"teaching"

Yesenia - 'Modern' and Minimal Log Cabin Quilt

Yesenia

70” x 70”

This girl is a bundle of energy, when you get to know her. She is warm and welcoming to all, but saves the best of herself for her friends. But don’t worry, she is quick to make you her friend. With an infectious laugh she can make anyone smile. With a great hug she can make anyone feel loved. She gives so much there might not be enough left for herself, so this quilt is a way to give herself a hug.

A good family friend, my MIL’s best friend, is going through a challenging time and deserved to be hugged, to be reminded that she is loved by many. When I heard her news I immediately wanted to make her a quilt. There were some time constraints so it had to be a quick finish. In consultation with my MIL I went though the available quilt tops to see if any of them would work. Turns out the answer was no, our friend is more of an earth tone person than any of my quilts. Unphased, I went through sets of blocks and samples to see if any of them would work. This collection of log cabins was the winner!

Collection of minimalist log cabin blocks in grey, coral, yellow, and turquoise

The set of six blocks were made as a sample for my friend Janine at Uppercase Magazine when she was launching a fabric collection. I’ve made a few things for her over the years, but with this set she wanted in progress, not finished quilts. The blocks have sat for years since, with me only pulling them out as samples when I teach my Traditional Variations class.

The bonus challenge set by this project is the use of sage green. You see, sage green is probably my least favourite colour. And it is our dear friend’s favourite. Thankfully, these blocks played well with sage. There is a touch of a yellow green in a few of the fabrics so I added yellow and green into the mix. I did have to make more blocks so it was an easy add. This only would make the quilt 60” square, however. In my opinion that is on the small side for a snuggly quilt. Instead of making more blocks I opted for a border.

What? A border? You, Cheryl?

Sage green and a border, I don’t know who I am anymore.

Oh right, I’m someone who wanted to give out a hug that would be truly appreciated. I’m still me, though, so I had to do the border my way. That’s why it is only on the two sides, creating an off balance composition. It’s a bit of tension that seems to work.

4 corners of a neutral quilt with pops of turquoise and coral

The whole thing reminds me of the rise of modern quilts 20 years ago. For quite a few years a modern quilt was defined by a log cabin, wonky or not, with a lot of negative space. This quilt comes across as a little throwback to those times!

To quilt her I opted to contrast all those right angles with flowers and swirls. Most of the fabrics are tone on tone so the quilting is very visible. And to up that sage green I picked that exact colour in my thread for the stitches. The whole thing was done in a few hours on a rented long arm at one of my local quilt shops, My Sewing Room.

I had no good fabrics for binding either. I wanted a softer edge versus high contrast. Did I have that in my stash? Of course not, thankfully this beige was perfect and found at My Sewing Room as well.

From blocks on the design wall to a delivered quilt it was only 3 weeks. A record for me, especially in December! Totally worth it as it is coming in good use to give hugs through a trying time.

Blobs of Improv Applique

At some point in the last few years I made one of these blobs. I was using it as a sample for an Improv Applique class I was teaching online. I probably made another one in another class. These were only ever intended to be samples.

Intentions and reality rarely meet in my quilting play.

Now that I have the studio and no machines at home my Morning Make is always handwork, when it comes to stitching. As I uncovered these blocks during the move they came to mind as one thing to play with as the morning grew cold and dark. It turns out they are a fun spot of joy! Now I keep making them.

This was my initial plan for layout: random. Just the four colours and laid out in no particular order. As soon as I decided to turn these blocks into a quilt this was my plan. I also wasn’t expecting to make a large quilt, only 5 x 5 blocks. As the background pieces are 10'“ squares, this would make a simple little baby quilt.

But then… but then I laid out the blocks by colour. It was actually only so I could ensure I wasn’t repeating the background fabrics in each colour way. Seeing them together was easier than thinking through that. And oh! Did that change everything!

