Monday, March 23, 2009

all zipped up

Can I just say that I'm happy that spring break is over? I am so ready to get back into a routine. I had a nap before lunch today since "vacation" really took it's toll on me. Oh, and that bathroom remodel didn't help, either. It's still a work in progress. My son (who is 6) predicts that it will take 19 months. I hope he is wrong. He had better be wrong.
-----
Now, let's talk quilts, shall we? This quilt is my 10th finish of the year. (!!!!)

Diane from Bee Square Fabrics asked me to design a quilt that would feature some of the gorgeous fabrics that she has in her shop. (She was so very fabulous to work with!!) This is what I came up with.

It is a zig zag quilt, but....BUT, it's made without piecing a single triangle. How nifty is that?

I used some of the leftover pieces of fabric from the front to add a strip of patchwork to the back. It's a little busy, but it made the backing just a bit wider than a normal width of fabric, which was just what I was after. How great is that elephant fabric? I LOVE it. And I love a pieced back, but you all already know that. :)

I used some awesome Jay McCarroll fabric for the binding. I love the little ants in it. (My kids do, too.) And the color. Mmm. Aqua!

I stippled the quilt (of course) in grey thread.

It measures about 46" x 61".

I LOVE this quilt. I have been wanting to make a zig zag quilt forever, and I am very happy with the results. This color scheme is one of my favorites these days.

There is a tutorial on how to make the quilt here.
And the fabric info (should you be wondering the specifics) is listed in this post.
-------------
edited to add:
Bee Square Fabrics currently has a promotion for 20% off the Jay McCarroll fabric. Please enter code "20offJay" during checkout. It is good until March 31st.

87 comments:

Unknown said...

Very cute! I'm off to see how you make it without piecing a triangle. . . love those fabrics in there :)

our shabby cottage said...

It looks wonderful and to think there are no triangles in it. i'm off to check out the tutorial now....

WoolenSails said...

Oh, I like how that is made up and no triangles.
I have been wanting to do a zig zag, maybe now I will try one.

Debbie

Tara said...

awesome tutorial! your blog is so inspiring!

nettie said...

saw your tutorial on bee square blog this morning and thought how genius this is!!! i'll have to give this method a try. Love the colors, and fabrics, and will have to get me some of that jay mccarroll fabric!

Michaela said...

Oh, you are so amazing! Great tutorial! How smart a beautiful zig zag without the triangles pain. Thank you so much!

Becky J. said...

love the zigzag...and no triangles. that's what i'm talk'n about.

Ella said...

I simply love about everything you do on this blog you really are a crazy quilter ,I can't get over how many you get done and not just quilting but other things WOW, I'm am in awe of you! Fabulous job love following your blog it inspires me so. But I think you must have a time machine stashed away or you don't sleep or maybe some magic wand!

Alissa said...

I LOVE this quilt! And no triangles?!? Paradise! It's making me think that I might make another zig zag quilt one day!

And ten quilts. WOW. Amazing!

3Ms +1N said...

I've been eyeing that elephant fabric for a quilt for my son- how great to see it being used. Great job on the quilt- I really like the color scheme.

Mandalin said...

oh yes, yes, yes! That's it, that's my next quilt. I recently saw Anna Maria Horner's zig zag, and also Kaffe Fassett's in his book Quilt Road. Loved them both so much, although I didn't immediately warm to the triangles. But now you've shown me another way. YIPEEE.

Hannah said...

I've been wanting to do a zig-zag quilt, but really don't care for triangles. I have just the fabric for this!

Dawn W said...

What a great way to create zig zags without little triangles! Love the colors!

Anonymous said...

OK,. that is just awesome. I love the no-triangle piecing!

Kristi said...

Great to have you back blogging again. Love this brilliant approach to the zig zag quilt. Unfortunately I finished a zig zag top with (ugh) triangles last night.

dutchcomfort said...

Another awesome quilt!!

Thanks for the no-triangle piecing tutorial.

Marie' said...

Welcome back!
I went over to check out the tutorial. That was unexpected, and very cool.

I am swamped making a HUGE petty coat for my daughter's easter dress. I will be back quilting soon... hopefully.

Wanda said...

your 10th finish this year?! Wow. Respect. I like it alot. It's got som much subtle texture.

Teodo said...

Very cte and thanks for the tutorial.
I like it very much.
ciao ciao

Unknown said...

I saw it on Bee Square... Fantastic Tutorial! Lovely quilt!

The Wooly Wumpus said...

Brilliant! I love it! Thanks for another great tutorial, AmandaJean. You just helped me determine my next project!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Very pretty. I have done a zig zag quilt but quite some time ago. I also just printed out the gorgeous one Anna Maria Horner has on her blog using her Good Folks fabrics. Lots of zig zag goodness. I just need more time in the day.

The Calico Cat said...

Thanks so much for sharing that pattern! (I heart the dark grey, too.)

Anonymous said...

I love your quilts. How long does it take you to complete a quilt like this?

Natalie said...

I love this quilt! Then I checked out your tutorial...and oh yeah! I LOVE this quilt! You are a genius! Amazing! Great Job...I am putting it on my list of quilts to make this year! Thanks

Anonymous said...

