SQUARE NAUGHTS!

I just completed this improvisationally pieced quilt.  

It began life with a grey background but that just didn't do anything for it, or me.  

I usually love white or grey backgrounds that let the shapes and colors of a quilt really sing.  

Not this time!   

This mauve Robert Kaufman Quilter's Linen proved to be the best choice for the other fabrics in the "ribbons" to assert themselves.

These ribbon blocks are the COMPLETE opposite of being improvisationally cut - all done on an Accuquilt die.

Thus: 

an improvisationally pieced quilt 

of non-improvisationally cut pieces!

As it began to take shape the square knots looked more and more like zeros to me - hence the Square Naughts name.

This process was fun; unwieldy at times seeing where the ribbons and knots took me BUT an interesting composition, I think, evolved!

The lovely wavy-lined quilting really accentuates the hard edges of the ribbons.  Once again a huge thanks to Jennifer McClanahan of Jenn's Quilting for seeing my vision and creating the reality with her long-arm machine.

Pedestal Quilt

PEDESTAL QUILT

Even though this quilt has been completed for some time, I hadn't taken a photo of it outdoors so you could see all the wonderful quilting done by Jennifer McClanahan.  It is exactly what I wanted to accentuate the pattern, keep it modern and give it a "quilty" texture.  

My intention was to design a pattern that was gender-neutral and adaptable to many fabric design choices and colors.  It is a pretty easy pattern but takes some time to complete.  Each block is 20 inches square and the finished size is approximately 82 inches square.

The pattern includes the layout of each block as they are all different!  The corner blocks are the same, just different orientations.

Let me know what you think!

A Scrappy Modern Sampler for Advanced Beginner Quilters.

One of the aspects of quilting I enjoy the most is sharing the fun, the skills and the ever-changing horizons quilting has today.  It has become a newly re-discovered craft by many younger folks who are definitely bringing their own imprint to it.  I LOVE the new fabrics, the new aesthetic and the new enthusiasm!!

Having just completed an Intro to Quilting class with some wonderful ladies  who have developed varying degrees of wanting to know more, I realized that they pretty much were left hanging knowing how to sew a precise 1/4 inch seam, how to press, how to use the rotary cutter masterfully and safely, AND how to knock out a killer half-square triangle (or hundreds of them).  Where to go from here?  Well, once I really started thinking about it I realized there were so MANY places to go from here.  I narrowed it down to some skills that would advance them further into delving on their own, when comfortable, into some modern quilting thinking!  These are the blocks I came up with to develop many skills: accurate piecing, circular piecing, basic paper-piecing, color theory, machine applique, improvisational piecing, fussy cutting and so on!

How could I resist creating a scrappy quilt top with all this new fabric that landed in my mailbox recently?  My only regret was I wasn't able to use it all - but - you all know what that means!

What skills do you think a freshly-minted quilter needs in their tool-kit?

New Year, New Class, New Quilters!!

Happy New Year everyone!

I know - 

I haven't been here in quite some time.  

Nasty flu over the holidays preempted some plans to catch up.  

I do want to share with everyone here, 6 lovely ladies who are in my Intro to Quilting Class and are creating their own wonderful and unique versions of the Blue Diamond Quilt.  

Have a peek at them using their temporary design walls which will soon become the batting in their new quilts, to get the light versus dark values just right!

Our next class will be pin basting and beginning the actual machine quilting.

I have been quite interested to read about board basting lately and am wondering what any of you think of it, if in fact you have tried it?  Using temporary spray adhesive, it appears to be a much more inviting choice not only in the actual quilting, so you don't have to stop & wrestle with the pins, but in ease of sandwiching; and NO bleeding on the quilt top!!

I would love to hear thoughts from those who have tried board basting.

Anyone??