The Best Laid Plans….

The Modern Quilt Guild in late 2014 offered a quilt challenge using the Michael Miller Cotton Couture Spring 2015 Pastel solids.  The challenge was to use all of the colors in the Spring pastel line, the quilt had to be made of all solids, the design be predominantly Michael Miller Spring pastels and the full quilt to be made of Michael Miller fabrics.  Most of the bloggers and quilters I follow seemed to have a common reaction to the challenge.  “I don’t typically use pastels in my quilts” and “Reminds me of Easter egg colors!”  While I too don’t gravitate to pastels, my first thought was…’reminds me of winter!’

I do a lot of snow shoeing in the winter time. We live outside the city limits and have nearby access to State land with no marked trails or vehicle access.  We also have a black lab that lets it be known every Saturday as I try to sew, ‘it’s time for a walk!’.  When I saw the fabrics in the bundle it reminded me of the washed out colors I see in the winter, the opalescent colors of sun on fresh snow and the watery blue sky of the ‘dark’ part of winter, when we get barely 9 hours of daylight.  So pondering that theme I wondered what I could make from these pastels that would convey soft color and crisp winter.  Lucky for me, the day I was considering all this it was very cold.  Up in the sky was a sun dog.  I knew I had my idea!

For those of you who may not know what a sun dog is, a sun dog is a halo of frozen ice particles in the atmosphere that circles the sun.  A person only sees them when the upper atmosphere is very cold.  The bigger the sun dog, the colder the air.  On very, very, very cold, subzero days there are times I’ve seen them halo the sun and extend all the way down to the horizon where the bottom of the halo disappears.  When I see that I know I better put on my long johns! It’s going to be cold out there!

So then came the questions of how do I make a quilt with a Sun Dog as the main concept? I knew the sun dog had to be improvisationally pieced in some manner and it needed a source of light, a ‘sun’.  For the refracted light of the sun dog, I decided to create random sized triangles and diamonds made up of sliced and diced pastels and then arrange them in  a circle pattern.  The ‘made fabric’ would represent the rainbow of color you can see in a sun dog, colorful yet muted. 

But how should I make the sun?  I didn’t want a round shape and I didn’t want it yellow (even though that was one of the pastel colors I could work with).  That would be too typical and not fit the feel of the diamonds and triangles I was envisioning.  I settled on letting the quilting create a sun effect by doing matchstick quilting that would radiate out from the center of the quilt. Hopefully that would create a white star like shape in the middle and then I would  let the lines get further apart toward the edges of the quilt.  I knew quilting like this would be a challenge but I thought I could make it work.

I started the quilt in October. The deadline for submission was the end of November……no problem!  The quilt wasn’t going to be big, I had plenty of time.  Making the ‘made fabric’, triangles and diamonds took about a week of sewing.  Laying out the quilt top and piecing it took about another week.  Then I hit a road block, I needed more fabric.  No shop in town carried the line and at that time no shop in town carried Michael Miller Cotton Couture at all.  I had to order it.  I still felt I had plenty of time.  Once the fabric arrived I basted and started quilting.  Quilting took another week and to be honest, it wasn't turning out as I had hoped.  The 'star' was forming but the quilt was also starting to pull and pucker quite a bit per the matchstick quilting in the center and the wider quilting at the edges.  I knew that would happen some but didn't expect the amount I was seeing.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving I announced to my husband that I was done with the quilt and most likely would be cutting it up for something else.  I just wasn't working.

I put the quilt away to get ready for Turkey Day and enjoying our family home for the holiday.  While everyone was home, my daughters asked what I had been working on and I showed them the Sun Dog quilt. I told them of my plans to cut up the quilt and use it for pillows or something else. They both said they loved it the way it was and felt strongly I should finish it and try to block it flat.  Taking their advice into consideration I decided I would bind it after everyone left to return home on Sunday, November 30^th.  I would wash it, dry it, block it and submit it right under the wire….no problem!

Ah….the best laid plans of….what I didn't count on was on November 30^th I came down with something that felt very much like influenza……fever, chills, sore throat, aches, pains…you get the idea.  Needless to say the quilt did not get done in time to submit.  The virus I had, lasted through Christmas, which brings us to January.  After the holiday festivities were done and the decorations put away, I decided to bind and block the quilt.  To my amazement I was actually able to get it to lay somewhat flat!

While it is still not my favorite quilt, I have gotten quite a few compliments on it.  Also, like most of my self-designed quilts, I like the back of my quilt more than the front!  I need to take a lesson from that!

At any rate, here is my ‘Sun Dog’ quilt.  It is a hard quilt to photograph an the photo is a bit dark.   I hope you enjoy it!

