A layer cake of Alison Glass fabric jumped in my cart when I wasn’t looking, and I’ve been wondering what to do with it. Finally, I designed this quilt.
The quilting by Julia Madison is an Urban Elementz panto called “Sound Waves”. I love it!
Quilt stats:
Name: Super Simple Squares
Finished size: 52″ x 52″
Designer: me
Fabric: Alison Glass
Quilted by: Julia Madison
Our retreat group was so happy to get together again after having to cancel the last two scheduled get-togethers due to you-know-what. We went to Kim’s Summit Retreat in Maggie Valley, NC, and it was perfect.
We were greeted by this beautiful Sassafras leaf on the front steps
Assembling some of the triangles from one of our previous swaps
Haha! This was a donation quilt project we were scheduled to do in October of 2020!
This was picked up from the quilter and I got it bound. More later.
One group member modified the free Kaffe Fasset pattern “Carnival” so she could use smaller blocks
This is a paper-pieced block-of-the-month that two of our members are doing
One retreater is making at least two quilts from fabric featuring national parks
I took these orphan blocks and put them on the design wall…
…then made additional blocks and strips to fill in the holes
That was so much fun! We are looking forward to the next one 😀
Ha! Many, many years ago there was a column in a women’s magazine called, “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” I have no memory of reading the content, but somehow the overly-dramatic title has stuck with me. (I just asked Ms. Google, and I’m not the only one who remembers this: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/can-this-marriage-be-saved_b_58404189e4b0b93e10f8dfdf)
Anyway, in moving I have come across some experimental pieces that I’ve kept. I learned something from each of them, but sometimes what I learned was that a particular piece was not especially attractive!
Well, this didn’t work
The above piece was an experiment after reading a book by Freddy Moran. It’s well made but not especially attractive. For me, the colors don’t “gel” and the prairie points are entirely too regular in their arrangement.
This unquilted piece, approximately 42″ square, is the THIRD attempt to make something with these dotted fabrics! The other versions were no better, but I’ve saved some of the fabric by cutting out circles and using them as applique.
Rescued Dots
I think the “rescue” was pretty successful, and I’ll probably do something similar with the rest of this fabric. So I guess that’s 4 iterations of a design with those dots before finding something successful!
And then there’s the Stuffed Olive Block. Never mind why I designed it in the first place. I made it into a pillow, but really, we have more than enough pillows. I think it just has to go!
I’m a firm believer that no experience is wasted, so we’ll call it good even if some of these just go out with the trash.
Of course that’s nowhere near all the experimental pieces I came across, but that’s all for now 😀
P.S.: I enjoy seeing “barn quilt” blocks as we travel, but this one struck me as unlikely:
Studio Stitch has had this beautiful striped fabric for several months and I’ve been wondering what I could do with it.
Then I found this pattern: Oriana by Alison Glass. It’s intended to be made with strip sets, but it was just perfect for this fabric!
Those sharp points weren’t the easiest thing to do, but I love the way they worked out.
I made this quilt with just part of the number of circles called for, and it finished at 47″ x 48″.
I’ve loaned the quilt to Studio Stitch to display, and I’ve written a “cheat sheet” for them. If you want to use striped fabric instead of making strip sets, they’ll give you a copy when you buy the pattern, which they have in stock. (I’m not sure it’s on their website, but you can phone them at 336-288-9200.)
And here’s a money saver: Alison had intended to have templates available, but COVID has held that up. This means all you have to do is trace her printed templates (in the pattern) onto LARGE sheets of template plastic and make your own. That really was pretty easy.
So of course when I went to Studio Stitch to show them the quilt, they had this new fabric in…
Just sayin’ 😀
I’m a fan of Cindy Grisdela’s work and have gone through the exercises in her previous book, so I was thrilled when C&T sent me Cindy’s new book for review. Adventures in Improv Quilts covers the basics of design and color, but includes some more complex quilts than her previous book. Some of them remind me of Maria Shell, whose book I also love.
Photo courtesy of C&T
Cindy’s colors are bright and interesting. She often combines colors I wouldn’t have thought to use together, which causes me to look twice at the design. That’s a plus!
Photo courtesy of C&T
The book includes plenty of detail on technique. I was especially amused (and gratified) to learn that part of Cindy’s design process is to outline the size for the quilt with blue tape on her design wall. I’ve done that for years and find it a very effective way to think about filling the space as I design. Validation is always nice!
Photo courtesy of C&T
The book includes a chapter on color choices, which will be welcomed by numerous quilters who worry endlessly about the “right” colors. I choose my palettes intuitively, with better results some times than others, so maybe I should pay more attention? I love the color examples in the book, starting with basic palettes and progressing to the addition of other colors or values to give the project variety.
Photo courtesy of C&T
Cindy then goes on to cover the basic principles of design. These won’t be news to most quilters, but her examples shine. I think I will go back to the “bits” left from working through her previous book and see if I can enhance them by using some of her examples from this book.
Photo courtesy of C&T
My favorite advice in the book: “Don’t fear wasting fabric”! That’s a liberating thought!
My second favorite is one of her tips for free-motion quilting, but I think it could apply to most any part of the process: “If you feel like you’ve made a mistake, keep going. Either ignore it or do it again so it becomes a design element.” I love that! I love this book!
The book is available here, but this is not an affiliate link. C&T sends me books for review, and I tell you about my very favorites among them.
Zippy Quilts 