLEASE! The 2020 color of the years is.....ENCHANTED! Oh, you guys. This color will blow your mind! Admittedly, I'm not a big green fan. I love seafoam and mint....if we are talking Kona Colors, Kona Seafoam and Kona Desert Green are my go-to's! But honestly, anything darker than that is just a little scary for me, haha. But when Enchanted arrived on my cutting table, I truly fell in love!

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I decided to use an ombre color palette to show off the COTY. I love a good ombre quilt....and I've had this idea for a Church Window Quilt since the moment I wrote the pattern. I'm so excited that I was finally able to make it a reality!

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I LOVE Church Window, because it looks a lot harder than it actually is. Don't get me wrong, I've labeled this pattern as "Intermediate", and there are definitely some tricky elements to it.... but it is really such a good pattern to display large cuts of fabric. And the best part? No y-seams!

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For the top and bottom portions of my quilt, I decided to create extra negative space with my sashing color. I really like how that emphasizes the hexagons! It also gives me serious mermaid vibes and I'm here for it!

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Speaking of sashing, I used Gotham Gray...which has seemingly been my favorite color lately. If you've seen my Instagram feed, I've been using that color a lot...especially in two color quilts. Its just a really good dark gray. Not too warm, not too cool. Almost black, but a little lighter. It's perfect! I also used it on my original Church Window quilt as well.

For the other colors, from lightest to darkest, I used:

Sea Mist (a first for me, it's comparable to Desert Green but a little lighter)
Pond ( also a first...very pretty!)
Aloe
Kale
Enchanted....the star of the show!

I also used Enchanted as my backing...just to show it off even more.

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I used the Chunky Stitch binding method... it's so quick and easy and I love the look of it.

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Okay, let's talk about the quilting. YALL. Walker Quilt Co. Does it again!

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I wanted this quilt to have sort of an "Art Deco," 1920's feel...and boy did she deliver! I just love how these scallops add movement and layers to the quilt. It also contributes to my mermaid theme that I mentioned earlier. ;)

Walker Quilt Co. used a monofiliment thread so that the quilt would have texture, but it would be so "thready" if that makes sense. There are times when I want the thread to stand out, but especially with this pantograph....having a colored thread might've just been too much. Good call!

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Church Window is a versatile pattern and it's really easy to customize to your needs. It's scrap, fat eighth, fat quarter, quarter yard and half yard friendly. The pattern has a coloring page so that you can plan it all out before you begin.

Here's what you'll need. (oh! and it's a throw size, 53" x 62.5", in case you were wondering)

2/3 yard per color...for this quilt I had 5 colors
7/8 yard for the sashing. This is the normal amount that the pattern calls for.
3/8 yard for the end triangles. This was the optional part that I changed....if you want to make these triangles using the same colors that you used for the hexagons, you will not need any additional yardage.

Again, this pattern is really easy to customize. Get creative and have some fun with it!

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