My First Tutorial

Our guild is having a Quilt Bee block swap this year. This is the first time I've participated in a Bee Block swap. I'm sure you are all familiar with the swap concept but in a nutshell each month a person is the 'Queen Bee'. The Queen Bee picks out a block she or he wants made and passes along to the rest of the 'bees' the directions/tutorial with any other information about how they want the block to look or fit within a completed quilt (palette, preferred fabrics, etc…..) In the month that follows, all the'bees' in the 'hive' make one block from the tutorial given. Those blocks go to the Queen. Then the role of 'Queen of the Hive' rotates to a new Queen.  It is a great way to learn new skills, get a jump start on a quilt and end up with a wide variety of fabrics in your quilt that may not be In your stash.
In February I am Queen bee. 

I have always loved 'I Spy' quilts and Polaroid blocks and now that both my grandchildren have migrated to regular beds I need a quilts that my grandchildren can use when they are at Grandma's house. I would love to make an I Spy quilt for each grandchild.  The challenge is that I don't have a lot of novelty fabric and the novelty fabric I do have my grandchildren have already 'spied' in their quilts on their beds at home. Knowing this I thought an I Spy block would be the perfect block for my month as 'Queen Bee'. There are many I Spy block tutorials on the web but I also wanted to incorporate two other elements, a Polaroid block and an overall wonky design.  Combining a typical Polaroid block with 'liberated' log cabin technique taught in Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking II would be perfect . Since I couldn't find a tutorial for such a block, I decided to write my tutorial.. So here goes!

Wonky Polaroid I Spy Block

Begin by cutting a 2 ½" square block of a focus print. This is the 'photo' that will be centered in the Polaroid block.

Making the Polaroid

The photo is framed by a sewing on a 1 ½ " strip of white fabric on the bottom, a 1" strip of fabric on the top and then a 1" strip of fabric on each side. The fabric should be true white or as close to true white as you have in your stash. When I add the white fabric I do not cut my pieces to size. Such small pieces can be hard to handle. Instead I cut a strip the correct width and then sew the block to the full strip, press and trim to the right length. This works especially well when sewing on the 1" strips. Once you have sewn on your white strips you have created your 'Polaroid' photo. It should measure 4" by 3 ½".

 

 

 
First Wonky Border

Cut 2 ½" strips of a fabric that compliments the 'photo'. Sew a strip on the top, the bottom and then each side. You can cut the strips to size before you sew but I use the same 'strip' method to sew on the borders as I do when I make the Polaroid. There's a slight bit of waste when you do it this way but there is no worry that you cut a strip too short.
 
After you add your borders lay the block down on your cutting board and lay your acrylic ruler across one corner at an angle with the ¼" line touching the corner of the Polaroid border and the edge of your ruler; is ¼" from the corner of the Polaroid. You determine the angle. I try to make sure it tilts the Polaroid while the line of the ruler spans as many inches as possible across the border fabric. Trim.

 
Then take your trimmed side and align it a long a straight line on your mat. On the opposite side of the block align your ruler so the ¼" line is touching the edge of the Polaroid and the edge of your ruler is ¼" away from the corner of the Polaroid. Your ruler should be on the other side of the trimmed side of the Polaroid and parallel to the trimmed side. Trim.

 
Turn your block 90 degrees so that one of the trimmed sides is along a line on your board. Line up your ruler so that the ¼" line is touching the corner of the Polaroid block and the edge of your ruler ¼" away from the corner of the Polaroid. Trim. Turn your block again, align on a straight line and trim as in the other cuts.

 

 
You will now have a rectangle (or it could have turned out square) where the Polaroid is tilted in the middle. Don't worry what size it turned out or that the 'setting' triangles may be different sizes. That's the beauty of wonky! As long as the trimmed edges are ¼" away from the corners of the Polaroid you did fine!

 
Second Wonky Border

Cut 3" strips of a second color that compliments the 'photo'. I've tried several width of strips for this border. Three inch strips seems to give just the right amount of play without too much waste in trimming for a finished 6 1/2" block. The second strip can be a contrasting color or an analogous color. Sew a strip on the top, bottom and both sides. Once this is done take your 6 ½" acrylic ruler and angle it over the block until you get the desired wonky effect you want. One word of caution…….make sure you have at least ¼" distance from the edge of the ruler and the corners of the first border block on all four corners. This allows for the seam allowance in joining the blocks into rows.  Once you have your ruler aligned, trim. You are done! Again, your 'setting' triangles will probably be different sizes and angles. That's okay and the fun of wonky!

The block finishes at 6 1/2 inches square.