Queenie - Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong 3 Solids Version

Queenie

Not going to lie, this might be one of the best quilts I’ve ever made. That is, from a quality perspective. It might be one of my favourites, from a fun factor perspective.

This is the 3 Solid Version of the 2022 Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong. Each week I made two blocks: a print version and these 3 solids version. To be fair, the quilt ended up being 5 solids because I grabbed the wrong white a few times and then had to improvise with a non matching grey when I ran out as I was piecing the top. C’est La Vie! That’s what improv is partially about - just moving forward when faced with a challenge instead of letting it bog you down.

From week one of the Adventure Sewalong I knew I would use the colours of the block to help guide the lay-out, wanting blocks to disappear and have shapes emerge. It works well on the abstract blocks, but the representational ones change it a bit. I played with many, many layout options over a few weeks. Quite a few of them worked well, but didn’t grab me. With all my blocks a different size the possibilities were truly endless. It all clicked when I put that block in top centre. It was the top of my mountain. This was the jolt I wanted.

(It also reminded me of what I said about my hiking challenge last year and the link to improv.)

Once she was all pieced I decided to take her to the long arm. Mostly, I was impatient to finish her and my machine was not acting very powerful anyway. I chose a yellow thread and doodled all over the quilt. As usual, I like a dense pattern. Through out the quilting I added a shape of a person cheering. Pure joy! The yellow thread (from Superior, but I can’t remember the colour) added a highlight that I loved on all the colours of the fabric. This was not a time for the quilting to blend into the background, it’s part of the story. And knowing that I’d always planned a contrasting binding I just had to choose between a few colours. My first two choices were pink and mint green, but at the end of the day, neither felt right.

So much of quilt making is trusting your gut.

The yellow colour was also chosen not because of my bad photography, but because of the backing fabric choice. One of the girls suggested a hot pink backing and I whole heartedly agreed with them. Unfortunately, I did not have enough of anything to piece together a backing from my stash so I went hunting for a wide back. While a good pink was elusive, I did find this great Anna Maria Horner print that included the exact blue I had on the front. Kismet! This is what ended up dictating the yellow thread choice and the yellow binding.

Now when I say this is the best quilt I’ve ever made, technically, here is why I say it. The piecing of the blocks together was far from straightforward. There were partial seams a plenty and I got them to all lay flat. With fillers and creativity I got everything to fit and still look good. I’m very proud of the quilting as my tension was perfect and the doodle came out better than when I was practising at home. Finally, by binding finished very nicely. Good, even stitches by hand. Bonus, the whole thing lays flat and square! Taking your time does wonders for quality. And for your joy in making.

Thank you to everyone who participated, watched, sewed along, and asked questions. Our weekly playtime was such a wonderful experience and I am so glad to have these quilts as reminders of our time together.

Odetta

Odetta

52” x 52”

A few years ago I was privileged to go through some of the antique quilt collection of Heritage Park. Heritage Park is our local historical village. At the end of May they host a quilt show, where the quilts are all displayed outside, on fences, in the historical buildings. It’s a great affair. As part of the show they showcase a few quilters and have some classes. I was supposed to teach back in 2020 but, of course, the show was cancelled. In 2021 I was able to teach. My goal was modernize one of the quilts from their antique collection.

The original quilt was a repeat of the great Tree of Life block, simply two fabrics. The blocks were placed without sashing and on point, so that they stood tall and proud on the quilt.

In the class we talked about different ways to explore a modern version of this quilt. The main block is a half square triangle, so that became the basis of play. Exploring colour and scale were the two most common ways to play. As was playing with fabric. In the end, we had a collection of very different blocks in a rainbow of colours.

This version is made with 4.5” Half Square Triangles. The quilt is essentially one big block, floating in some extra patchwork. I used a collection of purple fabrics from my stash for the Tree and a wide assortment of black and white, low volume fabrics for the background. This is quite the update from the original ditzy floral and solid white background.

For quilting I stuck with straight lines and a wider than my usual distance between the lines. As this is a good size for a baby I kept it simple and softer. Another move to modern is that I chose a pale pink thread for quilting. Not purple, not white.

The backing fabric is a voile from my stash. I’d actually started making a backing for a different quilt but made a mistake. Because it is voile fabric and I didn’t have any other in my stash I assigned it to this quilt, so that none got wasted. It ended up being perfect. When I went shopping for the binding in my stash I liked the contrast of the magenta with the purple. It’s close, but not the same. And it goes perfectly with the backing! Interestingly, both of those fabrics are by Rashida Coleman Hale. Very different fabric collections, made years apart, but both hers.

