Elodie - A Bold Quilt of Half Square Triangles and Circles

Elodie

84” x 84”

Elodie is a lady of optimism. Sure, she’s a realist, knowing that work is always required in life and love, but she chooses to seek the sunshine in every moment. It isn’t easy and, frankly, it doesn’t always work. Elodie wasn’t always this way. Not so long ago she stayed under the covers, under the quilts, as much as possible. The world felt like a lot too much. It all changed the day the sunbeam hit her. It had been gloomy outside and in. Like most gloomy people Elodie lay napping fitfully. Then the sun broke through the clouds and hit her square in the face. Without thinking about it she breathed, nestled, and relaxed like a cat curling up in the sunbeam. Her nap became restful and when she woke the clouds had broken. Elodie could see the sun again. She vowed then and there to seek it out. Tropical vacations or moving to the South of France not being an option, she looked for ways to bring the sunshine to where she was as much of the time. Being optimistic doesn’t automatically make the sadness go away, but stepping into the light is the right step for Elodie.

This particular quilt nearly did not make it. It started from a random block, a sample made for a class. That block ended up in the donate pile that never got donated. A random rediscovery and the right timing turned that one block into a quilt top.

To make the blocks I shopped first in my scraps, using any piece in the colour story that was big enough. After that I went shopping in my stash. That makes this quilt both scraps and scrappy. (Ask me the difference in my trunk show Scraps Vs. Scrappy.)

It took me quite a bit to take the blocks - some plain half square triangles and some of those turned into circles - and find a layout that felt cohesive. I made the blocks in a colour story or orange, yellow, green and blue in 3 different sizes": 6” 12: and 18”. Some have high contrast, some have low contrast. When it came time to get them all on the design wall the challenge was evident. I tried laying it out my value, by colour, by size, and many options in between. In the end I played with colour more than value (against my usual advice) and keeping a strong diagonal component in the design. I’m pretty happy with how it ended up. And the original block found a home in it.

The quilted was completed by Phillipa Gelinas. I chose this great circle panto to compliment the design of the quilt top. Elodie deserved a fast finish. Rather, she deserved to be welcomed and used quickly. Deserved/needed.

My original plan was hot pink binding and that was before I picked out the backing fabric! When it came down to it though it didn’t look right. We know I like a contrasting binding but it just wasn’t the right thing to do here. I found this fun strip in my stash that ended up being just perfect. Like it was meant to be. Perhaps like that sunbeam?

Gremlins

80” x 80”

Named because scraps, like gremlins, multiple at night.

If I’d started this project thinking I was going to make 400 4 1/2” log cabin blocks I never would have started. Thankfully, I started with a bit of play; just seeing if I could use a pile of skinny scraps in an easy and useful way. One block, then another, and another. Indeed, the pile came from the trimmings from yet another scrap quilt. The scraps truly never end!

As I was binding the quilt I kept examining the blocks, looking for memories. You know what I mean - oh, this fabric is from that quilt, and this from that one! The truth is, though, so many of the fabrics I use find their way into multiple quilts. That is that whole scrappy look I seem to be known for. Needless to say, I couldn’t find a single block where I could identify each previous use of all the fabrics. Even the binding was leftover from a previous project. (Only it that case it was the background material, not the binding.)

My plan was to get my friend Phil to baste the quilt for me. I wasn’t keen on wrangling the pins through all those little pieces. I changed my mind on her front steps though. She does lovely panto work and I really just wanted this quilt done. A dense panto called Time Warp done in pink thread provided amazing texture and stability to all these pieces without overwhelming the value work of the block placement.

Months ago I grabbed yardage of this amazing Allison Glass print for the back. I didn’t have quite enough to match the print when piecing the back but it is so busy that only I (and now you) will know. Such a perfect compliment to the scrap goodness of the front.

To end, I want to share a little unknown fact about scrap quilts: they are heavy. Because you are using smaller bits of fabric than most of us sew with and you are using a lot of it to make a functional quilt, the extra weight of the fabric in the seam allowances adds up. That added weight to the quilt is glorious. You don’t need a weighted blanket if you have a great scrap quilt!

October Morning Make 2021

Went back to my childhood here. There were many an evening I spent in my room with a stack of Seventeen magazines and a glue stick making collages. Generally, I was cutting out things I liked and filling the page. Maybe it was a mood board before I knew what a mood board was? In October I made a collage each day for Morning Make.

I still like my magazines and the stack from this year was falling over. Rather than ripping out the recipes or rooms I liked and recycling the rest I decided to bring the glue stick out of retirement. Each morning I did a colour wash with some watercolours then while it dried I found my images.

Some days I had a clear idea and set out to find images that worked. Other days I waited for an image to strike me. Everything was made up each day, no preplanning. Frankly, some days worked better than others. I don’t define success as a beautiful image, rather, it is about the time spent. That being said, I wasn’t always happy with what I produced.

I was game for trying new things within the month, playing with text and images, just text, just images, and always with composition. Indeed, this was an excellent month for exploring composition. As a quilter that is always a useful exercise. It also forced me to reckon with negative space. So while I didn’t love all the literal results, it was a good skill building month.

You’ve heard me say it before: Creativity Begets Creativity. Playing in a different medium with translatable skills can only ever be a good thing. At the end of this month I have a few new ideas I want to explore in fabric, my comfortable medium. I’m not sure they would have emerged without this exploration into collage.