How clever is that?? You are ready for the big time Amanda - if you are interested that is. I bet you could bring in some extra cash with your designs and inspirations. Seeing what you younger gals comes up with makes me want to redo my home in white & anything else. Aqua - pink - orange. . .

Sunshine said...

What a great mood this quilt conveys! It makes me feel really calm, for some reason, and reminds me of being underwater, diving or something. Gorgeous colour choice and great pattern! I've been looking at zigzag quilts on other blogs and tried to make out the pattern, i.e. whether they used rectangles or triangles, but I hadn't figured out how to easily piece the rectangles like you show in the tutorial (those are always awesome, by the way!)
Cheers,
Christine

http://cuttingedgequilt.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

you are so clever. Love the pattern and colours.

oh I am sure your bathroom remodel will be quicker than 19 months :)
Good luck. I bet it looks good.

Anonymous said...

I love the close up pictures of your quilt, you can see all the crinkly goodness! I didn't know it was your 10th finish of the year - and it's not even April!

I wanted to share with your blog readers that I currently have a promotion for 20% off the Jay McCarroll fabric.

Please enter code "20offJay" during checkout. It is good until March 31st.

It was wonderful working with you, and I hope we can collaborate more.

:) Diane

Anonymous said...

Nice to see you back! Fantastic quilt. Can't wait to read the tutorial to see how to avoid the triangles!!

Tina Craig said...

LOVE the zig zag without triangles! Brilliant!

Amanda Jean said...

anonymous,

it took me about 5 hours (or so) to piece the top of this particular quilt.

aj

Ashley said...

Lovely quilt - great colors and patterned fabrics! I saw it over on Diane's blog - I love your technique, and I'm definitely going to give it a try next time I make a zig zag quilt! Thanks!

MichelleB said...

Love it! I've been wanting to make a triangle quilt, too. I just might give this method a go. I love the Jay McCarroll fabric. I hope to get a quilt made with it one of these days.

V and Co. said...

i love it! you are so talented!!!

Thimbleanna said...

Very, very cool Amandajean! I love zigzags -- thanks for the tutorial -- I'd thought of different ways to do a zigzag with out triangles, but your way is new-to-me!

yogatofu said...

I am just quilting up my first flea market quilt from your directions. I LOVE it! But....my needle has broken three times. I've cleaned the machine, checked (and fixed the tension), rethreaded the machine, changed the bobbin. I'm wondering...I a using Coats and Clark thread because I had some that matched but don't usually use that brand of thread. Could it be part of the problem? It's not as nice quality, but how much does that matter? I have a new Pfaff 2038 - love this machine! I put in a new needle just two days ago.

Any ideas why the thread is breaking?

y.t.

Anonymous said...

beautiful! i love the colors!

Sarah Pead said...

I love how it's a zig-zag quilt w/o triangles! So did you just use rectangles and piece them short side to long side?

Jessica said...

Brilliant!! I love it! I've always wanted to do a zig zag and HST really don't bother me, but I think I'll do it your way just because, well, if there is an "unconventional" way to do something that's usually the route I go!!
However, I won't be piecing anything in the foreseeable future. Just cutting. New puppy chewed through the cord to my foot pedal and hubby won't get a chance to fix it for a week or two. Guess I should maybe clean or something???? HA!!

Cheryl Arkison said...

I need to send a friend to that tutorial. What a great way to do it. Now, what's the plan for the scraps?

cnydalynn said...

Girl you are a genius. I am working on a zig zag quilt now and piecing the triangles... well it is taking me a long time because I am getting impatient. Thanks for this awesome tutorial.

Dresden Quilter said...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have been wanting to make a zig zag quilt for years. I already had strips cut out for a rail fence baby quilt, but now I am going to do this instead. You are wonderful.

Amanda Jean said...

yogatofu,

i am not sure why your needle would be breaking. you might want to try different thread (on a test piece) and see if that helps. if it doesn't, you may want to consider a tune up for your machine. good luck! i know how frustrating that can be.

aj

Heather said...

This is beautiful, and looks easy enough for me. I can't believe you are at 10 for the year so far. I spend too much time on the internet to quilt, maybe that's why I'm only at 2 finished and 2 in the process.

Amanda Jean said...

sarah,

yes, i did just piece the rectangles short side to long side. i also set those blocks on point.

aj

Betsy said...

Oh my gosh! I love this. Can't wait to try it!

heather said...

Oh I just LOVE it!!! I can't wait to go on mine!! I need to have patience so that I could have got a discount on my fabrics. I don't have any do I?:) LOOKS FABULOUS!!! I really like the colors!!

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful. Love it. Can't wait to make it. I bookmarked the tutorial. Thanks.

Tammy in Ontario, Canada said...

I love the idea of doing this without the triangles. Oh...and the ants are very cute.

Mel G said...

Oh girl, you just rock. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! I went to see the tutorial.. It's a great one! Thank you!

Jessica Christensen said...

So, so cute. I need to do one of these, since I have so many girly quilts and so many sons. Not a good match. Love the elephants.

