Vintage Modern Patchwork

I have been busy! Very, very busy, and although most of my busy-ness hasn’t been focused on crafting, I have had a few inspirations and I’d like to share those with you. My theme? Vintage modern patchwork.

I’ve become obsessed with the book Sunday Morning Quilts, which is such a fun, joyful approach to patchwork and quilt-making for those of us who’d like to use modern techniques to make arty, pretty quilts. The authors focus on improvising with scraps, first by dividing them into colors, and then by turning them into “slabs” – blocks of make-your-own patchwork fabric that sort of resemble log cabin block. Really, they could be any sort of rectangle/square creation you could dream up. If you have strips or scraps on hand, and love putting color on top of color, it can be addictive.

I’m now making “slabs” in red and yellow. I am still drawn to 1930s/40s reproduction fabrics and modern fabrics that have a similar feel: tiny prints, polka dots, little florals that are mostly one color, all in very vibrant hues. My local quilt store provides me with both, luckily. For me, it’s a kick to combine old-school fabrics that are just so bright and cheery with modern-style patchwork. This is an example of what I did with strips of bright red.

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And then I made more:

Next: I will trim these and stay-stitch them around the edges. Then: Orange slabs, and then slabs that are off-white with tiny little prints. I have a plan, believe me, for what to do with these… More on that soon. And stay tuned: in an upcoming post, I’ll show you my progress on the little holiday quilt featuring the tiny “mini” prints from my previous post.

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Holiday “mini” blocks

It’s December again. I can hardly believe that the holidays are almost upon us. In a Northern California winter, it may rain, but it never snows. This year the rain has been coming straight over the Pacific from Hawaii, so it’s really quite warm. Yesterday it was around 62 degrees and it hardly feels like December to me, but here’s an attempt to get in the spirit of the season.

Last year I bought a little kit with “mini” prints featuring winter themes–ice skates, wreaths, wrapped gifts, kids on sleds, bells, top-hatted snowmen, and so on–from Connecting Threads. I recently found a “mini” amount of time to work on starting this “mini” quilt made of little patches. I used charm squares (five-inch square pieces), which I subcut into one smaller square and two strips. Then I created sort of half-log cabin blocks (one square, two side strips), and put four of those together into scrappy sets to make these square blocks. The idea came from Three Times the Charm by Me and My Sister Designs.

Here are a few of the individual blocks. After this point, I’ll take nine of the them and put them in a sashed grid. I plan to use white fabric sashing. This mini quilt could be a table topper or rest on a chair when it’s done. Kind of makes me smile. Experiencing the fun side of a snowy day without actually digging my way out is also a plus!

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A Tale of Two Baby Quilts

I’ve raided my stash for some vibrant prints, and found the makings of two very different baby/kid quilts. This one I started with a few charm squares from Connecting Threads that featured a cute little print of bunnies, racooons, trees, and mushrooms and coordinating solids/tiny prints. I sewed them into stacks of “coins” and then selected an eye-burningly bright green to surround them. My daughters really liked it and I told them they could use it as a little lap quilt in our living room.

My older daughter’s holding it up in these photos (excuse the wrinkles) and my younger one wanted her picture taken right in front of it. Believe it or not, the green she’s wearing is an even more neon shade! (Reminds me of a sweatshirt I had back in the eighties that could stop traffic, color-wise.)

My other project was a baby quilt for our cousins, who are expecting a little boy in a few weeks. I decided on a more sedate look with the same coordinating fabrics, but focusing on the larger squares of small animal prints. My daughter Beth thought that these blocks looked a bit like interconnecting test tubes in a science lab. I got the idea for this simple block, turned two different ways, from a baby quilting book by Ursula Reikes.

I think it’s neat to see how much difference a few color tweaks can make using the same family of fabrics, don’t you?

