Xenia - A Maple Leaf Quilt for a New Friend

Xenia

72” x 48”

For 3 weeks we had a German, teenage athlete staying with us. She originally contacted my daughter last winter, she was working to fulfill one of her dreams to come to Canada. In October she made the dream come true. Such a bright, committed, and curious girl. We loved having her with us. It was fun to show her some of our favourite things (but not many because these athletes have so much training!) And through her we learned about Germany, pumpernickel bread, and life in a village with no restaurants.

Each day she would come with my son and I to the new studio. The kids would do their school work while I plugged away on projects and accounting stuff. On breaks we would chat and play with the dog. While her and I would have many deep conversations over the weeks she was with us (more than my own teens are willing to have with me) she, sadly, showed no interest in quilting.

That didn’t stop me from wanting to gift her, and her parents who joined her in Canada after 3 weeks, a quilt to take home with them. I mean, of course I would give them a quilt! And once I decided that, it was clear which one I would give them.

Conveniently, I had the quilt top already made. It was a second version of the Maple Leaf quilt - a pattern I used sell, and then teach. I no longer do either with this pattern as I have complicated feelings about our national flag now. It seemed perfect to finish the quilt and give it to our new German friends though. A great momento of an epic trip for them.

The quilt top, itself, differs from the original pattern in that each block is made with a single red fabric. This is in contrast to the original made with scraps sewn into slabs to make the side blocks and leaves. It’s an excellent way to play with value and contrast via visual texture.

So, I whipped up a quilt back with what I had on hand - a great Aneela Hoey print from many, many moons ago and some other treats in the stash. Then I snagged a long arm appointment at my local shop. Phew. That left me two days to bind, label, and wash the quilt before they departed our snowy wonderland for home. It was a fast process, but worth it. And totally possible when you have a deep stash and can make time.

I totally forgot to take a picture of it, but I also signed the back, off label. Our German athlete attends a boarding school. I worry that someone might try to take her quilt. They would take off the label and argue that there was no way to prove the quilt was hers! I’ve heard stories of these happening in nursing homes and I don’t want it to happen to her. When I gift a quilt that may live in a public place I always sign the quilt itself, somewhere not so obvious, so it can always be proven if the worst happens.

The quilt, and our new German friends, are back home now. We will miss them.

Braided Rug Quilt Block Alternative - Colour Focused Scraps

So I think I started a new quilt. I didn’t mean to, honest! It was just an experiment that I fell in love with!

There I was, teaching a Scraptastic class with a guild out of the Whistler Valley. We got to the part where we play with strips. At this moment I always give students a choice on what technique they want to explore. The Braided Rug blocks won out that day. While demonstrating the technique I decided to explore a square block. A change from my original. One pile of pink scraps and some sewing later, an idea was born.

It’s a been a few weeks and that idea has already evolved. I thought rows of blocks first, then placed four together like this. Okay, that works. let’s try another colour and maybe do a round robin, like the original again. I really liked that shape formed by the four together though so placed another colour that way. Yup, that’s the winner! I’ve already picked my next colour - green, for hope - and will make another set of 4. I’m thinking, only thinking, of making 9 sets of 4 blocks. We’ll see how the motivation lasts. That being said, moving to the new studio uncovered A LOT more scraps than I thought I had so there is no shortage of fabric options!

Just playing around with potential colours. This is a more random colour scheme, maybe I will edit it down, maybe not? For now, one block at a time.

Quilted Baba Update

Making progress over here. It’s slow, but it is progress. This is the first 9/81 blocks, all sewn together.

Early in the year I let you in on this epic portrait project. It is a pixelated quilt portrait of my Baba. Each pixel is actually a little x block. And when I say little, I mean that I square them up at 1.5” x 1.5”. When all is said and done, the quilt will measure 90” x 90”. To make the quilt I’ve divided the picture I started with into a 9 x 9 grid. Each of those 81 blocks is made from 100 of the little X blocks. That means there will be 8,100 little cross stitches in the finished quilt.

That picture there? That is 9 of those 81 blocks of 100 together. They constitute the bottom corner. Why did I start in the bottom corner? Well, I had to start somewhere! It also allowed me to test the fabric choices and pixellation because all the other corners were mostly background colours. I’m happy with how it turned out so I shall keep going!

For the most part, I’ve been making the blocks as my Morning Make practice. I tend to make them in batches of 10-15. It is tedious and boring sewing, so that seems to be all I can handle. That, and the fact that it was in the morning and there is only so much time to sew. When I have 100 for the block I lay them out and start the process of sewing them together. Assembling rows goes quickly, but the pressing is a definite slow down in the process. It’s worth the time and effort, though, as there are a lot of seam allowances and having a mess on the back is not good. With such small pieces a messy back would spell disaster for a quilt that stays flat and in order. Once the rows are sewn I pin - yes, me, pinning! - to join the rows together. I want them to line up as best I can. I will admit, there is a some work needed on my part to improve accuracy. But it improves with each block.

Now that I have the studio space I have to figure out a new time to piece these blocks. I think a regular time would allow me to see continued progress, and make it harder to put things aside for weeks or even months on end. So far I’ve been taking 20 minutes after lunch, after I walk with my son and the dog to school. We’ll see how that works.

I think it is important to tell myself that this won’t be an exact representation of the photo. I did my best to match colours and fabrics, but we are always limited by what is available. I wanted to use prints, which meant buying commercially available fabric. I fear that my work with the values, more than the colours, isn’t exactly spot on. I know, however, that the story of the quilt will still be successful. For me, that matters more.

Desktop Inspired Quilt Top

From this…

To this…

Back in 2018 I had the opportunity to go to Montreal to teach at Courtepointe Quebec, a lovely quilt show held in the suburbs of Montreal. I had to lean on my very shallow memory of high school French as my driver and many students didn’t speak English at all. We were in an old school with no air conditioning in a heat wave. Despite all that, we had a fabulous time! One day, on a break with some students, we discovered the art installation made from old desks. We were talking about being inspired by the world around us, including these desks. I remember coming home and experimenting just to see if I could make a block that referenced those desks. A little improv curve action made it happen. I made a few then folded them up and put them in the closet.

Now, as I am in the process of cleaning, sorting, and getting ready to move my sewing room, these old projects are seeing some light of day. That, and I updated my list of Quilts Under Construction after these recent finishes. I wanted to work on something “new” but not really start something new. A dive into the vaults served that purpose.

I didn’t like the blocks just plain. Right idea, ineffective design. Going back to the original inspiration I decided to try setting them so they popped off the background. Honestly, I have no idea why I chose the pinks/reds, but I think they work. I did not have enough of any one colour, so used 3 different ones. Their placement is random, but all being so close in value they read well together.

For me, this is a small quilt. It finishes a bit over 40” x 50”. So, really, just a baby quilt. But I didn’t have any more of that dominant alphabet print to make more blocks. Plus, this size keeps it as a quick finish. I have no idea when I will touch this quilt again, but for now the memories can live more strongly than my French skills!