Every year the Kentucky State Fair chooses to highlight a particular category of quilt. The style they choose is then its own category for the fair. In 2019 the category was two color quilts. There is something mesmerizing about many of these two color quilts. They are beautiful in their simplicity and intriguing in their complexity. Whatever they are, they are definitely a style worth trying sometime!

Two Color Quilts at the Fair

For those that attended the fair this year, you might recognize this one. Carol made this specifically to enter into the fair. The pattern is “Diamonds in the Deep” which she made in solid brown and cream fabric. This looks so complicated, but I think there is only four different blocks. She did a phenomenal job of this. She quilted this with a design board called Spirals Small and Large. It definitely adds to the mesmerizing effect of this quilt.

This was also at the fair. Marie made this beauty from a graphic artist’s design she found online. With permission from the artist, she turned it into a quilt. It’s beautiful and eye popping! She's a braver soul than me for tackling all those Y seams! She quilted with another popular design that gives that swirling hypnotizing feel. It is a paper pantograph called Turbulence.

Blue and White Quilts

I don’t know if Karen entered this into the fair or not. I think she could have, though I suppose it could be argued that she has multiple blues in the quilt and it is therefore more than two colors. Whatever it is, it’s gorgeous. It draws to mind intricate and ancient Chinese pottery.

This is a Snail Trail block that has been arranged in a clever way. Using a solid white in its creation brings the tessellation aspect of the design to the forefront. The borders are also very nicely done. It looks like she used a striped fabric cut to perfection. This is not always the most efficient use of fabric, but the effect is amazing. She quilted this with white thread with an edge to edge free motion design. She wanted to mirror the spiral effect of the piecing.

Here is another blue and white quilt. Maybe it’s more blue and cream… Anna Maria made this for her mother. It is “Alaska” by Edyta at Laundry Basket Quilts. This kit is a beautiful mix of blues and off whites with a mesmerizing kaleidoscope feel.

The paper pantograph she chose is called Cascade. It has a lot of billowy cloud like shapes. It added a lot of soft curves and movements to this chilly wintery quilt.

This gray and blue darling is from Pam. She made it with blue batiks and butterflies. I like the pairing of the blues and the grays. It gives a mellow silvery feel where white would have been beautiful, but very stark. Pam quilted this with Square Spiral which adds texture, but not design. A great choice for this quilt.

Black and White Quilts

Judy, one of our regulars, brought this quilt along with six other small lap sized quilts as quilts of valor for veterans in Hosparus. I love the wonky uneven sawtooth stars in the solid black. Simple and easy but very effective. I can imagine you could make all sorts of constellations with a top like this. She quilted this with the help of a popular paper pantograph, Star Dance. She used black thread which is visible in the occasional stitching lines across the stars, but blends so spotlessly with the background that I wouldn’t have imagined anything else.

Darcy made this great black and white quilt. Because of all the dots, dashes, and solids, I find the mix of fabrics appealing. She quilted this with the spiral board as well. Don't you just love the hypnotic mesmerizing effect of those swirling circles on this two color quilt? It was a great touch for this quilt.

This last gray and white quilt is from Jennifer. This young woman brought this cute quilt for her rental certification class. She chose to quilt it with a nicely dense and classic pattern, the Orange Peel. This was a nice choice in that it didn’t add another design element to the quilt, but tightly quilted something that will be washed repeatedly. I like how the quilting shows so well on the solid background, but becomes less visible on the bones. I think it helps make them stand out.

Quilts don’t have to be a rainbow of color to be beautiful. These mesmerizing two color quilts prove that. My mind is already racing with ideas for my next two color quilt, is yours? Once you've made it, share it with us on Facebook and Instagram. We’d love to see what you’ve been working on!