Checkboard

Checkerboard

60” x 60”

This, by far, was not the oldest UFO in the quilt closet, but it is getting up there. Finished the quilt top in 2014, but I’m guessing it was started a year or two before that. Now, however, it is done! Taking advantage of the girls being home more and a clean floor I got a couple of quilts basted and this was one of them. I won’t lie, I picked it because I knew it would be an easy finish. Nothing wrong with that.

The pattern is from my book Sunday Morning Quilts, co-authored with Amanda Jean Nyberg. It’s actually one of the patterns Amanda Jean wrote. We both had grand plans of making all of each other’s patterns. Obviously, that did not come to pass. But I did make this one, and now I finished it.

Some of the fabrics in this quilt are old! That purple floral? From my 3rd quilt ever, sewn in 1999. That purple with the little white dots? Something vintage I was gifted. The grey with the dots? That was background on Nap Like an Egyptian, also from Sunday Morning Quilts. This is the true joy of scrap quilts, or scrappy ones even, giving more life to fabric that’s already lived! It’s like the fabric had a near death experience and now it is back and living better than ever.

The quilting was simple. With 2’ squares this simple diagonal was easy, fast, and gives the best scrunchiness to the quilt. I actually quilted most of it while watching a few episodes of Mad Men and Brooklyn 99, our recent pandemic viewing. Thread used was an Aurifil 50W, colour 5006.

For years I hoarded this backing fabric. Not exactly sure where or when I bought it, but I bought it specifically for this quilt. Many times I’ve had to stop myself from using it on something else though. It comes from an old collection designed by Jessica Levitt. As you can see, it is just perfect for this quilt.

While I’ve been working my way through stash and supplies as I work my way through UFOs, I did have to go shopping for the binding. When I was ready for it I decided it had to be this exact shade of magenta, found on that backing fabric, and I had nothing remotely close in my stash. So I made an appointment and masked up to shop one of my local stores, Out of Hand. Dierdre, the owner, was there and found this perfect fabric within minutes. I may have shopped a little more, but I did indeed walk out with her choice. As you can see, I did the binding a bit different than normal for me. It was attached by machine to the back and brought around to the front. Then I stitched it down with a big, obvious, running stitch in an 8W thread. Conveniently, I had the matching thread in Valdani. I thought I had a turquoise colour, which would have popped nicely but no. For the record, this kind of binding goes quickly! Thanks for Shannon Fraser for reminding me about this technique.

While this finishing kick is great, it does result in more quilts leaving the sewing room for the outside world. Truth be told, my husband would like some more outside the house too. Bah! You can never have too many quilts.

Morning Make November 2020

Well this one was way out of my comfort zone! Just the way it should be.

Partly meditative, full of exploration, a lot of learning, and some very cool results at times. November Morning Make was some playtime with block printing. Thanks to my neighbourhood friend Julie who inspires me with her detailed reduction prints. Baby steps for me, as my one and only experience with block printing was a 2 hour class years ago where I recall being bored and distracted like a child in history class..

So I set myself some boundaries but gave myself free reign to try many things. I started with 3” blocks of the pink lino cutting material available in any art store. My daughter happened to have a lino cutting tool (I think it was a birthday present). I bought Speedball fabric printing ink, which the tube says was also fine for paper. Each morning I would carve a block then stamp it on paper in a 4 patch and then on fabric in a different 4 patch. Different patterns for the different materials simply to have two ways to see how the pattern of the block interacted.

Sometimes I did patterns that linked within the 4 patch. These were more or less obvious depending on the block. Sometimes I did a graphic motif that stood on its own, like a single stamp, so that a repeat was interesting, but not the most exciting. Sometimes the ideas worked, sometimes they did not.

The blocks above are probably my favourites of the whole bunch.

There were quite a few times where I wanted to print a number more repeats, to see a larger interaction. Or maybe mix a few stamps together to see the intricacies of the patterns created. Thankfully, I have the blocks still so I can always do that!

For the fabric I chose a slubby linen I had in my stash. I really don’t know if it was a smart or a stupid choice. I think my application of the ink on the stamp was a bigger concern than the fabric I used. I struggled to get it coated without being too thick or thin. Without doing much research - I didn’t want to use my phone while I was in the middle of Morning make but would forget as soon as I left the studio - I’m thinking that it is something that comes with feel and probably varies with the products used.