One more note: this quilt was professionally quilted by Julia Curry of Menlo Park, CA. She made loopy circles to mimic the polka dots in the green fabric (using green thread). She does fantastic work. When I see how beautifully long-arm quilters finish a job like this, it makes me realize how minimalist a job I do with my own machine quilting! But then, her machine takes up a whole garage, and mine sits securely on a small desk…

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My Geese Can Fly

I made more than 80 flying geese units for this quilt, a wall hanging size piece. At least I proved that I could! The soft floral fabrics came from a Moda charm set. They are delightful and make me think of having high tea on a flower-filled patio on a warm summer’s day.

I liked the technique, which came from Carrie Nelson’s Schnibbles book – you just cut squares, layer them, sew and cut. No cutting of triangles needed. It seemed quite accurate.

October and November slipped away from me in a flurry of birthdays and holidays. And now it’s December. Perhaps I’ll get back to this project in January, after the hustle of the holidays and the deadlines of work ease up a bit!

Also on the horizon: another charm square project, using batiks; some pouches; and, eventually, trying crazy quilting. (Because yes, I am crazy!)

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1930s Blocks on the Wall… And Geese that Really Fly

I’m suffering from a summer cold. It just seems unnatural to have so many aches and a stuffed-up head on a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

(I remember one summer when I was studying in Paris, lying in the bed on a hot July day in my “cell” –it was in a former convent on the Left Bank–with the world’s worst sneezing and runny nose. I wondered, “Why do I have to be felled by this blasted cold when I have all of Paris at my doorstep–and it’s not even raining?” Luckily I got over it and thoroughly explored the city, but Paris’ ozone levels were so high in the 1990s that I regularly felt like I was hit by the flu when I spent time there.)

Anyway, before the sniffles made me so very tired, I made some progress on a few of my in-progress projects, the number of which seems to keep multiplying. I am starting to wonder if I have quilting attention deficit disorder. But I know I am not alone: many of my crafting friends work this way, with a range of projects in tandem.

Here’s an update on my 1930s-reproduction orange, yellow and green quilt blocks, the really simple ones that I decided to do scrappy-style and build into a bigger quilt. I’ve made a fair few now. Here is how a sampling of them look on my makeshift design wall (a poster-sized picture frame covered with batting):

I’m waiting for inspiration to strike to make more and figure out what size this quilt will be.

I’ve also made quite a few blocks for my “Nieces and Nephews” bright quilt. It really is a cheerful, fun project that I told you a bit about last time. More on that soon.

And last but not least, I’ve embarked on my second “Schnibbles” quilt. I really loved doing Reveille, by quilt designer Carrie Nelson, and I acquired her Schnibbles book to do more. She takes 5-inch square charm packs and turns them into delightful confections. This one will use Moda’s “Oasis” squares, which are chintzy flowers of aqua, rose, beige, etc., and turn them into a whole flock of flying geese. Each one measures 2 by 3.5 inches.

I think I like the method that Nelson spells out for making these geese better than some I’ve tried before. It involves a big square and four small squares, sewn up like magic and cut apart. Voila, you get four flying geese! I’m sure that Ms. Nelson would like you to purchase her book, and I really recommend it, but to give you a little preview, here is the page I am referring to:

I’m taking the time to mark the backs of the small squares with one of those special rulers that gives you a quarter-inch seam allowance on each side of a dividing line. I think it will give me more accuracy. The proof will be in the quilted pudding, I guess.

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Thoroughly Modern Thirties Quilt Blocks

When it comes to fabric, I think I’m in love with the 1930s. These reproduction prints get me every time! Have you heard of a line of fabric called “quilter’s candy”? To me, that’s just what this is. A sweet, delectable treat, one that thankfully doesn’t even add any inches to my waistline… I can’t get enough of these bright greens, oranges, and yellows, so I decided to start making them into a “modern” quilt, using a simple pattern from Cozy Modern Quilts (thanks to Carole for that book recommendation!). I’ve only done a few blocks but it’s super fun. The geometric nature of these blocks lends itself well to tiny prints, I think.

