Pastel Pinwheels: Ready, Set, Go!

Last year, I completed this Pastel Pinwheels quilt top which originated from an abandoned project. When I wrote about this quilt top last year, it was a UFO of blocks made many years ago. I stopped working on the project because I really wasn’t sure how to put them together (sashing, straight set, or what?).

Back then, I vascillated because adding a sash meant the quilt top would be somewhat large, larger than I wanted to hand quilt. Back then, I surely didn’t think about making double-sashings around the blocks, much less a scrappy strip pieced sashing like the one I finally chose to do. But I’m very happy that I added the scrappy strips to each of the blocks because I think that it adds to the vintage-era look. In this example, the final result was worth the wait.

Now that I have my longarm and 4 finished quilts under-my-belt, I’m ready to quilt this one. I’ve already decided that the pinwheel blades will probably be feather-quilted. And I think that the triangles in the blocks will be closely stippled. Getting the Pastel Pinwheels quilt top loaded onto the frame and quilting it will be such fun for me because I don’t often work in pastel colors.

This quilt top seemed to be begging for a final border that would put a frame around the scrappy strip borders already on the quilt.

Adding a final border will give the small Nine Patch blocks more prominence now, too.

For the final border, I decided to use a soft blue 30s print, and since didn’t have enough of anything that would work, I bought some. I found a perfect print from the Everything But The Kitchen Sink line to use (see the bottom of the photo).

And while searching for the border fabric, I spotted a fantastic Kaffe Fassett retro print that was a must-have for the backing. (the fabric is on the left of the below photo.) I bought 5 yards of that print, so the Pastel Pinwheels backing will be a bright and colorful daisy field to admire when it’s quilted. As an added bonus, I should have enough left over to make my 20-month old granddaughter a pair of pants, too: Baby Girl Goes Retro. How cool is that?!

Confession time: I also bought other fabrics because I’ve been so darn good about using my stash for the past couple of years. I’ve done so well, in fact, that I’m actually getting low in several color groups. I’ve been a good Stashbuster. Honest…. But, admittedly, there’s some darn nice fabric out there!

Quilted Coils

Peaches & Plums has been fully quilted and now I’m ready to add a binding. The quilt is going to be given to my Mother and I just sent her the photo in an email. She’s gonna like it, I’m sure.

I was doodling some coils before I began quilting it on my longarm yesterday. I came up with this coiled design that reminds me of snakes coiled together in an Escheresque manner.

The single coils look rather innocent, but all of the coils together give a very different mood. Just look at the backside!! Can you feel the rhythm of spring-loaded coils bouncing around: boing boing boing!!

Quilting these coils in an all-over design was so fun. I purposely made them off-kilter and different sizes, as this echoes the blocks and how they were stitched together. Everything about this quilt is a little wacky. Like the quiltmaker!

Appalachian Quilt Trail

Nestled along some of the backroads of eastern Tennessee are large quilt blocks mounted on country barns or on historic buildings.

These mounted quilt blocks are defining the Appalachian Quilt Trail which began just 4 years ago in Grainger County, Tennessee. There are more than a dozen different AQT organized routes to spot these bright, cheerful quilt blocks. And maps provide the directions for an AQT trip.

The Appalachian Quilt Trail (the “AQT”) was originally created to boost the economy of the Appalachian area of eastern Tennessee. The Trail also pays homage to the Appalachian quilting tradition and heritage.

These colorful quilt block designs have been painted on large wooden squares that measure either 4 feet square or 8 feet square. In many communities, the large wooden blocks are painted by local community organizations or school children.

Photos of more AQT mounted quilt blocks can be found in the Knoxville news article.

Peaches & Plums

I’ve just finished sewing a lap size quilt top for my Mother. I wanted to work with peach tones for this quilt because the Virginia peach season is almost here. I have such fond memories of our family’s old peach trees and of freshly sliced peaches. Of course, I especially remember our warm from the oven peach cobblers….

Luckily, I had enough in my stash to work with. Peaches, mauves, and pinks are among my mother’s favorite colors. Once I gathered my palette of fabrics, I added a light plum fabric, too, just for some pizazz. Besides, our plums are ready to pick off the trees.

I’m calling this one Peaches & Plums. Not original, but certainly in-the-moment.

The design is a variation of the basic Log Cabin patchwork block. Sewing the blocks was fairly quick because I chain pieced the strips. A dozen blocks were made in no time and I’m anxious to load it on the longarm to quilt! I think my Mom is gonna like this one.

I enjoy working in series and the Peaches & Plums quilt is from a design that I began last year. The below photo is a wall quilt called Dance Of The Sunbeams, made last autumn. This photo shows the basic patchwork, before applique and embellishments took over that wall quilt.

Quilted Hearts & Swirls

The Stacks of Coins quilt was finished over the weekend. The backing for the quilt is a fantastic red cotton print that I’d been hoarding for a very long time. It looks super on the flip side of this quilt.

I thought that I’d free-motion some hearts and swirls over the entire quilt. I wanted the hearts to go in all directions so I had to teach my brain to free-motion some of those hearts upside down as well as sideways. It was odd at first, and if you don’t have a longarm, try it with doodling…..It’s like typing on a keyboard with your hands crossed!

Re-teaching yourself a different eye-hand coordination is tough, but it’s a good brain exercise. Once you think the process through and can remember the starting point for an upside down design, it’s not too difficult. After a few trials, I found the flip-side, so to speak, and then the rhythm began. At that point, it was really fun.

After a couple of hours and a few breaks, the Stacks of Coins was finished and I took it off the frame. Once I trimmed the layers, I had enough leftover backing to cut my binding.

I already love how the red binding will put a bit of zinger along the outer portions of this quilt. I’ll be sure to spend some time sewing down the binding today. This is one of the parts of quilting that I dearly LOVE!