A friend pointed out to me that many of the things I’ve been exploring this year have potential to be repeat fabric designs. While I can’t argue with that, let me be clear that it was not my intention. I have been a quilter for 22 years and playing with prints that whole time so it isn’t exactly shocking that it would come out that way. Who knows? Maybe I will explore that a bit more in the new year? For now, though, I am just really having fun playing.

Rocky Road to Kansas With a Vibrant, Modern Twist

When you don’t have enough fabric to make a quilt you make pillows.

When you have an idea that won’t get out of your head you make something.

Back in September, when I was painting traditional quilt blocks fo Morning Make I painted one particular block: Rocky Road to Kansas. It’s quite a cool design. Even Barbara Brackman doesn’t say much about the block’s particular history, but it does have a long one. The block is seen in quilts nearly 130 years old, in variations more like a crazy quilt or a string quilt. It is definitely a block that can read extremely modern too. Like most quilt blocks, it all depends on the fabric you use.

In my case - once the idea borrowed itself in my creative consciousness - I went with a collection of hand dyed fabrics and some charcoal linen. The hand dyes came from two sources. The vibrant colours were a gift from my husband and daughter 5 years ago. At the culmination of a epic road trip to Whitehorse they came across a quilt store and shockingly, went in for me. They came across some vibrant fabric that was dyed by a local. Well, that local, it seems, now lives in Fiji so I think these tropical colours make a lot of sense now! The rest of the fabric was a collection of precious scraps from Debbie Aruda. I met Debbie teaching at The Workroom. Using natural dyes she was manipulating fabric in gorgeous ways and she gifted me with some. The combination of luminescent and subtle colours works so well together, I think.

To make the quilt block I drafted a freezer paper template. That way I could get nice, crisp lines and, hopefully, matching points. It was also useful as I was working with a limited supply of fabric. Each block is actually a four patch. Together they make a 24” square.

I probably had enough fabric to make a total of 10 corners. Of course, I could have augmented the blocks with other stash fabric too. At one point I entertained doing a whole deconstructed thing. You know, one block with 4 corners, one with 3, one with 2, and then just 1. That would have got me a decent size quilt. it would have also got me a quilt top that likely would have sat for years before being finished. So, pillows it is.

My husband actually hates decorative pillows on the bed and I hate laying in bed for anything other than sleep and well, sex. But these pillows are on the bed and they look pretty good there too. I guess they will be purely for show and I am not complaining one bit!

In March I played with making marks with watercolour. That led to further watercolour explorations. That led to sewing these blocks. This project is a perfect example of creativity begets creativity.

Quarantine Quilt 1

Quarantine Quilt 1

60” x 72”

Back in the early days of Covid the month switched and as I looked for Morning Make ideas I decided I needed sewing in my life right then and there. The kids were home and our days had a somewhat leisurely start to them as we navigated school at home. It meant I could putter in the sewing room a little, even if they woke up while I was at it. It meant I could finish what I started each day.

Originally, I chose the low volume X Plus blocks because I had some left over from when I filmed and promoted my Creative Live class on Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics. I thought that they could all play together in a big quilt, because you know I almost never make a small quilt! As the month went on and the reality of our times sunk in I decided that I wanted this quilt to be a specific monthly marker, with no additions. April has 30 days, so 30 quilt blocks.

The kids helped me baste the quilt. I clearly remember we cleaned the floors together, put on the Taylor Swift album (the only time I listened to it but people were raving so!) and ended up having a long conversation about Black Lives Matter and white privilege. The quilt really is a product on its time. To be clear though, it’s just a quilt.

The quilting is nothing fancy, a topstitch instead of a ditch stitch on all the seams of the blocks. Pretty blue Aurifil thread that happens to match the binding. In between the blocks I used the all purpose dove grey. Together, they give the quilt definition more than texture.

The binding, incidentally, is the only fabric I purchased for the entire quilt. Everything else I had in the stash or scrap bins. Yes, my collection of low volume fabrics is that deep. I was ordering the batting and saw the fabric on the site for one of my favourite local shops, My Sewing Room. It was fate. Especially because I already knew what I was using for the backing.

I’ve had this fabric in my stash for years! To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what I would ever use it for, but I loved it so. It seems very, very appropriate for a quarantine inspired quilt. Doesn’t it just evoke HOME? With all apologies to my Mother-In-Law who also likes the fabric, I used everything I had to make the backing.

No fancy quilt picture for this project. It was made at home, inspired by home, and will be used at home. Although, not yet. We are having a gorgeous month so no extra quilts needed yet.

Oh look! That Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics class is on sale!