Friday, February 15, 2013

Harder than you think...


Remember the first time you went in to a quilt shop to "pull" a quilt?  I suspect most of us go in with one idea and come out with a completely different palette.
That is the case with this quilt top.  My-niece-the-athlete asked me to make her a batik quilt.  Seems easy enough to say yes to that.  But I had a few stipulations, knowing this young woman as I do.  SHE had to pick the fabrics.  SHE had to pick the pattern.  SHE had to lay out the blocks when they were done.  And, SHE will have to choose which quilting pattern SHE wants before this goes on the long arm during my next trip to Chicago. To say she is a woman with strong preferences would be a slight understatement (wouldn't it, doll, if you are reading this?).
Prior to starting the decision making process, she had been drawn to all the bright and geometric quilts I've made -- particularly those with white sashing and small blocks.  She spent hours and hours looking at jelly rolls in batiks, various color palettes and slowly began to narrow down her preferences.
That's so easy until you walk into a quilt store with about 200-300 bolts of batiks and everything flies out the window.  I had taken Cozy Modern Quilts by Kim Schaeffer since we obviously needed to know what the pattern was before we could go any farther. Her book has a lot of very geometric and striking designs and the minute my-niece-the-athlete saw this pattern, one decision was made.
Now the fabric.  That process took a little longer -- like hours longer.  She pulled bolts, we looked at bolts, we added, we took away, we closed our eyes, we opened our eyes, we added more, we took away more, we talked to other quilters in the store and ultimately -- SHE decided on the fabrics and the sashing.  And we were done.  At least with that part.
She did a fabulous job.  I went into the store thinking I was going to be working on a "knock-your-eyes-out" bright quilt.  I left the store with beautiful, soft, calming fabrics that have created a very different feel when they have all been put together.

There is a LOT of sewing in this quilt.  The 90 blocks each have 21 pieces in them (sashing finishes at 1") and then I sashed the left side and top on each block as I went.  I did not want to trust getting all those little 1" square sashing blocks out of alignment for my geometric girl!  It worked and the blocks pretty much lined up with minimal "scootching" required.

While I love this book and am about to start a new quilt from it out of my beautiful pink FQ bundle from my-niece-the-quilter -- I urge you to read it carefully and work out the pattern in your head.  I've fussed a bit before that the quilts are all reduced to minimal steps and without caution, you can over cut.  I actually was able to do a little bit of strip piecing on this quilt by thinking it through and speeding up the process just a tad.  In the end, this quilt is 7.5' x 7.5'.  It's not a small quilt and mis-cutting batiks would have made me very very very unhappy.    As it was, my waste has been minimal.

I hope you have someone in your life that loves your quilting and wants to share in it in some way!

Jan

34 comments:

Pat said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ginx Craft said...

Your quilt is so beautiful, and must have been such a lot of work.

Stephanie said...

Wow, all those lines are beautiful!

Karen said...

Beautiful palette! I love the sashing!

Is this a published pattern?

Karen said...

Beautiful palette! I love the sashing!

Is this a published pattern?

Henrietta said...

Love this quilt, I particularly like that the center part of the block is large enough to actually see the beauty of each individual batik.

One Minnesota Quilter said...

That quilt is striking! Hopefully your niece will someday truly appreciate what you have done for her.

Judy

Gari in AL said...

This is such a beautiful quilt. I want one, too. Lovely.

Rhonda said...

WOW, you did a great job. I love the lattice feel of the quilt, the batik fabrics are a wonderful choice and I think the design is perfect!!

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I love this quilt... she did an amazing job of fabric selection and you created a gorgeous top! What fun.

Judy D in AZ said...

Wow-I'm blown away! That quilt is worth every hour of planning, shopping and sewing. Thanks for sharing.

Schulz Family said...

visiting from Sew Can Do. This is amazing. What an enormous amount of pieces and sewing.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

This is a wonderful quilt. Lovely colours and a great design :)

Julzie said...

Found you through Sew Cute Tuesday.....love this quilt, love the pattern, the colours, you did a great job....just stunning :)

Joanie's Trendy Quilts said...

Lovely quilt! I enjoyed reading the story behind your quilt. Its is a beautiful collaboration between niece and aunt. Lots of pieces per block!

Stella Nemeth said...

Amazing piecing. Way beyond my ability. Love the fabrics and that you were able to share choosing them with her. I have a friend who keeps making quilts for relatives who choose horrible color schemes. I think if she dragged them to the store with her, the choices would improve.

Skooks said...

This is incredible!!

Glenda said...

Oh gosh Jan you made me laugh, I've been down that road but ended up with so many colours it ended up like Jacobs coat of many colours but it worked. Yours sure has a lovely calming effect and I enjoyed going back and looking at it several times. It is a beautiful beautiful quilt and I'm sure in real life even more striking. Thanks for the tutorial and the laugh. You must have a lot of patience to make that quilt it is not easy. Cheers Glenda Down Under

Bunny said...

It sure is beautiful and looks like a ton of work. I hope it will be loved and appreciated. Bunny

Jill said...

Another gorgeous gorgeous quilt!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a fabulous week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Carolyn said...

Wow, beautiful quilt! I love all the bright fabrics, too, but sometimes the soothing fabrics are so nice. She is very lucky for you to make it for her.

Austysmum said...

Just gorgeous! Very soothing and I can appreciate the amount of sewing and cutting time that has gone into that. Beautiful work.

jjthor said...

Love the colors! they really blend nicely!!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

What a beautiful quilt and the fabrics she picked for it are perfect! Can't wait to see it quilted! Thanks for sharing.
Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

Georgia said...

Wow! You did a fantastic job on your quilt.

Amanda said...

This looks great! I love the pattern.

audrey said...

This quilt is incredible! I love the pattern, and the fabrics your niece picked out are great, especially the sashing.

Mary @ Sea Quilts said...

I truly love this pattern in the batiks that you have chosen. My rule is that I am allowed to shop for fabric ... just picking what I like, but when it comes time to "pull" it has to be from the stash. That might not work for a quilt this large, but it works well for the smaller ones that I make. Thanks for showing us this loveliness ...

Mary

Sara said...

Your niece and you sound like a great working team! The quilt is beautifully done!!

Anonymous said...

That quilt is stunning! Beautiful work.

Be Colorful Coastal said...

Inspiring as always. Love the soft colors.
p

Susie Buetow said...

Thank you for linking up in our Crafty Showcase last week. Your quilts are beautiful!

Thanks for sharing!

xoxo Susie @Bowdabra

New Linky
http://bowdabrablog.com/2013/02/23/crafty-showcase-link-up-anything-fun-in-the-craft-project-linky-2/

MellieWo said...

This is a beautiful quilt! I love the blues and greens with the more neatral "bubble" fabric. I'm finishing a quilt now that has a "bubble fabric" in purple. I hope she loves it and appreciates all the work that goes into it :)

JHNickodemus said...

Wow! Your niece the athlete sure knows how to pick a quilt! Love it! I'm impressed with all the seams! And ironing!