Glow

Most of my quilt tops reach a few years of age before I quilt them, as I need to distance myself mentally from a quilt top before I finish it. However, Glow is a quilt I finished relatively recently, within the last 6 months in fact, and it's because I had a vision for how to quilt this from the get-go.

Glow is definitely one of my favorite quilt tops in my stash, because it contains some of my absolute favorite scraps. The pattern is called the Scrappy Quarter-Log Cabin, and it's by Christina Cameli.

This quilt is not only scrappy, but also improv, which is mentally exhausting and always scares me a lot, but also usually results in something that is quite magical. I named this quilt Glow because there are so many shiny fabrics on this quilt, it really does glow.

For quilting, I used mostly straight lines for the white space and some free-motion designs in the others. As the focal point of this quilt is the beautiful scrappy fabrics, I kept the quilting fairly minimal in that space.

After a fairly unproductive year in terms of quilting last year, I really wanted to do a lot more this year, and so far, I've finished 5 quilts, one a month. I'm pretty happy with the output, but we'll see what happens now that summer is around the corner.

Even though the year's only half done, I'm calling it now ... this is my favorite quilt finish for 2024!

Facets ~ Adventure in Improv

Earlier this year I made the Scrappy Market Tote, an improv bag by Christina Cameli. I really loved the finished result, but I couldn't get enough of the palette of blue / green / yellows I picked, and I wanted to make a full-sized quilt with the same palette.

The pattern I decided on is Facets by Christa Watson. I love how the improv patchwork is juxtaposed with white fabrics for some breathing room, and the solid column of colors is perfect for a bit of balance.

In order to gather fabric however and for a truly scrappy look, I had to dive into my scrap bins. I have quite a few of them, and they're all incredibly heavy. I usually don't look inside them because I'm scared of facing my scraps, but I also don't have the heart to toss them. After pulling a ton of fabrics and ironing them and cutting them into random-sized strips, I had a good selection to work with.

The first step is to make large rectangular panels from where I could cut the shapes I need. This part was fun but also very exhausting. I realized that my brain is consistently on and I'm constantly making decisions when I'm doing improv, and it's not something I can help. The result is that I'm completely mentally drained at the end of an improv session!

After I had enough panels (it took a lot) I cut them into triangles for this quilt. I decided to use foundation paper piecing to make these blocks so they'll be perfect and so I don't have to buy any specialized rulers.

Final assembly took awhile as there are a lot of blocks, but it was exciting to watch this quilt come together.

Well, I'm really, really happy with it!

Scrappy Market Tote

The Scrappy Market Tote is a class by Christina Cameli on Bluprint, and I have watched it quite a few times, but I kept procrastinating on making one of my own. Improv terrifies me, and scraps intimidate me. So imagine how I feel when I'm faced with a project that's both improv and scraps.

But I finally decided to give it a shot. I'm using a palette of yellows, blues, and greens, and I combed through only the top of my scrap bins and already I was shocked at how much scraps I have accumulated over the last few years.

I then made a variety of improv patchwork, just putting things together however I want. Bias edges? No problem! Weird angles? No problem! Chop up whatever, add whatever. Anything goes. It's both terrifying and freeing at the same time. Improv completely goes against my usual factory assembly process, so it's challenging but also exciting because I never quite know how it's going to look.

After that, I auditioned which of those will make it into the final bag. This is the part I really had to rely on instinct, to tell me what works where, and especially if I need to insert extra things here or there to break up a space, to unify a space, or to add more jazz.

Since the panel is quite busy, I'm really glad for the big solid piece at the bottom of the bag to help tone it down and tie it together, and the matchstick quilting also helps unify it. However, I haven't done walking foot quilting on this scale in years, and now I remembered why I learned to free-motion quilt: because I hate doing walking foot quilting.

After all that, assembling this bag was the easy part. I also made a false bottom for it to give it a bit of structure. I'm super proud of this bag, because it far exceeded my expectations. I didn't think I could handle scraps or improv, so I'm quite amazed at how it turned out. It's a really gorgeous and happy bag to look at, and it's quite big too!

Stash Statement Blog Hop: Beach Retreat

Today is my stop on Kelly Young's Stash Statement blog hop and I'm thrilled to present Beach Retreat!

Photo credit: Martingale & Company

Kelly's Beach Retreat uses a beautiful and calm palette of light blues and light browns which makes me think of sea glass and sandy beaches. I wanted to go in the opposite direction and create a color palette that is energetic. I debated a bunch of color combos before deciding on 2 of my favorite colors in a complementary setting: blue and orange.

I created the "raw" fabric by using one of Kelly's methods of improv piecing. It is both liberating and kind of scary to just start sewing instead of cutting them into precise shapes. In fact, I ditched the rotary cutter completely until the very end when I squared the blocks up. I definitely felt more confident as I made more blocks, though!

But once the improv fabric is done, the blocks were super easy and very enjoyable. I love how the improv blocks set in a traditional fashion gives this quilt a perfect combination of order and chaos!

When I was trying to decide what to quilt, I saw these pinwheel patterns show up in the negative space between the blocks, and I wanted to do something fun with it. I used a lot of straight lines, a lot of swirls, and a lot of pebbles. To me, background fillers are critical to the final look of the quilt.

In the foreground area, I thought that it sort of looked like butterflies. I didn't want to actually quilt it to make it resemble a butterfly as it was still a bit of a stretch, but with the butterfly motif in mind, I added some feathers and ferns.

