Wednesday, October 26, 2011

evolution of a quilt top

Here's a little rundown on how this community quilt top came to be....
I started with several blue scraps (thanks to Heather!) and cut several 4.5" squares with my Go! baby while talking to a very good friend on the phone. (I love multitasking!) The go cutter made quick work of the task. Plus, it was easy to do while I was on the phone. :)

My friends and I sewed the blocks together into 4 patches at the beginning quilting class I taught last month.
I had enough blue scraps to make 26 blocks. But how to lay them out to get a decent size quilt? I mulled it over for several days. At this point I also started thinking about what I could use for the back of the quilt.
One night while I was NOT sleeping, I remembered I had this fabric, which would work great for the back. It came from my neighbor, Mary. It was leftover from her son's school project and it ended up in my stash. Who am I to turn away awesome fabric? 
The backing choice inspired the addition of a few green blocks. These fabrics came from my stash. I'm so glad I added the green, the quilt would have been very flat without it.
I decided to use my fair and square pattern, so I trimmed all 33 blocks down to 6.5" square.
I did a quick layout on my floor, then added some gray sashing. (The color is ash from connecting threads. Best gray ever!)
Here's the finished quilt top! I wasn't sure I was going to like it before I sewed it together, but now I am pleased as punch! My son just told me that it looked kinda weird and kinda cool. Ha! Good to know! :)
So there you have a slightly scary look at the inner working of my brain and how a quilt comes together. :) Lots of using what I have, using what others share with me, and bits of inspiration during sleepless nights. That about sums it up!

51 comments:

Theresa said...

Sometimes when I'm not sleeping (which is a lot!) I tell myself to think about happy things and that instantly turns my mind to quilts and fabric. Love the evolution story!

Karen said...

I too am totally in love with that ash! Totally best ever...great quilt!

Brenda said...

Love your blogs!! Love your quilts!! Love "watching" you mind work!! Thanks for all the inspiration, ideas and blogs.

Kelli said...

Cool quilt, but even cooler to see how you got there. Thanks for sharing!

MamaDaniel said...

cantik... (beautiful)

Renae said...

Working on the fly isn't such a bad thing. And many times it ends up better than the original plan.

I like it!

Anonymous said...

I love it. I think it looks great.

Denise :) said...

Yeah -- I think it looks great, too! I really like the pops of green. Good addition! :)

Mary-Frances said...

I love blue and green together, looks awesome. Thanks for including us in the process.

Let Barb Do It said...

Good color combo-much more fun to think as we go, anyway

eva said...

you always amaze me!!!
xo
eva

Tara said...

I love the addition of green! It's awesome!

Christine L said...

Fabulous! Love the colors and the Green really did set it off! Thanks for the inspiration!

Soile Kivinen said...

What a clever quilt again, I love the color combination.

Flo @ Butterfly Quilting said...

Great quilt! And I love the colors.
And now you have all those little bits that you trimmed off to sew back together for a new creation! LOL!

Denice said...

Love that you cute the 4 patch down. Now I'm wondering what you will do with those scraps? :)

Franziska said...

I like the quilt top very much. I often have problems with a similar pattern (at least for me, I mean the disappearing 9 patch pattern) as it often creates a pattern that has a historical background that we don't like over here. But I like this simple version very much and it may be something for me. Thanks for sharing.
Blue and green and grey: my favorite colour combination. :)

Lisa said...

Very nice, the green definately gave it some texture. I noticed that those look like what you get when cutting disappearing nine patch blocks.... might be faster in the future! Just a thought, I love this!

Cille said...

It's a very simple and yet very distintive quilt. I really like it. What a great way to use scraps. Love the new take on dissapearing 9 patch. Its traditional in a modern wrapping.

Timi said...

I love this quilt ♥! My favorite color is blue...:o)

sonia said...

It's amazing seeing how creativity works, Love your work and how you explain it. Thanks for sharing this insight!

Melissa said...

This pattern is GREAT! I love it :)

Josie McRazie said...

I think one of the things I like best about this quilt (from a new quilter) it does not have lots of corners to match up and it looks great! Plus it will look good in SOOOOO many different colour pallets! Boy/girl/ big/little! Thanks for sharing!!

susan said...

LOVE this!!

Janine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
randi--i have to say said...

very nice! i do like the addition of the green. :)

Brenda Kay said...

What a great quilt and I love how you shared your planning. I do much the same at times when I am working with what is on hand.

Di~ said...

Why is everything you do so stinkin' awesome! I keep thinking about your quilt retreat and have talked to my daughter and sister in law (again) about going to it..."for sure next year!" No pressure...but yeah, we're planning...I've checked airline prices to Denver...:)

Helby said...

Beautiful! I'm about to finish a 9-square block quilt. Doing something like this would've made it a little more fun. Why couldn't you have posted this a few weeks ago! :o)

Julie S said...

Excellent! Thanks for sharing your thought process; I am fascinated with and inspired by the inner workings of quilt designer's creative mind.

Stacy Lindblom said...

Very creative! I love this quilt!

Becky said...

The green and blue is so pretty! I think it turned out great!

Jessica Christensen said...

Yup, I like it with the green. That makes it more visually interesting.

Jessica Christensen said...

Yup, I like it with the green. That makes it more visually interesting.

quirky granola girl said...

thanks for the peek into your squishy brains....is that too halloween spooky for you? i've gotta get psyched up to work on a costume.

Sarah Craig said...

Great quilt, and a really nice variation on your Fair and Square pattern!! This one goes on the bucket list....

April (Polkadot Sparrow) said...

Thank you for sharing how your mind works. Now I don't feel so strange when a quilt idea is quite different from the finished product. I'm in good company. ha.

speattle said...

So, what happens to the bits you trimmed off?

Sonja Threadgill Nelson said...

looks great!

Ayana said...

i like it, so agree with the craving for texture and hand drawn art ...

Amy Sp said...

Nice! I thought they were disappearing nine-patch blocks, but I guess I was wrong. :)

Live a Colorful Life said...

I love the way your mind works!

Anita D. said...

I too like the blue and green together.

Anonymous said...

I will just say that, your blog is wonderful for people like me. I am a beginner sewer, and always have lots of questions.Your blog answers some of my questions. Thank You

Lil Miss Red T-Shirt said...

Cool!

Shari said...

I would never have thought this started life as a four patch - it looks like a disappearing nine patch. What a great setting for the blocks. And if it's both weird and cool - you've got it made.

Jen said...

I love the color combination and the simplicity in this quilt. I also thought that instead of having scraps from cutting down the larger 4-square block that you could use the disappearing 9-patch method, thus leaving you with 4 usable blocks and no scraps per se.

Thanks for sharing your quilt with us!

goletagirlwendy said...

I wish my mind would operate like yours. Thank you for sharing.

Valerie said...

The Quilter's Candy in "Ash" is 40% right now at Connecting Threads. That's less than $3/yard! Eek!

jyoti26 said...

you have got such a good imagination power.Its a unique creativity. i'm definately going to try this during my php training in Chandigarh

Leah said...

Love this... what a great idea. colours are great together.