Saturday, May 28, 2016

Ready for Layering

Before and after piecing a 4" block

Thursday was a rare day when I found myself caught up and not having to run any errands, i.e., no distractions to disrupt hours of studio time. Can't tell you how excited I was to greet the day knowing this and dive back into the sea and sand quilt. I started with this smallest section which I laid out on my 6 inch square ruler. This quilt is made up of just uneven 9-patch blocks with 4-patches in each corner, but the designer, Tammy Silvers, has made them more interesting by stretching them this way and that. This small block and the large block below it are the only totally square blocks in the top. Been a terribly long time since I pieced small blocks like this; the 4-patch squares are cut at 1-1/4 x 1-1/4, the finished block just 4 inches square plus seam allowances.

Finished top @ 41" x 52"

Fortunately, the other sections are mostly large blocks that went together quickly, not all on Thursday, but finished up yesterday. Time to consider backing, check to see if I have the proper batting and get it layered up for quilting.

Using someone else's pattern is always a bit of a leap of faith. It does you no good if there's an error that is corrected in the next issue of the magazine or on-line - what are the chances that you would notice that? So with each section that went together perfectly and then sections themselves also joining together perfectly, there was a smile of relief. This has been such an enjoyable project, and I'm having the rare thought that I'd like to make it again in different colors. I'm generally a "once is enough, too many other patterns to try" sort of gal. Not sure why this one has me thinking differently. If you're interested in this pattern, you can purchase the back issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine that it appeared in here (October/November 2015).

5 comments:

The Inside Stori said...

i’m sure liking this design!! Good job….

Christine Staver said...

This looks great. I like your fabric choices more than the one shown in the magazine.
Chris

Charlton Stitcher said...

Lovely evocative colours ... It'll be interesting to see how changing them alters the feel and impact of the piece ...

The Idaho Beauty said...

Thanks, everyone. Chris, I had it in my head to keep this relatively light in value but certainly strayed from that. I do think it makes it more dynamic than the one in the pattern.

Margaret, I doubt I will be playing with this again any time soon, but will keep it in the back of my mind. I'm wondering about a purples (have a dye run from a couple of summers ago that was cross mixing fuchsia and indigo which resulted in the sort of thing you'd see in a really good sunset). Am wondering about going lighter in value. Am wondering about toning down the crosses. Lots of wondering going on here!

Michele Matucheski said...

Nice color combinations for this one. And I do like how the designer stretched the blocks to mix it up a bit. My mom won't even make quilts from magazine patterns anymore because she encountered too many mistakes. They just don't have time to test the instructions before they come out in publication. SO I do understand your relief to find that the pattern was accurate.