rostitchery

quilt blocks i have known and loved

 

confession of a patternmaker:  about three days after making my first quilt blocks, i decided that i really did not like cutting to measure.  :D  it's not that i couldn't do it--i had the tools, i had the know-how--but it was really BORING.  every block looked like every other block, and every block looked like everybody else's blocks.

so i gave up doing it that way.  even now, i rarely make a quilt block using a template or cutting to measure--i only do it if i'm working on a project that requires it (which means it is usually not my own project).  instead i cut by eye, or i piece and then cut.

for example, i made these log cabin blocks completely free-hand.  i started with a piece that was more or less square, added a strip that i cut without a ruler, and continued around and around, like usual, but without using any precut or premeasured pieces of fabric.  (i apologize in advance for the low quality of these images--this was the dark ages, when digital cameras first hit the consumer market and cost half a billion dollars--thus these are scans of the actual quilt blocks, not photos).

 

the next block is a variation of the log cabin, it is my version of the pineapple block, which i called "pineapple right side up".  i have no idea why i called it that.  i was in the habit of naming my blocks.

 

some of my favorite blocks for free-hand piecing are houses.  at one point i had so many house blocks that i started giving them away.  these were all made by taking pieces out of my scrap box and piecing them at will.  i'd start with a center piece, usually a door, then add a wall, trim it if necessary, and continue adding bits just like for the log cabin block.  i made many of these to send to my friend tiina who collects quilts for preemies.  these quilts were TINY--each finished quilt was only 15" square.  i have lots of good memories of quilting these backstage during a christmas show.  i hoped the little houses would keep the babies cozy until they were able to go to their real homes.  (tiina, if you see this, i have been thinking about you and pray you are well).

 

    

ocassionally i need or want to make a block for a special project, like the HUG quilts we used to make on the rec.crafts.textiles.quilting newsgroup (the last one i participated in was at least 10 years ago--i see they are still making them!).  this heart block was made for someone i knew only as "singer", a member of the RCTQ group that needed a HUG.  it is pieced freehand, then i did a free-motion embroidery sun on it (from the back, using metallic thread in the bobbin), and i wrote a little message and signed it.

 

these are both moon over the mountain blocks, pieced and then with two different kinds of applique moons.  i don't love these, but i don't hate them either.  i have no idea what i used them for.  LOL

 

  

revisiting these photos makes me think it is time to get out the scraps again.  the little houses were lots of fun and i'm very home-centric these days.

this style of piecing is definitely not for everbody, but if you enjoy a little improvisation, give this a try! you might get hooked too.

*the first HUG quilt we made on RCTQ was for a member named ruth, who died from cancer so quickly after her diagnosis that we were not able to give it to her.  :(  we gave it to her family.  but we had collected so many quilt blocks, from all over the world, that we were able to make a second quilt, which we raffled off to raise money to help her family defray expenses.  i am honored to say that i was able to participate in about a dozen HUG quilt projects on RCTQ and am currently involved in a new local HUG project that has lead me down this memory lane.

*gwen marston has written a series of books on "liberated quiltmaking" in which she describes the process, as well as the philosophy, of this way of making quilts.  even if you have no interest in following this method, the quilts in her books are really beautiful to look at.

easy art quilts for babies (who, incidentally, do not appreciate art, but their mothers do)

since the only things i'm making right now are patterns and ice cream :)  i thought i'd share some things i've made in the past and show you how to make them too.

when i was pregnant with ella i had three friends who were pregnant at the same time--we formed the pregnant girls club and spent most of our free time sitting around a coffee table with our legs propped up and talking about crazy stuff like how utterly delectable crushed ice had become.

that summer i made baby quilts for these three friends and about a dozen for project linus.  all the pictures in this post are very poor quality owing to the fact that the digital camera i had at that time was already about 5 years old and my photography skills were equivalent to my skills as an astronaut.  but i think you'll get the idea.  most of these pictures are quilt tops in progress (you'd probably figure that out without my help).

these quilts were all made using stash fabric and the exact same piecing technique:  instead of cutting the half square triangles (HSTs) the traditional way--which for those who have not made them, the traditional way is to cut little squares and sew them together diagonally and then cut them apart one by one--i cut long strips of fabric and stitched them together on both long sides, then i cut the triangles en masse from the strips (click to enlarge):

 

using this method the edges of the squares are on the bias and the center is on the straight grain, whereas in traditional piecing the diagonal is on the bias and the edges are on the straight grain.  i know what you quilters are thinking:  bias edges = bad, wavy quilt.  NOT TRUE!  bias edges are your friend, you can make them do all kinds of neat things like stretch out or shrink, and for all i know they can even be taught to juggle.  anybody who makes clothing sews bias edges on every single garment and things usually turn out just fine. :D  once the thing is quilted it will be nice and flat, i promise.

