I’ve finished another pieced quilt top; this one is from a great quilting book, Jelly Roll Quilts. I’ve never owned a jelly roll, but I wanted some fairly simple patterns that used strip piecing. For this quilt, I cut all those fat quarters I’ve had forever into 2-1/2” strips, and used some white-on-white fabric for the connecting strips (cut into 1-1/2” strips).
There were a LOT of seams in this quilt, and so it was pretty disheartening to realize that my 1/4” quilting foot isn’t really 1/4”, and my blocks were off. I was able to trim them and save the quilt, but if you look closely you can see some mismatched seams!
I decided to make this quilt before using the fabric I showed in my last post; I wanted a little more practice on making a pieced quilt, and I thought I wouldn’t mind “wasting” all those fat quarters if it didn’t turn out. I’m actually pretty happy with it. It took a week to cut and piece the top, so I’m too tired to quilt it now, but that will be my next big project.
I’ve enjoyed this “break” from feeling like I have to be creative. It’s been nice to have a pattern to follow, and rote tasks to complete step-by-step. I feel like completing these pieced quilts has ordered and centered my thinking a little, and now I'm feeling a little more anxious to get back to more creative projects.
In fact, I felt a real need to do something free-form and fast and fun. The other day, I stopped by my Mom’s house and saw all the fabric postcards I’ve sent her displayed in her hallway next to the family photos. I realized I haven’t sent her one in a while, so I thread-painted flowers onto silk and turned it into a PC for her:
I also owe a friend in Chicago a postcard, so I made this one from stitched paper:
As I mentioned a post or two back, the pieced quilts I've been making have been “practice” for the queen-sized quilt I want to make for our bed. I’m not sure whether I’ve worked up enough self-confidence to start on that one yet, or whether I need to make one more practice quilt first. I guess I’ll know when I get there!
5 comments:
Wow! I am really impressed. I have only do 1 small pieced quilt and that took forever. Nice job.
I love your quilt and I always consider any mismatched seams & small imperfections as part of the character of the quilts, they all have their own personality.
If you keep making them, you get better & better at it and the confidence develops over time.
And, your postcards are wondeful!
I love the floral postcard you created. That quilt looks like a great and quick way to burn through your stash.
It's a very cheerful looking quilt. In the small photo, any unevenness (whether from piecing or hanging) looks like curved seams and makes it more intriquing.
the quilt looks fabulous and i love that paper-stitched postcard too.
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