I really enjoy this approach to improv, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! The quilting was like one big happy gathering of all my favorite designs.

Thanks for visiting! Here is my kickoff post with the full schedule. Be sure to visit the other stops in the hop. There are a lot of improv goodness around, and because all our fabrics are different, no two quilts are alike!

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

Stash Statement Blog Hop Kickoff!

Today is the kickoff day for the Stash Statement Blog Hop tour. Stash Statement is a new book from Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation, and I'm thrilled to be part of this blog hop!

I love the look of improv, but I'm afraid of doing it. As a former software engineer and current owner of a very mathematical brain, it is a challenge for me to improvise even under guidance. That is why I so welcome Kelly's approach which combines improv piecing and traditional piecing for one-of-a-kind quilts that caters to my need of order and structure but gives me a chance to experiment with improv. It's the best of both worlds!

My stop of the blog hop is on 5/7. Until then, here's a sneak peek of what I've been up to:

Below is the full schedule. It starts today with Grand Bazaar which is the stunning rainbow quilt on the cover of the book. I can't wait to see the versions these talented bloggers have made, and of course, I hope to see you back here on 5/7!

Stash Statement Blog Tour Schedule

Kickoff post:

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

4/16: Grand Bazaar

Shelley @ Cora's Quilts

Connie @ Freemotion by the River

4/26: Louvered

Lindsey @ Primrose Cottage Quilts

Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts

4/30: Precarious

Jess @ Quilty Habit

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts

5/7: Beach Retreat

Sarah @ Sarah Goer Quilts

Liz @ Savor Every Stitch (you're here!)

5/14: Fire Pit

Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts

Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts

5/21: Detour

Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Shelley @ The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts

5/28: Murrina

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl

Leanne @ Devoted Quilter

6/4: Scattered

Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal

Christine @ Triangles and Squares

6/11: Bloom Chicka Boom

Chris @ made by ChrissieD

Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

6/18: Regatta

Susan @ Quilt Fabrication

Debbie @ A Quilter's Table

Christa @ Christa Quilts

6/25: Catch a Falling Star

Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Anja @ Anja Quilts

7/2: College Prep

Hilary @ by Hilary Jordan

Lori @ Crossquilt

7/9: Take Flight (bonus digital pattern)

Kelli @ Seriously, I Think It Needs Stitches

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

L'Arc en Ciel

A special quilt deserves a special name, so it's no coincidence that I named this really special quilt after my favorite Japanese band. L'Arc en Ciel means The Rainbow in French, and it is a fitting name for this rainbow-themed scrappy Irish chain quilt from Melissa Corry's Irish Chain Quilts.

This quilt was made from leftover fabric. Well, almost. I didn't really have much in the way of low-volume scraps for the background and dug into my fat quarter stash for that, but the colored fabrics are all made from leftover strips pieced into crazy blocks. It was a lot of work, because I was making my own fabric essentially, but it was totally worth it when I saw the results at the end.

This quilt was slow to piece, but easy and enjoyable. I enjoyed all the different rainbow fabrics, and I particularly love the way the low-volume background looked. To make this quilt, I think I pretty much exhausted my almost-white prints, which means I need to replenish that.

When it comes to quilting, I had several ideas in mind. It ranges all the way from improv, to a more structured design. Ultimately, I chose structure because the piecing has enough improv in it. I quilted a secondary design in the background with diamonds lying beneath each chain cross. It's an easy, minimal marking design that also puts straight lines next to curvy fillers, which is my favorite way to employ contrast.

I had to resist the urge to quilt this as densely as I secretly wanted to. I usually like to quilt fillers at a super dense scale, but I just felt this quilt was busy enough that it didn't also warrant super dense quilting. So ... I used closer to a 3/8" scale, which was honestly a bit painful, but on the bright side, it means the quilt is slightly cuddlier.

This quilt has a sparkle to it because some of the fabrics I used has a metallic sheen. I adore it, and it's just perfect for brightening up those Chicago winter days! (Although, I don't think Chicago winters are all that dreary.) I toted this quilt all over the house, trying to find a good "stage" shot. I really think photography is the hardest part of being a quilt blogger!

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

Controlled Chaos

Originally, I planned to work on a scrappy single Irish Chain after hearing Melissa Corry speak at a quilt guild meeting. But as I was pulling out fabric, an even stronger urge seized me ... what I really wanted was to make the End of the Rainbow quilt on the cover of Melissa's book!

The cover quilt is easily my favorite quilt in the entire book. It is beautiful, interesting, and distinctively modern. I had the vague idea it must be improv somehow, but I didn't quite know what was involved. That is, until I read the instructions and realized that it's crazy piecing!

I've never done crazy piecing before, but I've watched a few videos. Since it's crazy piecing, there's really no wrong way to do it, but I knew that some ways will yield results that make me happier than others. I decided to go with a method that I call controlled chaos crazy piecing, taught by Elizabeth Hartman in Inspired Modern Quilts. (She didn't call it that, but it's my term for it.) Crazy piecing is a lot of work, and at the end of the day, I'm essentially creating my own unique fabric. But it is beyond beautiful! I can hardly believe I made these.

I'm so in love with these blocks that I don't want to cut them up! I have half a mind to frame them instead. But now that I know the technique, and how easy it is, it's no problem for me to make more, later! So I will cut these up and make End of the Rainbow, after all.

But I just got an idea. How good would crazy blocks look in a Mondrian style quilt? Now I must add that to my queue! If only there were more hours in the day ...