A glimpse into my compulsion to create.
Problem: It takes forever to make anything not small when the pieces are small.
Additional Problem: I have a really, really hard time making anything small, even if the pieces are small.
The Joy: It is delightfully meditative.
Additional Joy: It looks so cool. Ridiculously cool.
Super Additional Joy: It is always there for me.
Conclusion: Joy outweighs any problems. Keep sewing.
So, it’s been what? 17 months?
I started the Euroa Quilt in May 2017. One baby block at a time. 400 of those. Four together to make 1 block. 100 of those. Four of those then together to make a mega block. 25 of those. That’s the plan.
For anyone new here and to remind you all, this is the quintessential “Quilter Inspired by a Tile Floor” quilt. I snapped a pic in a doorway in a small town in Australia. That town was Euroa. It turns out this is not an uncommon tile pattern in Australia in the Mid Century. This quilt is an homage to that trip in so many ways,
Here’s where I’m at.
7 Mega Blocks.
30 Blocks Done (and 1 in final assembly)
3 more blocks prepped for hand stitching.
That might seem slow to you, but it seems about perfect to me. I do this project in quiet moments at the summer campsite, while hanging out at the pool/ballet studio/fencing gym, sometimes while watching TV, and on the rare quiet Sunday when I feel like handstitching instead of being interrupted reading. I didn’t stitch for 3 months last year as I struggled with tennis elbow. Things are a bit slow going right now as I don’t do a lot of sitting (newsletter readers know what I am talking about - subscribe below!) and you can only stitch so much standing up.
The truth is, I am in no rush. You’ve heard me say before that quilt making is about the process for me - the making more than the quilt itself. I absolutely love having such a portable hand work project. I really don’t care how long it takes me to finish. If I did then I would have made this smaller! As it stands, the baby blocks are 4’’. Which means the quilt as I have it planned will be 80’’ x 80’’ of hand stitched goodness.
To assemble the quilt I sew the mega blocks together then sew those together in columns. Not sure why, but in my brain I made the far right column first so I am working right to left. I usually prep one or two blocks at a time, laying out what I have so far so that my random scrappiness is somewhat controlled - no two fabrics right next to each other. It does require vacuuming the studio floor and keeping the dog out. I can do the basting and stitching of each block while in any number of places, but save the mega block assembly for home, on a large table.
Oh, and I wholeheartedly recommend the flat back stitch when it comes to English Paper Piecing.
I’ve been asked if I am bored yet. Nope. Not at all. It is highly repetitive. I think if I were working on very controlled fabric/colour placement I might be. Or maybe I would switch to foundation paper piecing for that project? But the scrappy nature of my fabric selection and my infinite patience to pick it up, put it down, and pick it up again is keeping me from getting bored. Quite the opposite, I get super excited each time I finish a block!
The printable templates are still for sale on my Etsy site, if you are interested.
A new version of Lilla. I just don’t get tired of this pattern. That’s because it is a guide more than a pattern. Plus, it includes 25 different block ideas! Use one or use them all! Or, in my case, use 21 plus 1 made up block.
Scott Hansen over at Blue Nickel Studios asked me a few months back if I would play with his upcoming fabric collection. Feeling motivated by the lush colours of his collection, Tie One On, and having some time in my schedule I said yes. The timing also seemed ripe to make another Lilla quilt.
My original plan was a straight remake of the pattern. Same layout, same queen size, but in different fabrics. The second version I made was random, put together from my test blocks. But I wanted a new version of the original. Best laid plans…
I was sent the Sedona colourway of the Tie One On fabric. Gorgeous! These are all batiks from Banyon Batiks, a division of Northcott Fabrics. Really, they are gorgeous fabrics and wonderful to work with. I don’t shy away from batiks as many modern quilters seem to. Beautiful fabric is beautiful fabric! I will use any fabric if it is the right colour, truthfully. Getting the Sedona colourway seemed serendipitous, I always think of our trip to Arizona and the dessert three years ago. With no vacation for us this past summer I planned to live vicariously through this quilt.
Fabric in hand I made a plan. And 20 blocks in (the queen size quilt in the pattern makes 100 blocks) I realized I would run short of the Tie One On Fabric. Banyan Batiks were wonderfully generous and sent me more fabric when I asked nicely. Unfortunately, it was the wrong colourway. Well, wrong for my plan. By now I was 40 blocks in.
