modern quilt | Zippy Quilts

When I looked at my (er, large!) collection of orphan blocks, I found not only single blocks, but groups of blocks all from the same quilt, and several strips of blocks that looked like they had been almost included in a quilt. The first such strip I came to was from an improvised batik quilt made with Bold Over Batiks and assorted others. It was almost 24 inches long and 4 inches wide.

I cut the strip into a length of 12 inches and one of a few inches less, then added fabric to the shorter one so both were 12 inches. I then joined them lengthwise with a black strip down the center:

Table runner made from a strip of leftovers

I made a backing by piecing together scraps from my current quilt, which happens to be batiks also. I just put them together semi-randomly. (You can see the current quilt at the end of this post.)

The back was pieced from the scraps that happened to be on the top of the scrap bin!

I quilted the whole thing in the ditch and bound it in black. I think I like the back almost as well as the front!

Of course, if you have individual orphan blocks instead of a strip, you can make a table runner by joining them, either with or without sashing. I find that sashing is a good idea because it allows for the use of blocks of different sizes just by varying the size of the sashing. (I made the mistake once of putting together a “group quilt” and it DEFINITELY required sashing individualized to each block, since apparently everybody in the group had a different idea of the size of a 9″ block.) Sashing can save your bacon (or table runner) in a case like that. So here’s a quilt design with blocks of 4 different sizes. The blocks at the ends had extra sashing added.

Finally, here’s a peek at the current quilt-in-progress. It’s made from the FQs that jumped on me at Quiltfest in July and were shown at the end of an earlier post here. The quilt is up on my sticky wall with a label on each piece so I don’t get confused as I sew it together! Scraps from this were on top of the scrap pile, so I used them for the back of the table runner shown above.

This pattern is Bermuda Sunrise

Hope everyone has a good week!

A straight-on picture of a quilt is great if you need to see the whole design, but I’m aiming for quilt photos with personality. Here are a few first attempts.

#1 This is made with bright batiks and templates from Elisa’s Backporch Design

I live in a beautiful part of the country (I’ve said that about every place I’ve lived) so there should be lots of photo ops for my quilts. I also live in the woods, which limits opportunities at my house.

#2: Improvisational piecing using a bundle of Bold Over Batiks

Luckily, some friendly neighbors let me borrow their setting for a few of these shots. One thing I found out right away is that full sun washes out the colors in a photo.

#3: This is a traditional design taught by Augusta Cole; I added a border to make it a little longer

I need your help! Which of these quilt portraits sets the best mood for the quilt? Which makes you say, “I MUST have that quilt!” so you would be tempted to make it, buy the pattern, buy the quilt, ask me to give you the quilt for your birthday (I KNOW who you are)? And why? Please comment!

#4: Twinkle, a pattern by Swirly Girl Designs, was made because I had some fabulous leftover fabric

If you’ve never commented on a blog post, here’s how: Folks who get the post by e-mail need to click on the title of the post and that will take you to the blog online. Online, you’ll see a dialog bubble next to the title, like the bubble that appears over the head of a cartoon character. Click on that and you’ll be taken to a screen where you can type your comment. Thanks for your help!