Monthly Archives: March 2025

Kudzu

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16

One of my quilt groups recently resurrected the Ricky Tims convergence quilt and we all gave it a try.

On my first attempt, my fabric didn’t look very different after all that cutting-and-piecing! Oops, was that a “fail”? Nope, I added a lime strip and a border and that improved it, though it still was far, far from Ricky’s dramatic results.

Then came to mind Tara Faughnan’s remark that Sherry Lynn Wood is “definitely a ‘yes-and’ quilter” so I started to experiment with adding things. (The yes-and idea comes from improv theatre: whatever happens you must add onto it rather than backing up/starting over/throwing it out.) I kept adding, etc, until I came to this.

Then it was on to two more attempts at convergence.

My conclusion from this is (1)Ricky probably made hundreds of convergences that didn’t make the cut for his book, and (2)This technique may be a good way to create an interesting background for something else in future.

On to the next experiment!

 

I Changed My MInd Again

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27

 Of course there’s a never-ending debate regarding whether to prewash fabric and I’ve been back and forth several times over the years. I usually resume prewashing when something fades and runs in a finished quilt, but I mostly don’t prewash. My theory is that most (not all!) modern fabrics are colorfast. Of course cotton fabric shrinks, but most people expect quilts to be crinkly due to cotton batting, so it doesn’t really matter if the fabric shrinks, too.

Here’s a quilt in which cotton batting produced even crinkles

Enter my class with Tara Faughnan, which I’ve found very useful. Tara advised prewashing because different colors of fabric shrink different amounts! She also noted that prewashing then starching makes the different weaves on the market (think Kona solids vs Cotton Couture solids) behave similarly when you get around to sewing them.

I just said ho-hum and went on my way. Then this happened:

Yikes!

Well! Those are 2″ squares, so the amount of shrinking in that middle one is kind of alarming. Furthermore, it appears that warp and weft shrink differently, which is not actually a surprise. The cause of the shrinkage in this case was just ironing with water spray.

So I got out all my solids to pre-wash. I washed in color-coordinated loads, with color catchers. There was a little bit of fading with the reds, but otherwise nothing faded. I didn’t try to evaluate shrinkage.

So I’m back in the pre-wash camp. Where are you this week?

 

 

All the Fabric!

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I spoke to a local quilt guild this past week about the topic below and referred them to my blog instead of giving a handout. So here’s the same information for you, with about 1/3 of the quilts I showed.

Many of my quilty friends are over 50 and determined to use all the fabric they have in stash. For most of us, there are a good number of large cuts in addition to mountains of scraps, a few UFOs (unfinished objects), some orphan blocks, and a few special fabrics we just had to have. How will we ever use it all? Here are a few ideas.

Let’s start with those beautiful fabrics you just couldn’t resist. My favorite patterns for these are the BQ patterns from Maple Island Quilts. Here are some of mine.

Patter is BQ2, available here

This pattern is BQ4 from Maple Island Quilts

Most of us also have big (a yard or more) cuts of fabric that aren’t focus fabrics. The good news is that many modern quilt patterns have big designs. That means they are quick to make, dramatic in appearance, and use up those big cuts as well as some smaller ones.

Curious By Nature is a free pattern available on the Free Spirit site, here.

There are many chandelier quilt patterns out there, but this one was free on the Free Spirit website, here

This is my version of the Bloem pattern by Libs Elliott.

This is derived from a design by Cheryl Arkison; you can look for more ideas in her books

Patterns by Eudaimonia Studio often use large pieces and are fairly easy to piece

Henry’s Humongous Hexagons, a pattern by Karl Hentsch

This is from the pattern “Contrasting” by Zen Chic; there are a number of Zen Chic patterns that use large cuts of fabric

I liked this pattern by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic so much that I made it twice

You can also use up yardage with books for “3 yard quilts”, like this one. Just pick three one-yard cuts from your stash and you’re ready to go! Then go back to your stash later and pull a fabric for a border if you want a larger quilt.

This 3 yard quilt pattern, written by me, is available from Studio Stitch

And then there are the collections, often of coordinated fabrics from the same line. There are many fat quarter patterns that can make good use of these. And some of the best fat quarter patterns are the oldies, Turning Twenty and Turning Twenty Again. Here are a couple I made years ago from those patterns.

