Lynn - Building a Quilt from Someone Else's Blocks

Lynn

75” x 75”

A gregarious creature. With a smile and a laugh that made everyone feel welcome. Loving mother, grandmother, wife, sister, and friend. She gave and gave and gave. She also started and started and started. Never met a craft she didn’t like! Loyal, kind, generous, and funny.

Lynn was a real women, a bright soul in the lives of our extended family. Sadly, she passed away this spring. She was my MIL’s best friend, my husband’s ‘aunt’, our friends’ mom. We all really miss her.

At the funeral in May I met her younger brother for the first time. Another larger than life soul! He messaged me a few weeks after the funeral asking me a huge favour. You see, he had these blocks, quilt blocks, that Lynn had sewn together. Really, it was the start of a quilt intended as a wedding present 25 years ago. She never finished it. Would I finish it for him?

This is what I was sent. That’s some late 90s glory right there! I had a handful of almost finished blocks (missing the corner quarter circle), some sewn elements, some cut pieces, and extra fabric. No pattern, no note, no original plan for the blocks. Lance - Lynn’s brother - gave me free rein. He really just wanted something that he and his wife could snuggle with, made from the blocks Lynn started.

I played with a number of layouts to begin with. I tried to imagine what Lynn might have been planning. I took stock of what I had. It was clear I was going to need more fabric, first off. There was plenty of that dusty rose background, but not enough of the arc fabric to make many more blocks. So I added some colour - more greens, teal, and mustard - to modernize and round out the printed pieces of the arcs. This also enabled me to make more arcs. I was then able to use the cut background pieces and cut even more to play with. And rather than try to match the curve cut in the corners, I used a triangle piece to change up the block a little.

It probably isn’t a thing like Lynn intended, but I do know she would appreciate it. She was always very supportive of me and my quilting. And she did have an appreciation for modern.

One thing Lance did ask for was a heart. The blocks did not really lend themselves to that layout, but I added in this applique heart - in silver for the 25th wedding anniversary - as a special surprise. The machine quilting also included hearts in the loop-de-loops.

Sometimes the shadows just hit right.

After I sent the quilt to Lance and his wife they responded so kindly. They found even more symbolism in the layout I landed on. I had no idea, but it meant something to them and that’s what matters. I feel very lucky to have shared in this experience with Lynn. She truly was a wonderful woman. The people in our lives live on in our stories of them, this time she is also living on in a shared creation.

But before I go, I need to share one more picture. Lynn and her family were farmers. Dairy farmers, until a few years ago. In all the time I’ve known my husband we’ve taken any and all chances to visit them. He grew up going to their farm (albeit in another spot) and we’ve now taken our kids there a handful of times. It is absolutely beautiful country where they live and I like to think this one of the views that she took with her.

Kai - The Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong 2024 Quilt

Kai

70” x 70”

Kai is full of adventure. They live life in a just jump in and see what happens kind of way. If someone asks them to try a new food, they don’t even ask questions, they just open wide. If someone wants to climb a mountain Kai packs the snacks. When the airlines offer a deal and there is money in the bank, Kai hops on a plane. They want to see all the things, meet all the people, try everything. And the one thing that brings them the most joy? Rainbows. Rainbows are experienced the world over and never fail to make you smile.

The 2024 Iteration of the Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong is now a finished quilt. Well, one of the versions I made. (The other one remains an unquilted quilt top.) For 49 weeks in 2024 I hosted a live session on Instagram where we made an improv block. My theme for the year was Rainbows so each block contained the 6 colours of a rainbow (or any gradient chosen), and half the blocks included an additional background fabric.

Want to catch the replays and make your own? All the tutorials are saved on You Tube.

Unlike previous years, I decided on a size for the blocks at the beginning of the year and planned out this 7 x 7 layout. That way I was alternating the background/no background blocks for a somewhat checkerboard effect. It came out well.

The rainbow on this quilt was made from a selection of pastel colours of Moda Grunge. This textured, not quite solid colour at all made for a lovely rainbow. I liked that it read as rainbow without being overly cliche.

When I started the quilt I bought a meter or so (I can’t remember exactly) of each colour. At the end of the day, I had a lot of the fabric left so I used the remainders to piece the quilt back in a rainbow stripe. Look at me being all coordinated! And while the quilting on the front amounts to great texture, the pattern itself is very visible on the back. I combined spirals and lines in a free motion pattern that I did on a rented long arm. Full credit to Angela Walters and one of her books for the idea. It is pretty densely quilted and feels a bit stiff now but as soon as I wash it the cuddles will come out.

The background fabric I chose is this terrazzo inspired fabric with a creamy base. It had all the rainbow colours in it so it was perfect. Midway through the year I did have to go buy more, thankfully my local quilt shop still had it in stock! Of course, I bought more than I needed that time so it was ready for me to round out the rainbow stripe backing AND use it for the binding. We know how I love a contrast binding, but this quilt asked for something more subtle. Sometimes it is good not to introduce something new when the original is already working.

There is no doubt that I chose rainbows deliberately for the theme. They really do make me happy and never fail to stop me in my tracks. But this is - for me - also a political quilt. I have queer family members, my kids have queer and trans friends, and I want the entire community to know that you are welcome here, and everywhere. It’s just a quilt, I know, but I can use it to share my support, amplify your voice, and wrap everyone in the love and joy they deserve. I can’t give every single queer and trans youth a hug, but know that that is what this quilt intends.