(ok, if you insist:  to avoid bias edges on your HSTs, simply cut your strips on the bias--when you cut your triangles they will have straight grain edges.  but beware--stitching long strips of bias is more iffy than sewing short edges of bias-edged squares to each other.  it will also take way more fabric to get the same number of triangles.  but do as you wish.  i'm just saying).

in making these quilt tops all i did was make piles and piles of HSTs then i laid them out to make a design after the fact. each quilt was different, i just played around with the HSTs until i had something i liked.  most of them were made as mazes (this was linda sue's quilt top):

some were made as echo designs (this was holly's quilt):

once i had a layout i liked, i pieced it together and then used any leftovers on the back as filler:

for brenda's quilt top i used strips that were a combination of two or more more narrow strips, which gave a more complicated final look but was as simple to make as the others.  since these strips were smaller, i added a border to make the quilt the size i wanted (the quilt inspector to the left is bea, who still inspects quilts long after they have been finished and are on the bed):

i first saw this method about 7 years ago on a website that i cannot find now, it is either long gone or long buried beneath the mountain of other websites that have been published since then.  and naturally someone has now invented a tool that is supposed to make this job easier--the wonder cut ruler--but you don't have to have that--i didn't.  the only thing the ruler does is guarantee your triangles will end up a specific size.  if you are willing to use whatever you end up with, you can just cut your strips and triangles without it, they will all still be the same size as each other so they will all fit together no matter how big or small they are.  and once your triangles are cut, you can use them for any other quilt design, for example you can mix them with nine-patch squares and create a completely different look, even traditional if you wish (this quilt was for a couple we worked with at vandy who had their first child that same summer):

now for the very complicated math:  i cut 6" wide strips simply because i had a 6" wide rotary cutting ruler.  when i had cut the triangles i measured them and made nine-patch squares to match.  no pre-planning for me, that would have required me to figure out something in advance and i'm not always in the mood for that.  besides, the beauty of these quilts, to me, is the serendipity, which seems the right approach when making a quilt in celebration of a new baby.

guess whose baby is the only one i didn't make a quilt for?  mine.  :D  but in an ironic twist, i have made her many pairs of shoes.  from a dancer that is probably not terribly surprising but it is just another example of how motherhood warps a mind. 

looking for old friends in a round robin quilt

while sorting thru years and years (nearly two decades) of pictures i found some very low resolution images of rows for several quilts i helped make almost 15 years ago.  i'm hoping that by posting pictures of these rows, someone will recognize them and will be able to help me get back in touch with these friends.  these are rows i made for a quilting round robin consisting of members of the rec.crafts.textiles.quilting (RCTQ) usenet group (this was back before there was even a world wide web--back when screennames were assigned to you by your ISP and had all the randomness of car license tags).

the idea was for us to get to know each other more personally by each making one row for a quilt for each participant.  we each put together a box that contained some fabrics we'd like included in the quilt, and the coordinator created a shipping sequence so we'd know who to send our boxes to each month.  we would get the first box, make a row, then send it on to the next quilter so she could add her row, etc. when all the rows were done our own box would have made it thru the round and back home, where we would each assemble the rows into a quilt.

when the box arrived each month we had the whole month to create a row, using the fabrics in the box plus any other fabrics we wanted to include.  some participants had themes they hoped we'd follow, some didn't, but the idea was that the rows we made for each other would reflect both the makers' creativity and the recipients' taste.  some quilters wanted their rows signed, and some wanted the quilt label signed, but in the end there would be nine quilts that each had nine different makers involved and documented in their creation.

i felt completely out of my element in this round robin because i was a beginning quilter and i had seen the wonderful things the other quilters had made, but they very graciously let me join the group and over the course of almost a year i got to know each of them so much better and become so fond of each of them (none of us ever met in person--the whole project was all coordinated and conducted via snail mail and email).  and by getting to see each of the previous rows as the boxes came each month i learned so much about the art of quilting (or rather the art of patchwork--i never saw the completed quilts in person).

