Organizing for Randomness

Do you remember this beautiful group of Primativa from Andover that I bought from the wonderful Julie at Intrepid Thread?  I started cutting into it Saturday morning, but not until after I did a bit of quilter's math.

(I would love to teach classes on quilter's math the way I do it.)

Anyway, I knew I had to figure out a method to get random in an organized way since I was using these 18 fat quarters to make Tom's quilt.  I saw a quilt on a blog and asked the maker if she used a pattern, and if so, where she got it.  She said she saw the quilt in many places, and just made her own pattern.  I love to make patterns, so I drafted one that would work with the Primativa.

The first thing I did, after figuring out the math, was to cut the fat quarters into 3.5" strips.  I got five from each piece with a narrow strip left over.  I cut two strips from each piece into 3.5" x 3.5" squares and set them aside for the snowball blocks.  The first blocks I need to build are nine patches.  I wanted to sew random groups of three 3.5" x 22" strips together to make this work.  In order to get these really random, without repeats, I used the narrow left over strips.  I cut them into thirds to have three of each, then put them in groups on the cutting board.  Then I built the strip sets, following the mini examples.

I was so excited when I got them all together, and it all turned out right.  The bonus is that I can now build mini wonky nine patches for another project.  Maybe a baby quilt or a doll blanket. 

After I sewed all the sets, I cut a series of 3.5" strips.  Of course, I had to put a nine patch together to see how my plan was working.

One of the things I had the hardest time with when I started quilting last year was to get the seams ironed the right way.  I don't like open seams for many reasons, so I need to make sure to get them pressed in the right direction for nesting.  Sometimes, that is just really hard for me to figure out.  This time, I made sure all my seams were pressed in the same direction when I built the strip sets. Then I could turn the center one around as needed.  Here, on the backs, you can see that seams are going just the right ways for great nesting.

All that prep payed of in a beautiful random block with corners that meet nicely and lay nice and flat.  Now, I have 27 more of these to make, and no two will be alike.

As you may know, if you are a regular follower of my blog, I am not one to go out and buy a bunch of fabric from one line.  I don't often see many that I like that much, and I am very mindful of how I spend my limited fabric budget.  When I first saw this line, I immediately fell in love with the colors and the designs.  As I was pressing each piece before cutting, I couldn't decide which design was my favorite.  These are colors I love to use together, and I couldn't believe someone would put them all together in one line.  I think of this as my first "Modern" quilt.  Wait until you see tomorrow's post with the bright orange snowball blocks!

I am having a very good project year so far.  I am not finishing much, but I am having a great time creating tops.   I hope you are having a great quilting year, as well. 

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Modern Quilting and Me

I have been thinking about writing this post for a long time.  Ever since I read the first "dumbing down of quilting" post on someones blog.  Since I have only returned to quilting in the last couple of years, I discovered a whole new world out there.  Moda fabrics, rotary cutting tools, healing cutting mats, and very easy HSTs.  It seemed to me that all the new possibilities were fantastic.  Then came all this discussion about modern quilting.

When I first started back, I was certain I would be a very traditional quilter.  I just didn't know another way.  I liked all the old stars and flying geese, and Baltimore appliques.  I still like them.  I love the traditional look of designers like Kansas Troubles.  Then I discovered Sandy Gervais and made my first quilt after 30 years.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it, and it just moved to France.  Shortly after that, I discovered Victoria at 15 Minutes Play, and a new world opened up to me.

I could make fabric out of scraps and just watch it grow with no preset plan.  I love playing with fabric this way.  Giving myself permission to play was just what I needed.  From then on, I wasn't afraid to tackle anything.  I even decided to try a little art quilting.

I have designed and created what I think is defined as a modern quilt.  I only say this because other people have told me it is modern.

Right now, I am working on an art piece, a couple of traditional pieces, a couple of samplers, a block from the Rose of Sharon book (well, I have taken some elements from a couple of different blocks to create a new one), a couple of modern quilts, some challenges, a 15 Minute quilt, and another intuition quilt, just to name a few things.  So, what kind of quilter does this make me?  Oddly enough, I think it makes me a modern quilter.
I guess I see modern quilting as having choices to do it all if we want to.  If you want to make several quick and easy quilts to donate to charity or give as gifts, I think that is just a valid as wanting to take several months or years to make one quilt to enter into one of the big shows.  It is all part of the connection with quilters throughout time who have taken what they had to create warmth, beauty, and sometimes camaraderie.  I like being part of that continuum.  If you want to read more writings by quilters on what their definition of modern quilting is, drop by the NYC Mod blog and scroll through the articles written to accompany pieces for their travelling show about modern quilting.
Joyful quilting, everyone.