Jewel - And Why I Would Make a Bad Influencer

Jewel

53” x 75” (ish)

She lives her life a little haphazadly. She will come into a room and leave a flurry of herself behind. You are happy she was there, but a tiny bit frustrated by the mess she perpetually leaves behind (literally and figuratively). She sure is a joy! Funny and chatty and she gives the best hugs.

Long before there were influencers, many of us were just called bloggers. In fact, I can remember going to Quilt Market in the early 2010s and feeling the disdain from companies when you told them you were a Blogger. We had a reputation, for sure, that fed the negative stereotype of what we call an Influencer now. But I learned back then that I would suck at the job and this quilt proves it.

Shortly after my first book, Sunday Morning Quilts, came out, I learned that Jennifer Sampou was married to the CEO of CT Publishing, my publisher. After discovering this at Quilt Market I did not hesitate to fan girl with her because she was the first fabric designer that I remember noting. Before her fabric in the late 90s, early 2000s, I only noticed the fabric, not the designer. So there I am gushing about this little daisy print I used on my very first quilt (and many more subsequently) and she tells me she is relaunching as a fabric designer and would love to send me some fabric to play with. And she did!

This was back in 2013. 2013.

I did play with it a little and then put it all in the closet and forgot about it. I found it in the studio move and pulled it out 6 months ago again. So twelve years later I actually used it and finished a quilt with it. Twelve years. This is why I stopped calling myself a Blogger all those years ago and why I can’t accurately call myself an Influencer now.

My initial play paired some cuts from a jelly roll or two with a background fabric. I made some components and did not make more for over a decade. When I rediscovered all of it I found all the fabric too. It wasn’t hard at all to finish off the top. Just a few hours of sewing, really. Then I used a bunch of the fabric to piece a wild backing.

(Funnily enough, I clearly liked some of the fabrics because I have bigger pieces in my stash and know I’ve used some of these same prints multiple times, yet I never touched all of this fabric!)

An invitation came to donate another quilt to a tapahtêyimôkamik elder. After meeting her I knew this particular set would be a perfect fit for her. It also made the choice of the rainbow variegated thread for quilting so much better. I quilted her on a rented long arm.

The binding was made from some leftover pieces of the jellyroll. They are already 2.5” wide afterall! And then I didn’t need to pick anything specific for the frame of the quilt.

I still have a lot of the fat quarters from 2013 left. I don’t know if this will influence you or not to buy Jennifer’s fabric, but I know many of those prints are still available in some stores, not to mention her gorgeous ombres. but it’s safe to say it’s been this long since I got or shared any free fabric!

A Notan Inspired Quilt Top

Have you heard of Notan? I know it as a Japanese paper cutting art form where the positive and negative space, or the light and dark aspects mirror each other. There are more in depth or different interpretations but they all come down to the interplay between the light and dark. I love it all.

In the early spring I’d finished two scrap quilts full of riotous colour. I decided I NEEDED to try out an idea that popped in my head. Just a couple of blocks, no expectations. Some hand applique, creative cutting, and only black and white fabric. I was thinking about Notan and how the concepts could be applied to fabric. So I grabbed two rectangles of fabric, one black and one white, and I cut them. And immediately I knew my idea did not work. At least not without some additional layers for success.

In the Notan of my inspiration you take one piece of paper, the black, let’s say. And you cut it. You then get the design of the black ON the white, with the white showcasing the design. On one side it will look like a white design with a black background and the other side will look like a black design on a white background, but the designs are the same/mirrored. And you only cut one of the papers, the light or the dark. This concept is absolutely doable in fabric too - with one cut only - provided you either have raw edges or do not factor in seam allowances.

In my interpretation I cut through the black and white fabrics at the same time. This is because if I only did one cut and then tried to mirror the pieces with applique the seam allowances would change things enough that it wouldn’t look like a mirror. In more detail, let’s say I cut a triangle from a rectangle of black. I appliqué the triangle itself on another white rectangle. The triangle gets smaller because I’ve turned under the edges for the needle turn applique. But I want a mirror piece so I then take the remaining square of black that has the triangle cut out of it and applique it on another square of white (one with the same outside dimensions as the square of black). Now the opening of the cut triangle becomes bigger because, again, seam allowances. So the two white triangles do not end up the same size. In the end, then, I would cut through a black and white fabric at the same time, plus cut additional background fabrics (two white and two black) so that I ended up with four blocks, or two mirrored sets. The way that I solved the problem of the different seam allowances was that I mirrored the blocks that had the center portions of the cut blocks in one set and mirrored the background appliqués in the other set.

This is the background cut piece (the white) appliquéd on to a piece of black. Think of it like reverse applique.

This is the coordinating cut center from the above white appliquéd on to a piece of black.

So these two blocks would NOT be paired together because the seam allowances would distort the Notan effect. I paired them with their coordinating cut with the black appliqués.

Clear as mud?

After I made my realizations and made the first sets of blocks it was clear that I wanted to make more. And more. It took a little planning to make the sizes work because I had cut my first blocks in a rather random and odd size (12.5” x 20.5”). To be honest, it took a lot more planning than I am used to! In the end, however, it came together with just the right amount of fabric before I ran out.

It is not a representation of the art of Notan, but I think the inspiration definitely shows. Now to figure out how I want to quilt it.