This layout is amazing. It is so much stronger in showing off the blobs, giving them colour order. I still get randomness in the various fabrics, but the structure of columns is a much stronger design. There is no going back now.

What I do need to do, however, is add more columns. I’ve currently got 7 of each colour. If I add one more colour I now get a small lap quilt (47.5” x 66.5”). If I add 2 then I get a bigger lap quilt, especially if I make 8 blocks of each colour (57” x 76”). I could add 3 colours, stick with 7 blocks, and get a classic square (66.5” x 66.5”). I’m torn, to be honest. So, I will add 1 colour and see how I feel about it.

Who knows? I may change my mind completely again.

Braided Rug Quilt Block Alternative - Colour Focused Scraps

So I think I started a new quilt. I didn’t mean to, honest! It was just an experiment that I fell in love with!

There I was, teaching a Scraptastic class with a guild out of the Whistler Valley. We got to the part where we play with strips. At this moment I always give students a choice on what technique they want to explore. The Braided Rug blocks won out that day. While demonstrating the technique I decided to explore a square block. A change from my original. One pile of pink scraps and some sewing later, an idea was born.

It’s a been a few weeks and that idea has already evolved. I thought rows of blocks first, then placed four together like this. Okay, that works. let’s try another colour and maybe do a round robin, like the original again. I really liked that shape formed by the four together though so placed another colour that way. Yup, that’s the winner! I’ve already picked my next colour - green, for hope - and will make another set of 4. I’m thinking, only thinking, of making 9 sets of 4 blocks. We’ll see how the motivation lasts. That being said, moving to the new studio uncovered A LOT more scraps than I thought I had so there is no shortage of fabric options!

Nine small piles of coloured fabric

Just playing around with potential colours. This is a more random colour scheme, maybe I will edit it down, maybe not? For now, one block at a time.

Braided Rug Quilt Top

When in doubt, go bigger. Sometimes I like to say #gokingorgohome. Maybe not quite that big here. But once I had done a certain number of blocks it was clear this needed to be a bigger quilt, so I made more blocks. And a quilt that started, in part, because I needed to be able to close the bin of scrap strips is now ready for next steps. It finishes at 77” square.

The blocks themselves began life as a sample for the Scraptastic class that I teach. Every time I taught the class I made a block. Well, a few months back, I was teaching the class again and we also started playing with layouts of the blocks. That moment sparked something and I raced to make more and more blocks. It was a creative pull that spurred the action, but it was fuelled by that desire to clean up the scrap strips.

Multi-coloured scrap quilt resting on leaves on grass

Did I use all the scrap strips? Nope! But I would say I used about 3/4 of what was in the bin. Great progress! Of course, I’ve already added back in to the bin. That’s how it goes with scraps. Unless you stop making any new quilts, you are going to make scraps. Just makes for greater opportunities in your quilts!

I know, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the scraps, or feel like using them is a futile effort. I totally get that. There are only two ways out of that:

1. Changing your mindset. Seeing scraps as a burden rather than an opportunity is very negative. I prefer to apply some girl math and think of it all as free fabric to play with!

2. Just use them. Kind of like writing a to-do list with tasks on it you’ve already completed just so you get the satisfaction of crossing them off, using scraps when they overwhelm you is the best way to quell the overwhelm.

That doesn’t mean you have to finish a whole quilt either. Just starting something with the scraps might be enough. So long as starting and not finishing a quilt right away isn’t another source of anxiety! Making a few blocks today may be just enough to calm down. And when the bin gets some more additions, you can always make more blocks. In time, enough blocks will be around to make a whole quilt. No rush. They are scraps, they will always be there!

My plan for finishing this quilt is to tie it. I’ve never done it before! I haven’t decided yet if I will use the bin of scrap yarn that seems to be hanging around or if I will purchase a single colour. I’m just going to let this marinade a bit while I play on some other things. The itch has already been scratched, the bin closes again, and the rest of my stash is calling!