Morning Make - April 2020

Did you know that if you make one 12.5” square quilt block each day that you will have a quilt top at the end of the month? A lovely, cuddly size, perfect for couch snuggles. Also, perfect for mental health in the making of and finished product!

For Morning Make in the month of April I made one X Plus block each morning. It was actually quite nice to not have to think about anything but fabric selection. That’s one of the best parts, anyway! From start to finish - from picking fabrics to a sewn block - it took me about 30 minutes.

Let me tell you, I absolutely loved having a complete block at the end of each session. To have something tangible, something that marked the passage of the days, and something that gave me nothing but joy was EXACTLY what I needed this month. It’s probably what all of us needed this month! Covid Isolation is HARD, but we are doing all we can to keep our community safe and that means staying home. And for me, having this 30 minutes to sew before dealing with schooling and meltdowns (all of us) and keeping our business going was lifesaving.

Now when you make these blocks you cut off some decent sized triangles to be thrown in the scrap pile. Rather than be indiscriminate with these scraps I sewed the offcuts together as they came from the block. I was left with a pile of half square triangles. After doing some math and some sketching I decided to turn these HSTs into Sawtooth Stars. From 30 X Plus blocks I could make 30 Stars.

Two quilts for the price of one!

All the fabrics for these quilts came from my stash. Yes, I have a very, very deep stash. Quarantine is a great time to be able to shop from your stash, let me tell you. About halfway through I was worried I wouldn’t have enough light and low volume fabrics to get through but I dug through all the bins and was able to come up with some really great fabric combinations. Some fabrics are brighter than others, some even get a little bossy. I only chose fabric one block at a time and didn’t think about whether they would go together at all. Because my overall feel was low volume it comes together. Besides, the most successful of these X Plus quilts are scrappy and full of unexpected fabric delights!

Now if I did this for Morning Make every month I would have a great collection of quilt tops. Just the tops though because nothing would get quilted! Of course, that kind of thing has never stopped me before! And right now I am totally wishing I had access to a long arm because I would love to get these quilted right now. As it stands, I have 2 basted tops waited for their turn under the needle. I also think part of that may just be me wanting the change after nearly 8 weeks of social distancing. Let me go play in the quilt store! So I wish, but I am still happy to do my part and stay home (and shop online for curbside pick up).

My plan for May was to embrace Me Made May and tackle some clothing projects I’ve had on the list. But this happened toward the and of April. It seems 2/3 children are suddenly wanting to sew with the machine. While I am lucky enough to have a dedicated sewing room, it is not big enough to be set up for that many people with different sewing needs.

For those wondering, the X Plus blocks can be found as a free pattern all over the place. I believe the original block comes from the 1930s but it really peaked in popularity a few years back when we were all on Flickr. I used the 12.5” measurements in my Creative Live class on working with low volume fabrics. Indeed, I had 10 blocks leftover from samples from filming that I intended to use in this quilt, then decided to let April 2019 stand on its own. If anything needs to be defined it is these times.

Sanctuary Sewing With Kids

How many of you seeing your sewing/quilting as your sanctuary? The one place you can go, especially in these times, where you get personal space and peace?

Yup, me too.

That’s why it is a personal conflict when the kids want to sew too. On one hand, total pride and excitement that they want to take up the craft and make their own art. Joy that they feel their creative juices flowing and want to be just like Mama. On the other hand, that’s my space, my thing, my break. Obviously, I am more excited than annoyed. Way more excited.

So when my son, my newly minted 8 year old, asked if he could learn to sew All. By. Himself. I jumped at the chance to teach him the machine. Prior to this he’s sat on my lap or played with the fabric, maybe a little hand stitching. He definitely has an eye for design. We had a lesson on the machine parts and what they do, on safety, and how to sew a straight line. He is a very cool kid who absorbs all lessons like a sponge so he took to it right away. Even made up his own mnemonic songs to remember steps. And in less than a day he had a 20” patchwork block. It was going to be a pillow, but as soon as he was done he asked to make a quilt. And another 24 hours later he had a second block.

And a pincushion.

The girls have been sewing during isolation too. Scrunchies and yo-yos. Moments of quiet creativity to calm the spirit. So many yo-yos…

Then someone else decided she wanted to turn her hand stitched nine patches into machine stitched, because one can’t be outdone by their little brother after all! I only have two machines! (Only?!) so I get booted off for their sewing. So much for my sanctuary. But this is so, so much better.

Quilt Bravely - Creatively Contrasting Binding

This is the first is a series of posts encouraging you to be different, quilt different, quilt bravely. To bend or even break some rules while pumping up your creative voice. You have the creative confidence, I’m just here to remind you of it.

So you need to bind a quilt? You might be one of those quilters who not only selected their binding fabric with the rest of the fabrics but also made your binding before needing it. That would be awesome! This post is for those of us looking to jazz up our quilts with binding, not just treating it as an afterthought.

