Friday, March 1, 2019

Rafters

Last summer I worked on a quilt top from a quilt along run by Christa Watson for a pattern called Dot 'n Dash. It was a simple jelly roll quilt that was quick to put together. After a few intensely quilted quilts, I was in the mood for something simple, so I pulled this top out. I already had a plan and was just getting ready to quilt it when suddenly, I decided to abandon all my previous plans and try something unexpected.

I tried to talk myself out of it, but once I had a "vision", I couldn't unsee it. While I was working on this, I was cursing myself for almost the whole time and wondered what I should ultimately name this quilt. Maybe it's the "what-was-I-thinking" quilt. Or the "why-do-I-have-to-make-everything-so-complicated" quilt. When I finally, finally finished it, I laid it out for the full reveal and suddenly I really liked it and knew exactly what I should call it.

Rafters. It wasn't quite intentional, as I just wanted to try a secondary design and have vertical strips in the quilting going behind the horizontal strips, but once I saw the whole thing, all I could see were rafters and beams!

I kept the quilting very simple in the foreground with just piano keys, and left all the intense quilting for the background.

I think the main challenge of this quilt (and why I hated working on it) is because I never quite figured out an efficient travel path. Sometimes that's just how it is.

The back of the quilt is pretty neat looking and I can see the rafters & beams look even better on the back than on the front.

At the end of the day, I really love the end result and I'm so glad I decided to go with my new vision for this quilt. It produced a very interesting effect and I have no regrets about it. So, despite the painful process, the end result is a win for me!

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Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation, Busy Hands Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Cooking Up Quilts, Sew Can She, and Powered by Quilting

17 comments:

  1. Oh. My. Gosh. This is just beyond fabulous. I love the simple line quilting in the print fabrics to contrast from the denser quilting in the background.

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  2. My face hurts from being gapmouthed for so long. I love your choice of fabrics, unique but lets the absolutely beautiful quilting take center stage. This definitely would have been something I would never do, so admire your determination to do what you envision. I bet it’s wonderful to touch. Every new quilt you finish is always my new favorite-looking forward to seeing my next new favorite.

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  3. I'm just grinning once again. This is a great quilt, Liz! Isn't that process crazy, when a quilt takes you on a journey? I love it when it all comes together in the end, and your quilt ended up just fantastic! I definitely see the rafters & beams. Another great finish!

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  4. Fabulous! And from my perspective, totally worth it :)

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  5. What a stunning quilt! That vertical quilting was certainly inspired and well worth the effort you put into it. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Such a beautiful quilt. It's an inspiration!

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  7. WOW!! that is really some amazing texture. Love this so much, Liz. The result is well worth it.

    :) Kelly

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  8. This quilt is spectacular! And the quilting is perfect. Lovely!

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  9. Even your simple quilts are amazing! This is absolutely beautiful!

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  10. Liz, sew interesting what you did with your dot n dash! I love how you crossed the seam lines and gave it a 3-D look with your quilting. Wow!

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  11. Your quilting gave this simple pattern such an additional element, the whole quilt looks almost woven now.

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  12. You never cease to amaze me with your quilting. Another spectacular job!!

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  13. OMG, that is absolutely amazing! I'm constantly inspired by how you are able to bring your quilting visions to life.

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  14. Hi Liz! This is a beautiful finish, as always. You have a fabulous eye for picking just the perfect quilting design really bring the quilt to life. A gift, I would call it. I'm so glad you have that gift because I sure enjoy seeing your vision with each quilt project you share. ~smile~ Roseanne

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