I purchased the bulk of these fabrics at a little shop in Chicago called Quiltology. I love that name, and its subtitle: “Chicago’s Urban Quilt Space.” It was featured on the TV version of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting in its old location. I visited its new shop in late March and took home a bundle of fun stuff. (It was one of my crafty souvenirs, which I now try to substitute for another t-shirt.) A woman shopping there assured me that these colors are “very modern.” That makes sense, since the shop focuses on contemporary designs.

I get easily distracted these days by so many different commitments and projects, so I am not sure when I’ll be able to finish this, but it’s the type of project that could be built slowly, block by block, with scrappy fabric choices as I go along.

I found some cool links on Quiltology’s website that I’m now checking out. One of them is Blue Underground Studios, which produces contemporary quilting patterns. Looks very enticing!

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A Block that Gives Me a Pain in the Neck (but I Love It Anyway!)

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I absolutely love log cabin quilts. The way the strips of fabric go together keeps my interest. In the same way that I like to use variegated yarn while knitting, I like to use multiple colors throughout in a block, choosing what goes where as I go along. That way, each block is an adventure.

I’ve made three “traditional” log cabin quilts: one in batiks, one in 1930s prints, and one in reproduction prints. While none of them are very large, they were all labors of love.

Now, I’m embarking on a new path: a Liberated Log Cabin, inspired by Gwen Marston’s book, Liberated Quiltmaking II. Gwen’s book opens up new vistas of quilting that use rulers only as a straight edge – a chance to freely piece shapes, colors, and wedges into modern art masterpieces. I really enjoy looking at these types of Bohemian quilts, and this book offers a ton of eye candy.

My daughters thought so too. They encouraged me to try making a quilt similar to the Liberated Log Cabin for Amber, a vibrantly-colored piece that Gwen made for her sister. She started with colorful four patches, framed them in solid red, and then used really bright brights and black-and-white fabrics to round out her log cabin blocks. Although Gwen doesn’t specify the block size, I’m thinking each one is around 12 inches square, so that’s what I am aiming for.

Here’s a closer look at what I have made over the past week. I am enjoying these wonky blocks, and my kids just go ga-ga for them! Later on I’ll square up each to be the same size and put them together:

One problem: this project is literally a pain in the neck. Unfortunately, last winter, I had a terribly flare up of neck and upper shoulder pain, and had to limit my activity, as well as go to physical therapy. Only recently has my neck been improving after a year of pain and a lot of ergonomic alterations to my daily life. But last night, after completing another block, I felt that familiar pain shoot through my neck once again. If you think about it, it makes sense: the motions of ironing and clipping and then trimming and squaring each successive piece of fabric in each block can be really aggravating the muscles and tendons. I remember that this happened last winter, when I was making that log cabin for my friend M.N.

SO: beware the siren call of log cabin blocks. They can hurt! I’m going to slow this project down to a snail’s pace – one block every few days to make sure I don’t injure myself.

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Quilt Assembly, California-Style

It is February, and in much of the country a thick layer of snow blankets the ground. Things are different here – in Northern California, we were lucky enough to have a week of spring-like weather, around 70 degrees. So I decided to blanket my driveway with a quilt.

As you already know, I am NOT a big fan of basting quilts – that is, connecting the top, batting, and bottom fabric of a quilt before you sew through all three layers. It’s really a drag. The traditional method involves lots and lots of safety pins. I do like the quilter’s brass ones, shiny gold-tone pins that are very pliable. And you can use a spoon to close and open the pins to save wear on your fingers. But to pin-baste a quilt that’s bigger than crib size (in this case, about 60 inches square) takes just about forever.

So I turned to an alternative: 505 Spray & Fix adhesive. Many quilt-makers swear by this stuff, I’m told. I had used it once before and it worked pretty well. You spray the batting (NOT the quilt or fabric) and it gets sticky, and then you place fabric down and it adheres. Although it has no CFC’s, the spray does contain chemicals and I was kind of concerned. The manufacturer recommends using it in a highly ventilated area. So it occurred to me: what better space than outside?