This is the part where some quilters would panic. I figured I had 2 choices:
Throw in the towel. Finish the quilt with the blocks I had at this large baby size and move on. It would still be a good quilt, so no loss.
Figure out a solution that reflected, at least, my original plan.
I went with the second option. You see, when you embrace improv piecing the spirit of saying yes, of making things work permeates all your quiltmaking. It gives you creativity to figure out a new design solution to a problem. So I took the yellows and oranges and the green from the second bundle, putting the pinks and purples aside for something else, and figured it would just brighten up my dessert sunset thing I had going on.
My plan for the background of the blocks was rather formal. I sketched a colour draft to keep on track. I thought I was brilliant. Then two things happened. One, even with the new fabric I wasn’t going to have enough of the Tie One On Fabric to make 100 blocks. Okay, so it will be a 9 x 9 quilt, not 10 x 10. Easy fix. But two, it looked like utter crap when I laid it out like my sketch. Really, not good - busy and not in a good, fun, scrappy way. The block designs were completely lost.
When in doubt, sleep on it.
Or, try to sleep. The idea hit me around 1 am when back pain was keeping me awake. I should have got out of bed and laid it out right then and there. I waited until 7 am and in the light of day I realized my new idea was brilliant. It gave order, but was still interesting. It respected what I’d done so far and my colour inspiration of Sedona. It shows off the fabric and the block designs. Success!
Scott Hanson and Banyan Batiks have done a wonderful job with these fabrics. Gorgeous colours and were easy to work with for both improv work and precision piecing, as the Lilla pattern has both.
If you want a little bit of the fabric yourself leave a comment below. On October 1, around 1 pm MST, I will pick one random commenter to win a bundle of Tie One On Fabric! Please leave your email address in the comment itself so I can get a hold of you. Then the fabric will be mailed to you direct.
Visit the rest of the blogs on the tour for your chance to win more. Not to mention some great ideas with this lovely fabric.
9/22 - Teri Lucas https://terificreations.com/
9/23 - Robin Long http://robinruthdesign.com/blog/
9/24 - Sue O'Very https://sueoverydesigns.com/blog/
9/25 - Cheryl Arkison http://www.cherylarkison.com/diningroomempire/
9/26 - Linda Sullivan https://colourwerx.wordpress.com/
9/27 - Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill http://blog.wholecirclestudio.com/
9/28 - Debby Brown http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/
9/29 - Blair Stocker https://wisecrafthandmade.com/blog/
9/30 - Kim Niedzwiecki http://www.gogokim.com/
Pattern available wholesale and retail through C&T Publishing.
It was time.
I counted up all my Quilts Under Construction again. I haven’t actually done it since my QuiltCon lecture a year and a half ago. A lot has come and gone, mostly come since then.
So many metaphors come to mind but I find them all negative. And I don’t see this as negative at all. Every single quilt or project on this list represents creative action. It’s all about process. If all I cared about was a finished quilt I would go to the mall and buy one. Nope, I would rather make, getting lost in the process and the mess of creativity. It’s all awesome. All positive.
I divide my list into 3 categories: Being Quilted, Quilt Tops, and Blocks. Those categories work for me. Once I have something quilted I am usually quick to bind, so it would only go on a list to get crossed off within days. (Okay, there is a certain satisfaction in that.)
Being Quilted
Quilt Tops
Orange and Servil
C’est La Vie (Improv Curve Sampler)
Single Fabric - Tula Pink Stripes (Mighty Lucky Quilting Club)
Giant Slab Hexagons (It is a completed top, I promise.)
Heather Ross Circles
Blocks
Tie One On version of Lilla Quilt
Places I’ve Taught
Desks
Evil Genius Triangles
Kid’s Cloths/Gee’s Bend
Neutral Values
Studio Slash/Edges
Mid Mod
X Plus Blocks
Pink Pinwheels
Screenprint Log Cabins
Pink and Black Broken Logs
Respite
Meadow Quilt
Liberty Circles
Beach Grass II
Morning Make III
Mila’s Name
Bookof Negroes quilt
God’s Eyes
Pastel and Grey Slab
54!
Whew! Biggest number yet. And I still love absolutely every project on this list. It just depends on the day for what I feel like doing. If I could function without sleep, tea, feeding my family, carrying on our family business, or generally anything else I could get a few of these further along. I’m good, though, making in the moments I can and doing all the other stuff too. You only ever make a quilt one stitch at a time.
