A Couple of Recent Finishes

 December was a month when I got little done but, I'm trying to make up for it.

Here are two quilts I finished so far this month.

The first is Rolling Waves (82" x 82"). The pattern is from a free, downloadable ebook available HERE. I used only two fabrics for the top (a difficult thing for this scrappy quilter!). The back is a patchwork cheater's cloth.

Rolling Waves (82" x 82")

Rolling Waves (backing and binding detail)

The quilt is hanging straight down from the fence, but the use of different sizes and shapes of blocks gives it the illusion of rolling waves. It is an easy pattern--all nine patches. The effect is achieved by their arrangement.

The second quilt is Hourglass Wreath (58" x 72") from MSQC. The tutorial is available HERE.

I used a Kaffe Fassett layer cake to make this one. I rarely buy precuts (other than fat quarters), but KF is an exception for me. I like getting lots of his different prints without having to buy yardage.

KF Hourglass Wreath (58" x 72")

KF Hourglass Wreath (backing and binding detail)

This is another beautiful, but easy pattern to make.

I'm not thrilled with mine--I think the black I chose for the background does not have enough contrast with some of the KF fabrics. I'll pay closer attention to that next time. I used every inch of the black, so I went with a paisley black for the binding. 

Right now, I'm working on a log cabin quilt. I've never made one before, and I'm enjoying it very much. I'd like to explore the pattern and variations more this year. Maybe I'll think of 2023 as my Log Cabin Year.

I'm afraid I have stalled on the BH mystery quilt--as I said earlier, December was quite the month! I'll get back to it later. I have the first clue completed.

Happy Quilting! 😸

Floral Trip Around the World

 I just love this pattern!

Floral Trip Around the World 90" x 100"

Floral Trip Around the World (back and binding detail)

I made this quilt once before with a travel theme. This time I used florals and a range of solid colors. It was another quilt that requires careful planning and organization, but it was fun to make!

I used a cheater fabric for the back to continue the floral idea, then I added a striped binding to finish. It is brighter than it looks in the photo--I took the photo on a cloudy day.

Happy Quilting!

Inspiration From Another Quilter

I Want To Do That!

As quilters, we often see pictures of lovely quilts and think, "I want to do that." That is exactly what happened to me when I saw this quilt:

My thanks to Jeanann S. for allowing me to use the picture of this beauty.

Click the photograaph to follow the link to Jeanann's original photograph.

Notice how the illusion of circles pop out of this quilt. I tried and tried to figure out why--looking at colors, values, arrangements, etc.--but I could never really determine the reason.

What to do? Make one of my own and see what happens!



If you look at the pattern for the blocks, it is essentially a shoo fly--a nine patch that includes corner HSTs.

Since I'm a stockpiler :), I had the elements on hand:

Each block needs four HSTs of matching fabrics and 5 squares of prints. I used 4.5" squares.

The pieces go together as any nine-patch, but pay attention to the orientation of the HSTs--they form a kind of frame for the block.

After sewing the blocks together, I looked eagerly for the circle illusion.

I couldn't see the circles at all until I took a photograph. They are there, but they don't jump out as much as those in the original. It could be because my squares are a different size, or it could be something completely separate from the quilt itself--lighting or photographic quality, for instance.

As Jeanann did in her original, I added a border that finished up the quarter-square triangle pieces at the edges--I think the quilt looks more complete that way.




I like the quilt, even though I didn't get the result I was looking for. I like the strong colors in contrast to the white.

 
I used a "cheater cloth" (pre-printed quilt fabric) as a backing. This way, both sides are pretty!

Many thanks to Jeanann S. for the inspiration and for the permission to use her photograph. Next time you see a picture of a quilt and have the "I want to do that" thought, give it a try!