Renee said...

The colours and zig zag are fantastsic! LOVE! :)

Anita D. said...

Nice.
I know one little boy who'd love the elephants and the ants. Just because everything that moves becomes the topic of much conversation these days.

What did you end up doing last week?

Dandelion Quilts said...

STUNNING! You are so creative.

Dionne said...

Nice finish! Funny, but I've been looking for that fabric everywhere. And now, it's on sale. It's meant to be!
Cheers,
Dionne

yogatofu said...

Thanks, AJ. I just went and bought better thread so we'll see how that goes! On another topic - I made the quilt that you have up on Moda's Bake Shop and gave it to a mom-to-be this weekend. It was a total hit! And the pattern was so easy and very satisfying. Thanks for all of your tutorials. They must be very labor intensive to write but we love them!

y.t.

Leslie said...

i love it....i just bought a stack of Neptune fabric and wanted to make a zig zag quilt with it...this is a awesome tutorial.

Anonymous said...

That's honestly brilliant!

Clair said...

P. needs to learn more about time estimation. :)

Shanna said...

OOHHH!! I cannot wait to try that out! I love the look but all those triangles..ugh. Thank you so much for sharing this. You did an amazing job!

Anonymous said...

A nap before lunch?! Oh how I wish I was a stay-at-home mom! Not to mention getting to sew during the day too! Jealous!

Lina said...

Genious! Love that!

Unknown said...

Love the quilt as usual. Yes after our spring break here in canada, and it seemed that spring was here for the holiday, it's nice to get back to routines. However, my mind just isn't there yet...maybe tomorrow.
I hate redoing bathrooms, never enough space, too many things in there!

Rebekah said...

love love love this pattern and this quilt! After piecing a triangle top, I am so appreciative of the no triangles aspect of this pattern. I think this is going to have to be my next quilt pattern

Staci K. said...

I just checked out the tutorial - THANK YOU! I have been wanting to try to do a zig-zag quilt but I don't like working with triangles. This is PERFECT!!

em's scrapbag said...

Love your sweet zig zag quilt.

house on hill road said...

adorable! i love the idea of piecing rectangles. you smart cookie!

erica said...

This is beautiful! I love the colors!

Ryan said...

I think this is one of my favorite quilts that you've made. I love the colors and fabrics

Adina said...

Amandajean, this is genial!!! I've been wanting to do a zig zag quilt but I'm burnt out from dealing with triangles so I've put it on the back burner for sometime now!
This is so clever. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Unknown said...

A beautiful quilt and an excellent tutorial! Love the fabrics too. What did you use for the gray fabric?

LOVE the ants!

Your bathroom should NOT take that long.......or at least I will hope that for you!!

sulu-design said...

Um, have I mentioned that I love this quilt? I thought so... just checking.

Amanda Jean said...

jane,

i used a grey solid from JoAnn's.

aj

Anonymous said...

Did I say how much I love this quilt yet? Love the color combination and how well it works with the quilt pattern. Just great!

lera said...

WOW! What a great quilt.

I can't believe that's #10 for the year. That's amazing.

pratima said...

Wow, this is amazing!! I love the colors so much. Thank you for the awesome tutorial :)

Tamara said...

Beautiful! Your color choices were awesome. I love how it looks so grown up but then you look closer and see all of the whimsical details. Thanks for posting the tutorial too - I'm going to give it a shot!

mames said...

wow. after reading the tutorial i think i might be able to do this one! what a lovely result. now, just have to buy 9 half yards somewhere. tee hee.

Vivian said...

Just catching up on my blog reading and saw this and went immediately over to the tutorial. You are a GENIUS! Of course this has to go on my easy-quilt-must-do list!

Your quilts and designs never cease to amaze me. Thanks for even more inspiration!

Dorothee said...

Just read your tutorial. You ROCK, your tutorials too ... but then, we already knew that ;-)

I will follow it this coming Friday when I celebrate my 40th birthday - no less - with a day-time quilting session!

Jeannine said...

Hi Amanda Jean... I am using your zig zag piecing method to make a quilt out of all "recycled" linens. If you get a minute, jump over to my blog and check it out. I'm not quite sold on it yet and would love your feedback. I so love EVERYTHING you make!!

Lollybags said...

I finally made one of these!! Thank you so much for the tutorial.
Keep up the great work1

Princess and the Pea said...

Oh I love this! The colours are just my cup of tea and really lend themselves to the zigzag design. Just beautiful. I'm really glad I've found your blog, I've been looking for inspiration for a load of fabrics I've got waiting to be cut and I've certainly found it here.

Heyyo Momma said...

I know that this quilt/post is from a long time ago but I wanted to let you know that I love the tutorial. I just finished up my first zig zag quilt for a friends new baby. I love it and plan to make one each for my son and daughter some time in the future.

Here is a link to a picture of my zig zag quilt http://heyyo-momma.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-have-been-behind.html along with another quilt that I made for my son.

Anonymous said...

If you make the bottom row with one row made with 2 3inch wide strips and the second one with a 3-inch wide print and a 6 inch wide sold, you can get the same effect at the bottom of the quilt as at the top...