Binding selection generally comes as the quilting winds down. Maybe even as the quilted quilt sits and marinates or you muster the energy to do it at all. You might have a default binding - black and white stripes, anyone? You might search for just the right shade of blue that coordinates with everything in the quilt and the quilt back. You might pick the stripe from the fabric collection that the quilt top is made from.

My challenge to you is to embrace a contrasting binding. Whether in colour, style, value, or design a contrasting binding might be exactly what your quilt needs for a stellar finish. If not contrasting, think creatively about what choice you can make. The unexpected one is often the exact right one. Here are some great ways to play with your binding selections.

High Contrast

Use the colour wheel or simple preference as your guide. Pick a colour not even in the quilt top but that coordinates nicely. Using the colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel is an excellent way to do this. For example, orange and blue.

Shiver

Stripes

(yet to be shared)

Highlight a Little Used Colour/Fabric

If you have just a little bit of a colour in the quilt top use the same colour binding fabric to wrap it all together. The examples above show me pulling out the green in the background print, even though there is no other green in the quilt top and using the same coral fabric that is only used sparingly in a quilt with 100 blocks.

Smooch

Lilla

Look to the Back

You may have picked a fabric that coordinates with the front but doesn’t necessarily use all the colours of the quilt top, go ahead and pick your binding from that fabric.

Lilla

Compose Yourself

Think White or Pale

Most of us shy away from a white binding, fearing a show of dirt. Let me tell you, that isn’t a fear worth having. It looks absolutely amazing on a quilt. Whether a print or a solid a light binding is an exciting frame to your work.

Morning Make I

Crossword

Insert Highlights in Bindings

Add a pop of a different colour randomly or make intentional inserts to extend the design of your quilt top. This is the moment to really think of your binding as part of the quilt and not necessarily just the frame.

Plus Size

Pieced Bindings

Okay, so all bindings on a not-mini quilt are technically pieced. Use different fabrics to accentuate the design of your quilt top. For example, I made a rainbow of binding to wrap around my Pride quilt. I’ve used leftover strips to create a scrappy binding. Play with it.

Pride Quilt

Scrap Quilts Call for Anything and Everything

Probably the most commonly used binding for a scrap quilt is some form of black and white stripe. It’s nearly a cliche. Sure, it looks good, but think outside the box. Grey is a good option. As is using the scraps of binding you have stashed all pieced together. Multicolour prints also look great. Or pick one colour you feel is underrepresented in your quilt top and use that.

Values Plus

Wine Gums

Forgiveness

Embrace the Uneveness

One of the reasons people love a stripe on the bias is that there is no concern about it looking ‘off’. And when was the last time you used a plaid or check on a binding? Just run with it and let your eye move around and even be fooled. It’s quite a fun effect actually. Essentially, you are ignoring the pattern to embrace what the fabric can do on the small scale of a binding.

Sewing Machine Quilt

Pocket Squares

Snowflake Quilt

Snowflake Quilt

60“ x 72”

Pattern by Nicole Daksiewicz, Modern Handcraft

Anyone who follows me knows that I am not much of a pattern (or rule) follower. Once in a while, though, something just grabs my attention and won’t let go. From the first moment I saw the Snowflake pattern I knew I would make one. I tried to resist, honestly. But the design was too good to let it slip by. Then, shockingly, I went start to finish on this quilt quite quickly. The top did not sit for months or even years. I finished the top a little over a month ago and the last stitches went in the binding last week, making it the first finish of 2020.

The pattern itself provides instructions for making it a bold two colour quilt, one with four background stripes, or this scrappy option. And if you follow Nicole or the hashtag then you can see many, many more creative options people did. Things like plaid, diagonal stripes, fussy cutting. #snowflakequiltalong

I may have been following someone else’s pattern here, but I did stick true to my style, even if it wasn’t a deliberate decision to do so. Low volume and scrappy, please, you know I like it! While I did debate a four colour linen version I ditched it because of seam lines. Like panty lines, I didn’t want them visible.

My girls helped me baste the quilt - some crappy Christmas movie their entertainment - which made me very happy. Time together and voluntary help! It went so well I asked them to help me baste a second quilt but that is a different story.

While quilting I did attempt to do something a bit fancier but not really. To emphasize the snowflake I did point to point straight lines, a mimic crystal. The hardest part was making sure I repeated correctly on other points of the snowflake. My plans for the background were more intricate, then I reminded myself that you don’t see the quilting much on a scrappy mix of fabrics, so why go through the effort? Wavy lines for texture and to remind me of snowdrifts. It does add a nice contrast to the snowflake itself. All quilted with Aurifil 2600, that beautiful pale gray.

Because I love a contrast binding I was going to choose a pale pink to finish it off. However, I used the only pale pink in my stash on the back of the quilt! Binding went on just before Christmas when hibernation mode was strong and the budget was gone. Into the stash for this lovely gray instead! I’m pretty sure the pink and the grey (plus some of the blues) are Uppercase fabrics. All the fabrics came from my stash.

A number of family members are trying to lay claim on the quilt. My husband would be glad to see another quilt out the door, but this one is going to keep me snuggled for this winter at least. It’s only January so there is a lot more winter to come. That means a lot more snuggling.