Virginia - Maple Leaves for a Unexpected Fall Quilt

Virginia

60” x 60”

She is a crafty girl, taking her knitting with her everywhere. At this time of year she is buried in yarn and apple cider and cat cuddles. She wants to jump in a pile of leaves, take her girlfriend to a sunflower maze, and totally watch Gilmore Girls even though it is terribly problematic. She’s wearing layers at the first sign of a chill and refuses to take them off when the sun warms her on a walk. She may come across as basic, but she is anything but.

More than a year ago I made a single block. Just one maple leaf to show some folks in a Playdate that you can find use for the ugly fabric hiding around corners in your stash. Ugly, after all, is just like beauty - it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Of course, of course, I put that first block dead centre in my finished quilt top. That so not me leaf fabric was paired, unexpectedly, with a ikat butterfly print from Tula Pink. From those two fabrics the rest of the quilt came to be. I shopped from my stash and had a blast putting together different combinations. The end result was a fall inspired quilt like no other.

The quilting is there merely to add texture. Each block was quilted with wavy lines crossing the block on the diagonal. Because the leaves themselves change direction across the quilt, I carried the direction of the waves with each leaf. For thread I chose a teal blue Superior at the long arm rental spot. (My preference is for 100% cotton, but this works well with their machines and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.) I wanted the quilt to be extra squishy so an allover design versus outlining each leaf was preferred.

I broke my fabric shopping fast (I have sooooo much fabric) to pick up a binding choice from the clearance section at My Sewing Room. As I was taking the quilt off the long arm I realized that a rosy binding was going to be the perfect choice. Now, I know my stash, there is not a single rose coloured fabric in any value in there. I am a hot pink girl! Keeping with the theme of the quilt as a whole - starting with ugly fabric - I chose a print very much out of character for me. Turns out it was perfect. It binds the quilt so well and is a great complement to the colour scheme.

In the end, this quilt is another unconventional fall quilt. They don’t all have to be reds and oranges folks! And as I was stitching the binding I also realized that it goes perfectly in our living room with its chartreuse sofa on one side and the blue/brown one on the other. I guess it was just all meant to be!

Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong Update

It’s hard to believe that we are 28 weeks in to this sewalong. Mostly because that means we are more than halfway through the year already!

As a leader/instigator/quilt teacher I get such joy from seeing my students and followers enjoy the process of improv quilting. I never anticipated how much joy I would get joining in with you. It is a great comfort to me to show up each week and sew with people. On the occasions where I missed and had to reschedule I’ve been quite sad. I feel like I am letting everyone down, for sure, but I also just really miss it.

This year’s Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong is different for me. How many times have you heard me talk about NOT squaring things up until you are making layout decisions? (Hint, almost all the time.) This time, however, I started squaring up and sewing the blocks together right at the beginning. This means I am composing the quilt as I go. It’s a different thought process. It’s a good challenge for me.

So long story short, I love everything about the Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong this year.

Wildfire Quilt

It’s scary to think that wildfire season started here in February. February, when it is supposed to be cold and dark and snowy. February, when we are cocooning and only dreaming of summer days and the dappled light of the forest. Not this year. Wildfire season already started and, indeed, zombies fires from last year still burning.

This quilt started life as a fun experiment and sample for a Cut, Sew, Repeat Playcation. I used it as a sample in the class then had fun continuing the play. The entire time I played and sewed I saw it vertically and just about the interactions of the colours. Then, the night I was basting it, I saw it horizontal and only saw the wildfire influence. Then I couldn’t unsee it. So I ran with it, adding quilting to accentuate that design aspect.

For the quilting I used a coordinating thread for each band of colour. It was a mix of Wonderfil and Aurifil 50 weight cotton threads - whatever colour I had around that worked well. In each section I changed my free motion design. The orange, obviously, had flames. The green was a triangle meander that I’ve used once before. I don’t know what you would call the blue section, it’s some kind of hatch but not really. The purple was a wavy meander for the sky/smoke. Breaking it down like this not only made it manageable from a working perspective, but really accentuated the overall design.

Binding the quilt was straightforward. My usual high contrast binding was not going to work here so I went with a charcoal grey. I want to say it is symbolic because of soot and ashes, but really it is about picking a neutral to frame but not take away from the quilt. Black was too dark, too sharp. The grey was perfect.