I hadn’t thought of one potential problem: Wind. My older daughter helped a little when a light breeze threatened to lift the corners of the top fabric. And I weighted one corner with a bottle of something I found lying around by the garage. If I’d had an adult helper, this would have gone quicker. There are a couple little bubbles on the back, but overall, this was fairly successful, except when kids nearly ran over it with their bikes while I was working!

This quilt is for daughter #2. She loves strawberries and requested a project built around them. I went with a bright green to highlight the strawberry stems and to contrast with the red and it looks very Christmas-y – which was not my intention. The brown tones it down a bit.

I’ll try to machine-quilt it in the coming week. Here are a few closeups to give you a sense of the blocks and fabrics. This pattern came from Simple Style: Easy Weekend Quilts by Sara Diepersloot. That version used a watermelon theme and had a fun picnic-y feel.

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In Praise of Gold

I re-watched the 1971 stalker classic “Play Misty for Me” the other day and was struck by something.

Sure, most of the movie’s focus is on the psycho fan/girlfriend and Clint Eastwood’s reaction to her. But in several scenes, the eye is just as surely drawn to Clint’s bright gold pants.

Yes, gold pants.

Gold was all the rage in the early ’70s. Interestingly, 1971 was the year that the gold standard was demolished by President Nixon in the U.S. But in the fashion and design world, the color gold had reached a zenith. In many ’70s homes, appliances were gold (or else “avocado” green, yuck) and bathroom fixtures were gold. When I was a youngster, my parents installed gold carpet in our house. So why not pants, even on a macho guy like Clint?

I used to disdain gold. I remember ripping out that old carpet with some glee. But now, I’ve seen a gold revival emerging in the design world, and inspired by its long-forgotten virtues, I’ve decided to “go for the gold” in my quilt projects.

Here is my new favorite shade in a “modern” quilt block.

This block is part of my new quilt project, a simple but awesome pattern from City Quilts. I am in love with this book and the colors that quilt artist Cherri House chose for her pieces! She focuses on bright solids. The book’s been my bedtime reading lately, and the beauty of it positively keeps me up at night.

Here are a few more of the solid colors involved in this project. The gold really makes the pinks, purples and reds pop, don’t you think?

I also have another quilt in the works (my house top blocks) that combines yellow, gold, pink, red and purple, so I must be an analogous-color kind of girl these days. Come to think of it, I’m using the whole range of colors on the “warm” side of the spectrum.

Since this is another gift quilt, I’m keeping the rest under wraps for now. More to come!

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Free quilt pattern heaven

Let’s lead with the real news: I just discovered a blog that has a fantastic list of free quilt patterns available on the web. It was created in 2007 but is updated for 2011, and it’s beautifully organized. I clicked through a few and found a fun quilt-as-you-go project and a neat “more than a 9 patch” quilt pattern. Nice going for those of us who enjoy a freebie now and then!

And here’s the meditation on this news: As a writer and editor by trade, I will always love books and support creative authors. And there seems to be a great flowering of writing about quilting/fiber arts right now. I recently compared some new quilting books to a stack of old ones at a used bookstore – what a difference. The new ones were filled with lots of gorgeous color photos, brief intro texts, and really simplified step-by-step rotary-cutting instructions. The old ones had paper outlines for templates and black-and-white pages of directions that, to me, seemed rather impenetrable. Clearly, there’s a lot of new material out that just beckoning the new wave of quiltmakers, sewists, and knitters.

And I believe that the artists who create that content should be able to earn money doing so. In fact, I dream of writing my own patterns and tutorials for original projects one of these days, and I understand that compensation is a good thing. Free patterns are terrific but just like other kinds of free content (i.e. news) we should also think about the brains behind the creativity and try to support those folks.

On the other hand, one of my vows this year is to spend less money on purchasing books and patterns that I just don’t use. It’s great being inspired by the designers and artists who make them, and I want to support them, but why acquire things that will gather dust (and take up space in my small home)? I’ll be cruising the web a bit more in search of inspiration…. But I am sure I’ll still buy more than my fair share of patterns/books in 2011, if history is any guide!

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