So technically, this is a fall inspired quilt. Well, it was when I started it last fall. The colours and energy reminded me of a oh so brief yet spectacular fall season here in Alberta: blue skies and all the colours of the changing Prairie. I’m not sure what motivated me to pull out the blocks, add some more, and finish the top this past week. It certainly wasn’t the snow covering the sprouting crocus and green grass growing. Or maybe that is precisely what did it?
The blocks began in my Improv Square in a Square Playdate hosted through Quilters’ Playcation. I was enamoured with the technique and the colours that I committed to a quilt top. Just five blocks put together in a free hour here and there. No pressure making, just the way I like it! Play for the sake of sewing. I think that is what I needed over the Easter/Passover long weekend - sewing for the sake of sewing. Then, when I counted the blocks, I realized that I was pretty close to finishing up the total needed. Some quiet evenings, a snow storm, and a sick kid home from school meant that I was not only able to finish the blocks, but get the quilt top pieced!
These blocks are all improvised. That means points are sometimes cut off and they don’t always match between blocks. On a moving, used quilt though that will never be noticed. This construction technique is so much more relaxed than a paper pieced or precision pieced version, at least for me.
This entire quilt top was also an excellent way to play with fabric and colour. I chose my colour story - blue, coral, orange, and yellow - and explored value, hue, and tint in each block. Some blocks have bold contrast, some are subtle. Some move from light to dark, some are less prescriptive. The constants were the construction method, overall size, and the transition from warm to cool with each square in a block. Then I made half the blocks starting with warm, half starting with cool. That meant for a great overall pattern when assembling the quilt.
The weather is doing it’s normal, indecisive thing these days. Not yet spring but not really winter. When my son - who helped me with the photos because he is out of school with a bad cold - lamented that now we would have to baste the quilt I told him not to worry because it is definitely not fall. This quilt, well, it makes me think of fall. Don’t worry, son, we’ll probably be basting it next September! Or the one after that.