Scandi Village Quilt Top!

This quilt is a total escape. It was in the making of it and now when I look at it. Dreams of snowy villages in Sweden, mountain forests in Norway, and fairytales of Scandinavia. One day I will plan a trip and this quilt will come with me for an extension of the magic.

Over the last year and a bit I’ve spent moments playing with these blocks. Like most of my quilts, they started with an idea and a willingness to experiment. With early successI was motivated to both keep going and offer this as a Party through the Quilters’ Playcation. Loads of other have made their own Scandi Villages, all with an individual twist. Each block is improvised - free hand cut and sewn - and unique. Because each block ends up a different size putting it together becomes a puzzle. Thankfully, it is an easy puzzle to do. Seriously, there is no math, nothing fancy, and 99% of the time nothing but straight seams.

It is surprisingly hard to get a good picture of this quilt top. The scale of the houses means there are a lot of blocks. So it is see the overall quilt top or details. The largest house is about 4” and the smallest is less than 2”. None of the trees are bigger than 3”. I LOVE working small! That being said, I have a handful of blocks blown up big that may be its own quilt or become the back of this one.

To take pictures my son came with me to my favourite spot of urban forest to throw rocks on the ice, climb trees, and snap a few pics. We try to get outside everyday, even in the winter. But when we come home, we can still have the forest with us!

These little houses are so easy and so addictive to make. Yes, I started another version. This next one will have a dark background, so it looks like a village/forest at night. When we were having the last party someone suggested we add Northern Lights and now you know I am going to be hunting down my best greens to do that!

But first! I need to figure out how I am going to quilt this one…

Sadiya - Our Trip Diary Quilt from Egypt and Turkey

Sadiya

36”x 42”

Our trip is long over, the tastes gone from our mouth, the smells disappeared, the noise in the distance. All we have left are our memories.

Our journey to Egypt and Turkey this summer was beyond memorable. I am so glad that my last minute decision to bring sewing supplies resulted in this special piece. I’ve been sitting with all the memories as I stitched it. Opting for hand quilting/embroidery in all the blocks meant I’ve been sitting with it nearly daily for a few months. Bit sad to be done, really, because that means the trip is truly in the past.

Make sure to check out the post I made right after the trip with block and trip details.

To see details of the stitching on each finished block, I made a reel that you can see here. It was a lot of fun to pick stitches and patterns to both highlight block elements and sometimes reference the original block inspiration. I played around with thread weights, brands, and colours. Not to mention, a collection of stitch options!

While the back of the quilt is not a perfect reflection of the front, I did try hard to be as neat as possible. This meant thinking through my movements as I stitched, burying knots, and a constant aiming for consistency. Oh, and a pick a busy print to give yourself a break!

The binding was a special experiment. Inspired by ancient linen seen in the Grand Egyptian Museum I wanted a fringe element. Knowing that linen frays so nicely I embraced this instead of fighting it. Stay tuned for a tutorial on that.

In our house we have a no quilts on the wall rule. Considering that vast number of quilts here, I think it is a pretty fair rule. But even my husband agreed we could break it for this special quilt. Now to find the perfect spot to hang it so we can all smile at our shared memories. Oh wait, I guess I have to sew a sleeve on it first!

In case you missed it, here is the small quilt I made with the scraps from this one.

Flying Geese Exploration

I was just doodling, I promise.

After doing some computer work that required notes my mind was wandering. I had the computer open and a pad of graph paper next to me. Ignoring technology I picked up a pencil and started doodling on the paper. That night I started sewing some quilt blocks.

There isn’t anything fancy or revolutionary about what I doodled or the play I started, but it was relaxing. Knowing my solids scrap bin was overflowing I started there with my fabric. My doodle required contrast so I chose to explore warm/cool contrasts rather than any specific colour. And it’s just play, not a quilt, so I could try different combos and see what happens, right?

The only really shocking thing about this is that I chose to play with precision piecing. Definitely shocking with me. I’m making 2.5” x 4.5” flying geese blocks. Accurate cutting and piecing required. Still mindless, but definitely not improvisational piecing. I’ve got improv in the colour play, so I am still left satisfied.

As is usually the case with play rooted in experimentation it may not always go how you thought. When pairing fabrics to make the flying geese blocks I paid more attention to warm/cool contrasts than value contrasts. It totally works. But then the overall effect isn’t the same as what I initially sketched. My original idea was to effectively have one giant medallion. Without value contrast, however, it was looking like a mess of triangles only, no design visible. So I started sorting the blocks by the cool values. This has potential.

Like most of my quilts this one started with a “let’s see what this does” kind of attitude. If you are a little kid with a stick and a light socket, that means danger. But an adult with some fabric, it only means fun.

Back on the Road

This past weekend I went on my first quilting trip since the Pandemic. I’ve had a few in person events and the odd class, but this was my first get packed, get on a plane, and a hang out with quilters all weekend kind of trip. It’s been forever!

It felt so good.

As stressed as I get before leaving (always with a moment of regret for the commitment) I feel amazing once I arrive. This teaching gig gets me to some beautiful places with wonderful people. I am so lucky.

This particular trip was to Parksville, British Columbia. Parksville is a town North of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. In the summer it is packed with tourists because it has great beaches, beautiful parks, and a wonderful people. By this time of year the tourists are gone and the rain is settling in. Still absolutely worth the trip.

The Parksville Quilt House Guild is the largest guild on Vancouver Island and one of the oldest in British Columbia. Everyone I met was kind, full of laughs, and tremendously supportive. My hosts were incredible. I taught two workshops (Traditional Variations and Improv Lettering) and delivered a trunk show to over 150 people. At the workshops quilters brought treats for the group, fruit from their own trees, and made sure I had tea and medicine when an unexpected migraine hit. And, they followed my supply list and brought chocolate!

I’ve written before about how inspiring it is for me to be on these trips. I get to see parts of the country (or the world) but I also get to witness the creative acts of quilters. Both things inspire me so much. I get my own cool ideas as we all play together. More importantly, I get to witness the changes, ideas, and freedom many quilters feel in my events. Yes, I am tooting my own horn, but I see a lot of quilters leave my events brimming with ideas and with newfound freedom. No one has given them permission to play before and you can tell.

At the end of my trunk show I had one lovely women come to me and tell me that she is more of a “looker” than a quilter. She made her first quilts decades ago and while she was so proud of what she did she was judged by the quilt police and barely sewed after that, feeling like she couldn’t be good enough. After seeing my improv quilts, my bits of wonkiness, even my mismatched points when I am trying for precision, she felt so good. It’s not that my bad work made her feel better about herself. No, it was that she could see there was another way to create, and that the judgement of the past didn’t need to apply to her anymore.

That right there is why the stress before leaving is worth it. It’s always worth it. Rainbows over the ocean, bald eagles, and stellar sea lions are only a plus.