The quilt is finished in time to be in the special Trees exhibit at the Heritage Park Quilt Show this year!

Scandi Village Update

It isn’t so much that there are quilts just for winter in this house (although, there are a few), it is more that there are quilts I want to play with making during winter. This Scandi Village is one of them. I put it away after last winter and couldn’t resist pulling it out when the snow came recently.

Of course, the upcoming Scandi Village Party has a little something to do with that.

For this year I’ve designed an additional block - the A Frame cabin - to add to the village. I love it so much that I will definitely be doing a little surgery to add blocks in to what I’ve already sewn.

At some point I will have to stop making blocks for this quilt but I am not quite there yet. The blocks are just too damn cute and so easy to make. And you can make them any size you want. Hmm… if I do ever finish the top I could make some large blocks for the back.

In the meantime, I would love it if you want to join me at the upcoming Party. I am sharing my favourite snack cake recipe, we’ll be making blocks, and generally having a good time.

November 17 6-9 PM Mountain

Jules, or my Arkison in Australia Quilt

Jules

85” x 66”

I’ve never been so sad to finish a quilt. Seriously, a few tears were shed.

This was an epic quilt making journey that started on my teaching trip to Australia back in 2016. I was demonstrating improv curves for some students and grabbed the first two interesting fabrics from the little shop onsite. Over the course of my trip I did a few more demos with that fabric, then collected fabric from both my students and a screen printing adventure. When I came home it made sense to me to keep playing with all those fabrics, like they were meant to be. I added a bit more from my stash and away I went.

Improv quilting can be a total free for all and work wonderfully, but it also works really well with guidelines or even limitations. In addition to my limited colour palette I restricted my improv components to a few key shapes/techniques: curves, diamonds, triangles, and little bits. It may sounds like a lot, but it actually isn’t. Not when it comes to improv.

I basically kept making components until I ran out of the fabrics, leaving a little behind to help me create a quilt top. I did not pay attention to size of the blocks when making or squaring up. When I felt finished making all the components I moved on to my favourite part - making them all play well together in the quilt top. Design wall play is the absolute best. It’s all about making it work as both a composition and simply to use up all the pieces.

And then she sat. And sat and sat. That’s just how things go in my world. I even had the backing fabric - gifts from Emma Jean Jansen, an Aussie designer and one of my students in Australia - but wasn’t ready to quilt her yet. The truth is that I knew how she deserved to be quilted and I wasn’t quite up for the challenge.

When I was asked to put together my show for the Heritage Park Quilter of Distinction display I knew I had to include this quilt. It was time to face the work.

My plan from the beginning was a combination of machine and hand stitching. And most of the machine stitching with would in the ditch. On a quilt like this that meant a lot, a lot of starts and stops. Which also means a lot of burying threads. Nothing like taking on this much work on a deadline! Did I mention the hand quilted elements too?

The bulk of the handwork was finished on an epic road trip we took in May. At least, the parts not done in front of the TV while I ignored the world. It even required a stop at a quilt store in Kelowna and I was very sad I did not have time to shop for anything other than a tool to help me bury my threads. There is at least 20 hours of handwork in her. She is full of my love.

Sure, it was a lot of work and every single stitch was worth it. The quilt came out exactly how I wanted it to, how I envisioned her.

The machine quilting was all done in a pale blue thread from my stash. It might have been a Presencia 100% cotton collected years before the quilt even started. The hand quilted touches were all done with Wonderful Perle cotton, in a couple of different blues and yellows. This included stitching down the binding, on the front, with big blue stitches.

I won’t lie, I was also intimidated by doing that much handstitching, even though it was my own idea. But thankfully, quilting an entire quilt for Morning Make last year built my confidence and comfort.

Did I mention there were a few tears when she was finished? That trip to Australia was formative for me. It was her furthest and longest I’ve been gone from home. I developed and delivered multi day workshops which were an absolute dream. The people I met were incredible and I am still in touch with many of them. This quilt also defined one of my favourite ways to make a quilt - by playing.

She is named for Jules. Jules McMahon was the woman who brought me to Australia. We knew each other online and had met at the early QuiltCons. But that trip solidified a friendship through road trips, sweets exchanges, late nights with wine, creative bonding, gluten free Chinese food, exploring for Lyre Birds, a love of circles, and one chilly ocean swim. We have similar levels of insanity and drive and I am grateful to her for the trip to Australia, yes, but also for continued friendship and inspiration.