A glimpse into my compulsion to create.
Pardon me, but I’ve developed an obsession with itty bitty scrappy blocks. Now I am sewing rainbows upon rainbows in various little blocks.
Knowing that folks are always looking for ways to not be overwhelmed by their scraps and actually enjoy them I am hosting a Scrap Sparkler Party through the Quilters’ Playcation. You too can make your own itty bitty rainbows, or starry night, or treasured bits showcase.
October 28 10 AM - 2 PM Mountain
In the meantime, enjoy my rainbows...
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.
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!
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
