The VT Quilt is Finished!

It is done. 

The Breakdown:

*100% Cotton batiks

*Combination of oranges and maroons (VT colors)

*Square blocks made from 6 strip rails

*Blocks were cut using a square ruler turned 45 degrees so that the corners line up between the 3rd and 4th strip

*Blocks were pieced to make a diamond effect

*Backing is maroon with orange and green leaves with gold outline

*Quilted with variegated orange, gold, and maroon thread on top and maroon on the bottom

*Quilting design is 4 petal flowers that echo 3 times with curved lines connecting the flowers

*Binding is the same as the backing

If you haven't been following my blog for this entire project you can check out my older posts for more information:

Making the rails and blocks
Arranging the blocks
Quilt top
Basting and quilting
Finished quilting and trimming
Binding

If you want to make make a quilt like this you will need around 60-72 strips measuring 2.5"x45" (jelly roll size). The actual width of your strip may vary a bit but you want to use the full width of the fabric from selvage to selvage, whatever that may be. Combine a random assortment of 6 strips sewn together on their longest side to create your "rail".

When I first tried this technique (sewing long strips together) with Alissa's Cuddle Nursing Cover my rails started to curve which was really frustrating. I originally planned to do a quilt of all strips but I had to scrap that plan and do a split rail fence instead. I have found the best way to avoid this happening is to alternate the direction I sew the strips together. I think the best way to explain this is a video demonstration so I will try to do that soon. If you have questions in the meantime please send me a message or leave a comment and I will try to explain better.

The number of rails you need may vary a little because you will sometimes get 4 blocks per strips and sometimes only get 3. Press all of the seams flat in 1 direction. I used a combination of a jelly roll for continuity and fabrics from my stash for variance. That may sound strange but adding a few coordinating fabrics outside of a fabric line really adds interest to the quilt.

Cut your blocks using an 8" square ruler (go back to that linked post and check out my illustration). You need 35 blocks to follow my quilt exactly but this will change depending on what size block you use and the size you want your finished quilt to be. I used a square ruler rather than trying to use a straight edge because there's less room for error. As always, be VERY careful not to get your fingers caught in your rotary cutter. I always double and triple check that my ruler hasn't moved as I am cutting.

Arrange your blocks so that they make a diamond design. Don't worry if your seams don't line up perfectly. It is inevitable but that's ok! Do try and keep as straight a 1/4" seam allowance as possible but don't stress out too much. The success of this quilt is not dependent on your ability to do this perfectly. You will sew 7 rows 5 blocks across. Make a quilt sandwich by basting the backing layer, batting, and top together (I use safety pins), quilt, bind, and you'll have yourself a quilt!

Variations:

• Honestly I think this quilt would look better if it was symmetrical but that's just me. To achieve symmetry with this pattern you would need an even number of rows and columns. I wanted to make this a lap quilt that could be draped over a chair or folded on the back of a couch for snuggling. A 4 column 6 row quilt was too small with my size block and a 6 column 8 row quilt was too big for my size block. Adjust the size of the block, add borders to the outside, or adjust the overall size of the quilt if you want symmetry. 
• You could arrange the blocks in groupings of 4 with some sashing between each grouping
• You could mix in some large blocks cut from one piece of fabric
• You could use smaller strips (you will use more of them for each rail). I didn't have any problem using strips as small as 1" for Maura's Strata Blocks quilt but if you are having trouble with this, you might want to consider paper piecing. Film in the fridge has a great tutorial for using smaller scraps of fabric to achieve a similar look.
• You could use larger strips (you will use less of them for each rail)

Here are some pictures of the VT Quilt for your enjoyment. I put every ounce of love and friendship I feel for my friend and her family into this quilt. My hope is that the lucky silent auction bidder enjoys using it as much as I have enjoyed making it and sharing it with you. 

You can't really tell from that first picture but I added my initials and the year to the bottom left corner (very poorly I might add). I'm still debating on whether or not to add a label to the back. What do you think?

I'd love to see your version of what I am calling "Strata Diamonds"! Join the Flickr group and upload your own photos. 


Happy Quilting!

ps- My block cutting technique does leave you with a pile of scraps. For Mark's strata diamond quilt I used these scraps to create a border. I am going to use the VT Quilt scraps for something else but I haven't decided what that something is yet. Any ideas? 

UPDATE: The VT quilt was very popular at the silent auction! The quilt sold for $150. I hope the new owners love it!

I Do - Part 2

I wanted to do something very special for Matt to give him as a wedding gift. Of all of the things I could think of, the thing that stood out the most was a quilt. The only other person who has ever made him a quilt is his mom and quilts hold a special significance in his family. Ann makes quilts for her loved ones as gifts to honor their completion of major life events like confirmation, graduation, and of course marriage. I love this about Ann and I plan to do the same for our children some day. I came across a modern pattern called "I Do" by Cherry House Quilts. It really stood out to me as something that I would love to snuggle up in or hang from a wall while still having marriage significance.