The quilt is straight; my picture is not!
Charley Harper quilt using the Turning Twenty Again pattern
Bermuda Sunrise quilt pattern

This pattern is Bermuda Sunrise by Linda Hahn. It plays well with fat quarters. Ignore my paper tags, please!

Triangles at Play is a quick and easy pattern by Sarah Ruiz

The three quilts above are from the book Cozy Modern Quilts by Kim Schaefer. It’s an old book, so try first to get it through AbeBooks or a similar used book source. I found it there recently for under $7 including shipping–less than the cost of a single quilt pattern!

This and other patterns by Sassafras Lane are surprisingly easy and are good for using fabric collections

There are many patterns for scraps. In addition to the printed patterns available (and probably already in your pattern stash) there are many free patterns online. Quiltdom is one site with scrap patterns ranging from easy to challenging. And it links to other sites, so you could spend all day scrolling instead of sewing…

Here are a couple of my favorite scrap quilts. I choose simple blocks so I can use them as leaders-and-enders while making other projects, and often I have a quilt made before I know it. You don’t need a pattern for these–just copy them!

And then the orphan blocks and UFOs! Cut them up and use them to make improvised quilts. Be sure to have an interesting quilting pattern if you have a lot of negative space.

Aha! Orphan blocks can be cut up to make new blocks, as I did with my Giant Circles quilt, here

There are lots more fun patterns out there. Stick to the ones that look easy and your stash will diminish more quickly–if that’s your goal.

 

Hanging for Photos

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One of my current goals is better photos for my blog and for submitting to shows. I’ve tried numerous set-ups over the years. The very best was when I could hang them in front of the barn. I had a hanger that was easy to put up and take down, and the outdoor light was perfect. That was years ago, and the barn was sold with the house.

A blogging friend recommended a photo backdrop stand. I got the specific one she suggested, but it hasn’t been sturdy enough to suit me. It seems the quilts always wobble.

There are many chandelier quilt patterns out there, but this one was free on the Free Spirit website

Sometimes the finished quilt will cling to my flannel design wall. It’s not perfect, because the flannel is free floating, so the bottom of the quilt waves with the flannel, but it sure is easy.  It does work well for small quilts.

And then there’s the time-honored tradition of having the husband hold the quilt. Mine eventually got tired of holding them out the window, so I had to quit. I did like having the outside light and the house backdrop while it lasted!

I’ve even hung quilts in various settings for “glamour shots”, but they’re only for fun, not for submitting to shows.

Quilt on a chair
Quilt on a woodpile
Quilt in the bushes!

I’m still searching for a way (preferably an easy way) to take nice square, straight-on photos of quilts. All of which is to say I’m trying another way to hang and photograph quilts.

Somewhere I found out about the Hang It Dang It quilt hanger, so I got my local quilt shop to order it for me. My husband had some concern about needing a small nail to hang it on, but he got it figured out and the system works just fine! It is easier than previous methods and it does, indeed, hang the quilt level.

In the example above, you can see that I stood on a stool to hang it, but sure enough I could do it all by myself! I will need to de-clutter around the area to take pictures for submissions, but it’s looking like an improvement so far.

Now I need to get out the tripod and the fancy camera so I can align the shot correctly, and maybe I’ll be ready to go on better pictures.

 

An Experiment

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In line with my resolution to play more, rather than just producing, I decided it was time to use this interesting fabric. I got it who-knows-where with the idea that it would make a good print to mix with solids in an art quilt.

I had about1/3 yard of this fabric and wanted to make small pieces, so I split it in half with the idea of making two quilts with different moods.

For the first quilt, I chose colors that matched or coordinated with the inspiration fabric, plus a little orange for a pop. I cut rectangular blocks and tried many different arrangements. Here’s the final layout.

After I quilted it, I still wasn’t satisfied that it had much zip. Also, I was tired of making facing for quilts and hoped to do something more interesting to finish it.

I finally found some large rick-rack in my stash and thought it might be good a good edge finish. After a couple of experiments, I did a narrow zigzag all around the edge of the quilt…

…then applied the rick-rack with a straight stitch.

I’m not crazy about this, but I’m not required to love every experiment, just to try it.

Quilt Stats

Name: Just Add Orange

Finished size: 18″ x 24.5″

Designed and made by: me

Why: Just for Fun