each quilter also put in her box a journal that the other quilters could read and add to along the way.  it was fascinating to read the makers' thoughts and inspirations and challenges in their own handwriting--so revealing of the depth of feeling and consideration each quilter put into the row she made for each recipient. 

month by month, the boxes grew heavier--because being quilters, we each added a little something to the box for the recipient, and often for the quilters who would follow.  i always added a fat quarter of my hand-dyed fabric, and a postcard from nashville, and usually some small token such as a packet of hand needles or a spool of good thread.  just something to connect with the quilters down the line who i knew would one day be kind enough not to mock my work out loud.  ;)

the following pictures are of rows i made for the other recipients. (edited to add:  i can't find pictures of all the rows i made--or at least i didn't find them today.  if i do find them, i'll let you know).  if you have one of these rows, or know the person who does, please contact me!  i'd so love to catch up with old friends.  i know the names of the quilters who got each row, but for privacy's sake i will not post them here, only the initials to help identify the owners.

this row was for M.G. who is french i believe and who had such beautiful fabrics that i had my local quilt shop order a yard of each for me.  i can't remember the name of the block i made for this row (please feel free to jog my memory).  that's my beloved pal fable sitting next to the row, she was one of three resident quilt inspectors at that time:

  

this row was for "robin" (forgot her last name--so sorry!), i made what looked to me like a heartbeat with a heart intertwined:

this was for S.D., who wanted something for her child that would reflect her christian beliefs.  she loved rainbows, so i used the snail's trail quilt block to make multi-colored ocean waves broken up by a rainbow and a dove:

 

this row was for another S.D., it is the churn dash block with fussy-cut centers that feature cows (the block at the beginning of this post is from this row--i guess you figured that out by yourself).  i can't remember why i chose this particular block, maybe i was just in a churn dash mood.  i do remember that mood, it was like a lot of my other moods, it just popped up one day out of the blue.  (don't you love the sewing area?--that was my entire shop!  would that i were still so self-contained and orderly):

 

this row was made for "mim", it is the TN waltz block, with fussy cut centers that feature things that represent nashville--guitars and cowboy boots.  again, i can't remember why i made this particular row or block for her--it might be that she asked for something representing where we lived, although it is just as likely that i wanted to learn how to make a TN waltz block and took that opportunity to do so:

i do hope some of you recognize these rows!  i'd like to think there are fewer than six degrees of separation between me and these other beloved quilters.

edited to conceal the names on the photo files--thank you to the reader who alerted me to that oversight!

quilt report

quilt #1:  all the fabric that needs to be dyed has been scoured and is ready!  i also pulled out some stuff from stash, i have some fabrics that i dyed for ella's crib and bassinet that i will use too.  this quilt will have a random pieced top with animals appliqued over it, and it will be about 45" X 70". 

quilt #2:  got the basic layout done but i have one block that i have to figure out.  to make the design work it needs to be a variation on a 9 patch, using half-square rectangles (what a silly term), and for those i'll just have to do some samples to work it out.  this quilt is going to have a center medallion, the rest of the quilt field will have scattered applique motifs layed over the block-to-be-named-later.  i'm planning on this quilt being 70" X 90".

so this week's plan is: 

quilt #1: get the fabrics dyed and start cutting .  i already have all the animal designs for this quilt.

quilt #2:  make samples of the block design and figure out cutting and sewing order.

oh yeah, i need to get gridded paper to help calculate the cutting order for quilt #2--i had a whole pad of it that sat in a drawer for years, i donated it to my school over winter break and of course now i need it.

ok, hold me to this

there are two projects i need to just go ahead and do--both of them are quilts.  i am hereby committing myself to a plan of attack.  as i see it, the first quilt breaks down as follows:

1. prepare fabric for dyeing
2. dye fabric
3. cut fabric
4. piece the top
5. quilt
6. bind
7. admire

ok, seven steps, not so bad after all. 

the other quilt is more involved:

1. create a design (i've started on this, just need to bring it all together)
2. find images
3. find and also create fabric
4. build image blocks
5. piece with support blocks
6. join top into one piece
7. quilt
8. bind
9. admire (i'm a big fan of admiring)

yeah, this is only nine steps but those first four are doozies.

i need to have the first one done sooner but since the second is bigger and more complicated, i'll have to work on them both at the same time.  i think i can manage step 1 for both these quilts this weekend.  if you don't get a report from me by monday evening, send out a search team, because even if i'm ok, i'll still need the kick in the popo.  :)