Most of us here are worried about what the coming months will bring for fires. We did not nearly have enough snow cover and cold temperatures to give our forests and grasslands a proper break. We can hope for a wet spring, but that brings its own challenges. With a kid with asthma that definitely gets triggered by poor air quality, wildfire season takes on another meaning too.

In my previous career I worked on the climate change file. I started there over 25 years ago, working to convince a lot of people that we needed to act, acting in industry where we caused a part of the problem. I had to leave because it got so disheartening, if I am being honest. While I am glad that I no longer have to define or explain climate change, if that had happened 25 years ago we might be in a different place.

Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong 2024 - Getting Started

It’s back!!!

The 2024 Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong starts next Tuesday, January 9. Weekly, for 49 weeks, I will lead you through a free, live improv quilt block tutorial. Like 2023, this year’s instalment of the Adventure Sewalong has a theme. Rainbows will be our inspiration, our guide, our joy on this playful adventure. Seriously, who doesn’t love a rainbow?!

DETAILS

Tuesday

10 AM Mountain

Starts January 9

Live on Instagram @cheryl_arkison

Saved to You Tube each week

COLOUR SCHEME NOTES

With a rainbow theme the colour scheme seems kind of obvious. That doesn’t mean you have to go with the obvious though. Not all rainbows have to be deeply saturated. Those are gorgeous rainbows, for sure, but you have a lot of other options.

• Pastel or low volume in rainbow order

• Neutrals

• A colour combo you love, not even in rainbow order

• A favourite fabric bundle that deserves to be used

• Monochromatic in value gradiation

• Analogous colours like red, pink, and orange, for example

• Use your scraps as they come to you

You will need a background colour as well. It doesn’t necessarily have to be white or black, either. Think about this background as a good complement or highlight to your rainbow.

Solids or prints will both work, you always have that choice. I would simply recommend that you use one or the other, not both. The exception being that your background can work as the opposite, as strong frame for your rainbows.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

The total fabric needed will depend, in large part, on your block size. The bigger the block you make, the more fabric you will use. We will take advantage of any scraps as much as possible, so know that you will be maximizing your fabrics.

Start with 1-2 meters/yards of each of your rainbow fabrics. Mix and match, as needed. Same for the background.

If you buy fabric for this sew along, as I did for one of my versions, take note of any fabric colours or names. Save them somewhere you won’t lose them. Then, if necessary, it will be easier to repurchase fabrics.

SIZING

One of the reasons I went with 49 weeks this year is that 49 blocks gives us a nice 7 x 7 quilt block layout if you make square blocks. You don’t need to make all the blocks, but if you do, then this is what you will end up with.

How big you make your blocks is up to you. As you will hear me say many times, you will want to make at least a handful of blocks before you decide on a final size. But if you want to aim for a certain size finished quilt (at some point) then here are some sizing suggestions for you:

6.5” blocks = 42” square quilt

8.5” blocks = 56” square quilt

9.5” blocks = 63” square quilt

10.5” blocks = 70” square quilt

12.5’ blocks = 84” square quilt

Simply use this as a guide. It’s pretty easy to do the math, or even ignore the math, no matter what size you blocks end up being!

Like I always say, come to play without the expectation that your make HAS TO BE SOMETHING. So come, have fun, make a block or not. You are under no obligation to turn what you make into anything.

This is what I am going to play with for version 1 of my own rainbow. I’m already working on a different saturated rainbow quilt so I decided to go pastel. After a survey of my stash I realized that I didn’t have what I wanted on hand so I went shopping. I had a stack of solids in my hands, I did, then I got distracted. First I went to a tone on tone mix. Then my fear of the fabric running out got strong so I changed gears slightly. I picked out all the Grunge options in the store and made myself a pleasing pastel rainbow. Yes, I took my own advice and took note of the colour names just in case I run out. My background is this fun, creamy terrazzo print. I debated a denim, but decided to lean in to the fresh and soft look of the pastels instead.

The second version I am going to make all comes from my stash. My one and only fabric collection - Tag - came out back in 2017. I keep using the fabrics, but when you get a bolt of each, you have to work to use it all! So I decided to make a monochromatic gradiation with the fabrics. The bold, large scale print on top will be the background.

These are going to give me two very different rainbow themed quilts. I am very excited to see where I end up! That’s improv for you: starting without knowing where you are going to end up. So let’s have fun on this year’s Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong!