THIS is Why I Quilt

I sent "String Crossroads" to my granddaughter. This was the first quilt I designed from scratch, and I wanted her to have it to remember me (not that I'm going anywhere for a LONGLONGLONG time!) .

She loved looking at all the different fabrics that I included. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree--I remember spending hours looking at my maternal grandmother's and great-grandmother's quilts wondering "Who wore this fabric?" or "Where did this material come from?" Their work was an inspiration to me, though I didn't quite realize it at the time.

We never know what people will remember about us in years to come. I hope people remember about me, "She was a kind person, and she was a quilter."

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.

Dashing

The layout for this quilt was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's "Random Ohio Stars." When I was making that quilt, I loved the layout and thought it would work well with other blocks. The chosen block would need to be easily done in two sizes (one half the size of the other), and it would need to rely heavily on contrast for effect. Churn Dash was my first choice.


Here is my "Dashing" experiment.

Dashing--75' x 88"

Two borders--a blue and a floral

A few more blocks--there is a bend in the quilt; I promise the blocks aren't wonky!

Tye-dye type backing

The backing leads me to a lesson I learned from this quilt--never assume WoF! The tye-dye was much narrower than I expected, and at the last minute, I had to add a strip to the bottom to make it long enough. Whew!



I'd like to try this with other blocks--there is something about this asymmetrical layout that really appeals to me.



I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge and  Fiber Tuesday 66 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

String Crossroads

I designed a quilt.

I always feel presumptuous when I think or say that, since this quilt is made of very traditional elements. However, I looked around online for quite a while, and I didn't see another just like it, so there it is--I designed a quilt.

This quilt takes elements of the traditional Arkansas Crossroads and combines it with my love of string blocks.

As you can see, I replaced the sixteen patch blocks with string blocks arranged in an X to mimic the shape in the crossroads blocks.


Here are some closer pictures (and you can see that I couldn't refrain from sticking in some fun fabrics!).

Chickens!

A jungle face and a hint of the Cardinals MLB fabric

A red onion (doesn't everyone need a quilt with an onion on it?)

Elephants (at least parts of them)

Another jungle face

I backed it with a beige and brown print, and I quilted it with an all-over meander. A bright red binding finished it off. The size is 82" x 98" (and it was a wrestling match to quilt one that large on my DSM [Domestic Sewing Machine]), but it was worth it to be able to say I did it all--from design to piecing to quilting to binding myself!

I'm hoping to write a pattern for this, but I've never done that before! We'll see how it turns out. I'll offer it for free here on the blog when/if I get it together.

Yes, I designed a quilt!


I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge and Fiber Tuesday 65 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Old Tobacco Road--Completed

I finished my version of Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road, and I love it!


I wrote about beginning this quilt HERE, and I posted a progress report HERE.


I made a few changes to the design--using some constant fabrics, changing the border, etc.--but it is very much like the one I fell in love with on Bonnie's blog.

Old Tobacco Road

Old Tobacco Road (border detail)

Backed with flannel

You may remember this photograph of a tobacco field from my earlier post. Bonnie had posted it with these quilt instructions, and I tried to pay close attention to it when choosing colors for my four-patch blocks.

Tobacco field photo for color inspiration

Old Tobacco Road (detail)

Thanks to Bonnie Hunter for the free pattern. It can be found here: Old Tobacco Road. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list--it was a mystery quilt.)


This was a fun project--I had a great time making it.


I will be linking to Jo's Country Junction for her UFO Challenge and Fiber Tuesday 64 at The Quilting Room with Mel .

Finished Mystery Quilt

I finished the quilt I wrote about HERE. 


As I mentioned, I chose these colors and low-contrast fabrics because I am going to donate this quilt, and I realize not everyone shares my tastes.

Overall, the quilt looks very pale to me. My husband said it looks "old-timey."


The stars are pretty up close, though my yellow is so light that it almost can't be distinguished from the neutral.

 I put my extra blocks (I ALWAYS have extra blocks!) on the back. The backing fabric is also a very pale yellow.

Though I may not love the colors, it was, all in all, a successful mystery--thanks Judy!



And here is my helper looking at me this morning as if to say, "You want to put the quilt here? I thought all the extra room was for ME!" :)

Happy sewing!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 63 at The Quilting Room with Mel.