give the past the slip (you must WIP it!)
In the continuing adventures of #youmustwipit Phase 1, I pulled out the bits of a quilt top last seen 69 weeks ago.
Okay, so if memory serves, what was going on was that I had bought a fat-eighth bundle of Hand Drawn Garden and matching solids from Westwood Acres. I had used most of it to make my test quilt for my Flyers pattern (pattern not out yet, sorry).
The Flyers quilt is mostly half-square triangles that are cut on the Accuquilt, and so the scraps were half-square triangles and a few string pieces. I had decided to challenge myself to see if I could make a whole ‘nother quilt from the scraps of a fat-eighth bundle.
I found a block in one of my quilt encyclopedia’s that looked like this:
I can’t lay my hands on that exact book at the moment (I'm sure it's in a box somewhere) to give you the information on the book and what they call that block. But you can find things very similar to this block under a variety of names in a variety of books, websites, and pieces of software: Double X, Wild Geese, Flying Birds, Triangle Charm. I thought that would be a fun block to use. After a bit of play on the design wall, I started making blocks like this:
Somehow, having one color be consistent and putting it on point makes all the difference! Since this block seems to have different names based on color and value placement, and I made my own, I've decided to name it "Merging Birds." Feel free to use this block, it's fun! It's a 9-patch of half-square triangles.
I remember making as many blocks as I had fabric for and then trying to figure out how to integrate the leftover half-square triangles and scrappy bits. That picture from 69 weeks ago at the top of this post was the result. I remember being excited by the layout that I photographed, but then putting it all away. Why? I’m not sure. I have a faint memory of running out of the Architextures print I was using as the white. And I think I may have needed to move on to something that was on a deadline? What really matters is that these pieces all ended up in a tray for over a year.
When I pulled them back out, I didn’t immediately recreate the old layout, but instead fiddled for a bit and made this new layout…
I loved it almost as much as (or possibly more than?) the old layout. As one of my instagram commenters noted, this one does look rather "on trend." I think it has a certain April Rhodes flair to it.
I was a bit torn about whether to piece the old layout or the new. I decided to play with what was leftover from new layout to see if I could/would use the rest of the blocks and scraps. And I got this…which I really liked…
I decided to listen to the wise words of Devo and not just “whip it good” but also “give the past the slip” and make the two new layouts rather than the old one.
I finished the last one first…
An apology about these photos--I'm motivated to get these quilt tops finished and recorded, but not necessarily photographed perfectly at this stage. We're fighting with winds and sub-zero temperatures and crazy light right now. I promise to get everything photographed properly when these are quilted and bound.
I call this quilt “Feast.” It has three of those merging birds blocks across the middle; below them are the darker half-square triangles, which give way to the darkest of the scrap strips. Above the merging birds blocks were the leftover yellow half-square triangles, which give way to the Architextures print. The very top is a half-square triangle and the littlest scraps. That happened because I didn’t have enough fabric to do it another way!
I found the process of finding a fabric to set the piecing into pretty interesting.
I’m trying to work from my stash for these #youmustWIPit quilts. Since I needed large cuts for the background, I had only a few options. I tried first with a vintage sheet. Then with a gray solid. Then a weird turquoise woven fabric that my friend Lynn had cleared out of her stash. I loved the way the quilt starting singing next to that turquoise. But, I only had enough of it to do some of the surrounding area. Thankfully, I kind of liked the two-toned background that I had made by accident when auditioning backgrounds! When I tried a dotty stripe next to the turquoise and loved that, it was decided! Feast was pieced, photographed, and then filed away with my other flimsies. WIP IT GOOD!
The second finish is “Homestead.” I was really glad I had gone nuts and stashed a ton of this navy and white print from Carolyn Friedlander's new line Doe, because it goes perfectly with the navy and white print from her Architextures line. I simply love what I was able to do in keeping the print at the same angles as the blocks!
This one is going to be so fun to quilt--but for now, it's folded up with it's flimsy family.
I made three quilts mostly from a fat-eights pack + a solid and/or blender! And I love all three. There are still a few tiny scraps left; I've thrown them into the general scrap bin rather than trying to eek out a fourth quilt (let's not go crazy!)
**I have a professional affiliation with Accuquilt.
I found a block in one of my quilt encyclopedia’s that looked like this:
I can’t lay my hands on that exact book at the moment (I'm sure it's in a box somewhere) to give you the information on the book and what they call that block. But you can find things very similar to this block under a variety of names in a variety of books, websites, and pieces of software: Double X, Wild Geese, Flying Birds, Triangle Charm. I thought that would be a fun block to use. After a bit of play on the design wall, I started making blocks like this:
Somehow, having one color be consistent and putting it on point makes all the difference! Since this block seems to have different names based on color and value placement, and I made my own, I've decided to name it "Merging Birds." Feel free to use this block, it's fun! It's a 9-patch of half-square triangles.
I remember making as many blocks as I had fabric for and then trying to figure out how to integrate the leftover half-square triangles and scrappy bits. That picture from 69 weeks ago at the top of this post was the result. I remember being excited by the layout that I photographed, but then putting it all away. Why? I’m not sure. I have a faint memory of running out of the Architextures print I was using as the white. And I think I may have needed to move on to something that was on a deadline? What really matters is that these pieces all ended up in a tray for over a year.
When I pulled them back out, I didn’t immediately recreate the old layout, but instead fiddled for a bit and made this new layout…
I loved it almost as much as (or possibly more than?) the old layout. As one of my instagram commenters noted, this one does look rather "on trend." I think it has a certain April Rhodes flair to it.
I was a bit torn about whether to piece the old layout or the new. I decided to play with what was leftover from new layout to see if I could/would use the rest of the blocks and scraps. And I got this…which I really liked…
I decided to listen to the wise words of Devo and not just “whip it good” but also “give the past the slip” and make the two new layouts rather than the old one.
I finished the last one first…
An apology about these photos--I'm motivated to get these quilt tops finished and recorded, but not necessarily photographed perfectly at this stage. We're fighting with winds and sub-zero temperatures and crazy light right now. I promise to get everything photographed properly when these are quilted and bound.
I call this quilt “Feast.” It has three of those merging birds blocks across the middle; below them are the darker half-square triangles, which give way to the darkest of the scrap strips. Above the merging birds blocks were the leftover yellow half-square triangles, which give way to the Architextures print. The very top is a half-square triangle and the littlest scraps. That happened because I didn’t have enough fabric to do it another way!
I found the process of finding a fabric to set the piecing into pretty interesting.
The second finish is “Homestead.” I was really glad I had gone nuts and stashed a ton of this navy and white print from Carolyn Friedlander's new line Doe, because it goes perfectly with the navy and white print from her Architextures line. I simply love what I was able to do in keeping the print at the same angles as the blocks!
This one is going to be so fun to quilt--but for now, it's folded up with it's flimsy family.
I made three quilts mostly from a fat-eights pack + a solid and/or blender! And I love all three. There are still a few tiny scraps left; I've thrown them into the general scrap bin rather than trying to eek out a fourth quilt (let's not go crazy!)
**I have a professional affiliation with Accuquilt.