Spin Cycle: A Finished Quilt

Sometimes, someone just really deserves a quilt. My friend Melissa certainly did this summer! She's one of my closest friends from college, and I'm so happy for her. She graduated with her PhD, became a college professor, and moved to a whole new apartment, all in a couple of months. And a new, modern apartment needs a quilt, don't you think? In fact, one of my very first quilts was made for her!

"Spin Cycle" is a homage to her graduate school's colors (Penn State). For some reason, I have more blue scraps than any other color, so I dove into that bucket first. After piecing together some panels using brick-by-brick improvisation, I made large half square triangles. 

Ironically, right before I started making this quilt, we had a guild meeting full of linen up for grabs. I scored several yards of a gorgeous navy, and after a nice prewash, it was absolutely perfect for this project. Sometimes, the universe just speaks, you know?

I played with several different layouts before laying the HSTs in a couple of rows, turned at unexpected points. Then, instead of densely quilting the triangles to death to life, the image of a spiral popped out. Quilting a spiral can be time-intensive, but after doing it many times at this point, it's almost second nature to me. I listened to a really great audiobook during this time (Lincoln in the Bardo), and, over a few days, the spiral emerged. That's what the quilt was named for, too!

Out of all my blue threads, Aurifil 2735 (Medium Blue) shone most against the linen, so that's what I chose. I'm really pleased with the crinkle from the dryer, which you can really see below!

For the back of the quilt, I pieced together several large cuts of fabric. Top: First of Infinity, which feels sleek like sateen; middle: the blue linen; bottom: Jumbo Plaid by Pepper Cory for Studio E Fabrics (I LOVE this fabric so much, I hesitated to use it - but what good is it sitting in my fabric stash?).

 

Finally, I bound the whole thing in one of the Me+You batiks by Hoffman Fabrics. I love the whimsy of this print! It was the perfect frame for the navy background.

Melissa loves the quilt; I totally surprised her! I had the opportunity to gift it to her in person last week (the best!!). I hope it brings her much joy in her new home. She even laughed and said she still uses the other quilt I made her (though I'm sure it's probably starting to fall apart; I didn't know much about quilting back then! I've come a lonnnng way).

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Needle and Thread Thursday.

Quilt Ladder Transformation

Now that I've been quilting for 7 years, a certain number of quilts have amassed in my home. Some are class, lecture, and pattern samples, but the majority were simply experiments that brought me unimaginable joy. I might eventually pass on or sell some, but we all have certain quilts we'll hold onto forever (below are some of mine).

I've always coveted a quilt ladder - a tall structure that would allow me to exhibit several quilts at once in a decorative and pleasing way. Plus, it would free up some other quilt storage space. Since we moved into our new place, I've been hemming and hawing about storage, since we still have a few more boxes to bring in from my parent's house.

A couple weeks ago, my dear friend Jenelle (@jmontilone), who I'm lucky to see on a regular basis, texted to ask if I wanted a quilt ladder. Um, yes! This one was salvaged from a local site where a huge plant used to exist. It's even slightly wider at the bottom to accommodate larger quilts! Jenelle cut it down to my desired height (8 feet) and sold it to me for a fair price. We met for lunch and I stuffed the ladder into my car.

Over the next week, I cleaned it up. First, I sprayed it down, let it dry, and sanded it thoroughly to make sure it was easy to handle. No risk of snags, dirt, or splinters, please and thank you! All in all, I'm really pleased with the results. Then, after loading up on sunscreen, I gave it two coats of my mom's dark gray paint (she's known for painting, so she had some extra from another project). I could have easily left the ladder in its wooden state with splashes of white paint on it, but I wanted a more modern look for my home. Thanks, mom. :)

And now, it's in our living area, and I LOVE it (plus, it matches our steely blue-gray curtains and Alison-Glass-fabric-covered ottoman, which I hadn't even planned!). There are a lot of opportunities here. First, it freed up a little space elsewhere. I can used the ladder to display seasonal quilts and table runners. There's the opportunity to fold the quilts in special ways so as to highlight a favorite part (I tried that with the flowers above). Plus, if you walk into the room (if there was any doubt), you'll know that a proud quilter lives here. :) This was a recycling project gone right in my book!

Do you have a quilt ladder or stand? If not, where would you put one in your home?

The Bored Quilter

Quilting can make or break a quilt. It's true. This statement is not meant to make you fret. I don't think quilting has to be perfectly chosen (is there even such a thing?) or perfectly executed to finish a quilt and make it beautiful (have you seen The Great Stitch Length Debate?). However, if you consider your quilting an element of your quilt, it absolutely does matter. It can be more than just utilitarian (holding those layers together).

When I reached the quilting step on the map quilt project, I paused. This was ironic because usually I'm raring to get to that point. But the quilting I had decided on was making me bored already.

I have two rules when it comes to quilting on my home machine:

1. The quilting should enhance the quilt somehow.
2. The quilting step should be FUN. If it is not FUN in some way, I simply choose another route. Because if it's not fun, I shouldn't be doing it!

What do I mean? Well, have you ever straight-line quilted an entire quilt, edge to edge? I have, and it's not fun. This is not to knock straight line quilting (straight lines can be the perfect addition to your quilt!) but if I'm going to do it, I need to distract myself and/or break it up over a week or two. I love quilting, and it's often my happy place, so it needs to be enjoyable.

Back to the map quilt. My plan was to echo quilt every single shape to make them stand out and then densely quilt the white spaces (roads) with straight lines, back and forth. I want to make the shapes stand out. Then, it hit me. Once I let go of perfection (all those echoes being equi-distant, mostly), it became a game. And it went much faster than I expected, because I was changing thread colors (and enjoying it) plus listening to an awesome audiobook (Britt-Marie Was Here, which I talked about more in today's newsletter). It's coming along.

So, in between book projects, I'm looking forward to quilting this quilt now. I just need to find another audiobook since I finished this one. :)

If you're dreading a step of the quilting process, how do you make it fun? I'd love to know!