The pattern calls for a mixture of vibrant florals and geometrics matched with classic solids. I liked the distribution of color and pattern in the sample quilt on pattern instructions so I tried selecting fabrics similar. I did make one change that I think really keeps the quilt in line with my style: I used vibrant floral and geometric batiks instead of prints.

I am a big fan of ordering fabric online but when I received my fabrics for this quilt I was a little disappointed. Everything was so much BRIGHTER and bolder than it looked on my computer screen and when arranged my solids and batiks together....well, no offense to rainbows but it looked like a rainbow. I kept the fabrics together for a bit and just let my brain get used to them. Eventually I decided that I would arrange the fabrics so that they weren't in order of the colors in the rainbow. It would still be bright, but not Rainbow Bright.

I sewed the "i"s together long ago but I am finally getting around to adding borders. Now that I am looking at it I realize that I originally intended to do things a little differently but it still looks ok. I think I originally wanted to add another black border between the blue border and the pink and purple border. The fabric is cut so there's not much I can do now...so here goes:

What do you think? Should I take the pink and purple border off and add a black on? I have just a little extra fabric so I could probably make it work. This is what it would look like with the additional black border and a black binding:

Loves Pink - Part 2

In my last post I talked about the initial stages of making my sister Leslie’s quilt. What I failed to stress is how important a role my future mother-in-law was in the success of my quilt. Without her patient instruction and enthused encouragement I would not have been able to start or finish my project. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Ann!

Picking out the fabric didn’t end with my search online. I realized that I wanted to have many different color pinks, many different patterns, and that it would be impossible for me to do so by buying online. Often websites have a minimum of ½ or 1 yard per cut of fabric. While this is great for some projects, it was not what I needed for my sister’s quilt since I wanted a lot of variety but only needed a few 4x4 squares of each one. Sure, I could have bought a bunch of different fabrics online but I would have ended up with yards and yards of extra fabric. Here's roughly the look I was going for with as many different patterns as possible:

Thankfully Ann was more than willing to let me look through her stash. Wow! What a stash! I found some perfect additions to my growing pile of fabrics for Leslie’s quilt from her bag of pinks and reds. I didn’t use any of the reds but I thought this was a clever way to organize fabrics. One of these days I’ll post about fabric organization…We also checked out the local JoAnn Fabrics store and I found a few fabrics off the bolt and a few pre-cut fat quarters.

I finally had the right variety of patterns and colors to begin cutting and piecing my blocks together. You may be wondering how I selected my fabrics. I guess you could say that I’ve always had an eye for what looks good together. I attribute this to a natural ability to analyze the following key elements:

(Key Element - how I used the element in Leslie's quilt)
Color - pinks ranging in color from more red to more purple, black, white
Saturation - pure black, pure white, intense/bright pinks mixed in with a couple more subdued pinks
Contrast - high contrast between the 3 colors
Texture - all cotton quilting weight fabrics
Cut - fits within the 4x4 block (nothing too big)
Pattern - all of the fabrics except for the pink used for the border and lattice had some sort of pattern

I will save the details for each of these elements for future posts. Check out my next post about the lessons I learned as I made Leslie’s quilt!

Loves Pink - Part 1

My sister LOVES pink. I mean really loves it. If we are out shopping and she has the option to get something in pink, she will pick pink almost every time. Of course, she looks great in everything she puts on (so jealous!) but she truly lights up when she's wearing pink.

In honor of her unconditional love and in recognition of her strength and perseverance through a very difficult time in her life I decided to make her a quilt. It is something that I had wanted to do for a long time and I finally had inspiration!

I've always wondered if it’s better to select fabrics first or select a pattern first. The truth is, I don't know but I've done it both ways. Do any of you quilters/sewers out there have this problem? What do you do? For me, I think it's just important that I feel inspired by one or the other. For Leslie's quilt I selected the pattern first: a simple 9 patch made from 3.5x3.5" squares with 2" lattice in between my blocks and a 2" border (add 1/2" to these measurements for seam allowance if you want to try this yourself). Ann had just finished a quilt very similar to this and I liked the way it turned out. I really didn't have a pattern for my design as in a set of instructions and pictures but I was able to guesstimate the fabric I needed with a lot of help from Ann and by using a 45x60 sized batting as a guide.  I don't recommend "going solo" for beginners but I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like in my head and just decided to go for it.

I started my fabric hunt by browsing online and discovered some websites that are now favorites. Hancocks of Paducah and Fabric Depot both have a nice variety of fabric choices and very reasonable prices. They both carry some of my favorite lines and I have shopped at both many times. When selecting fabric, I try to keep in mind how the textures, patterns, and colors are going to look together. In my sister's quilt, I knew I wanted something fresh, modern, and lively with a lot of variations of pink.

Overall I think the quilt came out really well but it was definitely a challenge for me. In the next series of posts I’ll share some lessons I learned that will hopefully help others not make the same mistakes!