Genesis of a Quilt, Part 3: Layout and Design

This shows pretty clearly the edge and corner blocks, which are different from the main block design.  The edge blocks are basically half a regular block, and the corner blocks only have a quarter of the regular block.

One thing that doesn't show up too clearly in the layout is the individual patterns of the various fabrics, but that's okay at this step.  What you are seeing is a high-level view of colors and movement, and not a close-up view of the intricate patterns found in the batik fabrics.

There is a nice secondary pattern or two developing in the layout - white diamonds, and colored blocks surrounding them.  Secondary patterns are always fun to find, and make a quilt design more interesting - the eye continues to follow the different patterns and look around and around the quilt.

Now that the blocks are all completed, the next step is to lay them out to make the quilt design.  I used a plastic, flannel-backed tablecloth as my design wall.  My goal is to have different fabrics where the blocks meet, and to have a randomized pattern between the blocks.  

The actual quilt will look a bit different, as the blocks will be surrounded by sashing and posts, but more on that later.

The design wall worked great, except that it was too short.  Also, note to self: if using this particular setup again, be sure to capture the layout immediately.  I left it hanging, went to the store, and came back, and most of the blocks had slipped off the design wall and fallen to the floor.  

Genesis of a Quilt: Making the Quilt Blocks

Here's the stack of all the different HSTs and 2.5" squares for the quilt.Each block takes 2 pairs of different matching HSTs and one 2.5" square, plus 2 other HSTs and one background 2.5" square.

Laying out a block starts with one of the single HSTs in the upper right corner/

Now I'm adding a single 2.5" square with 2 matching HSTs, plus the background 2.5" square.

Here's a complet block laid out and ready for stitching.  The lower right corner consists of a 2.5" block and 2 matching HSTs.  The lower left corner is one of the single HSTs.

At this point, after stitching blocks together, it's important to press the seams open.

Blocks are stitched together two at a time, then pressed open.  I keep them organized in the pattern (or maybe upside down) so that I don't stitch anything wrong.

This is a complete middle row of the block.  You can see the pressed seam on the right, and the soon to be pressed seam on the left. 

All pressed up and ready to go into the final block.

The rows are now stitched and pressed and ready to be assembled.

Here are all three rows ready to assemble.

The complete block from the back...

...and the front.

Another completed block, with different colors.

The quilt will be made of 80 of these blocks, plus some corner and edge blocks.

Genesis of a Quilt: Making the Half-square triangles

Each background 3" square is marked on the diagonal.

Half-square triangles are going to be stitched from a background square and a color square.  Each combination will make 2 half-square triangles.

This is a close-up showing the bright colors on the right and the confetti background on the left.

The first seam is made a scant quarter-inch to the left of the marked diagonal line.

Squares are chained together as the diagonals are sewn.

The chained squares are then reversed for the next seam.

The second seam is made on the opposite side of the diagonal, again a scant quarter-inch away from the marked line.

After the seams are completed, the chain of squares is separated.

Each set is now cut along the diagonal, leaving a pair of triangles.  The triangles will be opened up to make squares.

Squares to be cut apart on the left and yellow triangles on the right.

Here's a pile of yellow and orange triangles ready for the next step.

I've laid out the triangles on the ironing board.  First the triangles are pressed to set the seam, and then they are opened up and the seam pressed away from the background fabric.

Here's what they look like after the squares are pressed open.

The yellow and orange half-square triangles (HST) were the last of the various colors to make.  Here's a shot of the temporary storage box containing all the different colors for the quilt.

This next step is vital - trimming the HSTs to the exact size needed. 

Using a 6" square tool, the first cut trims two sides of the square, making sure the diagonals are lined up.

After taking the newly cut edges and lining them up on the 2 1/2 inch marks, the other sides are trimmed.

This shows the perfect HST under the tool and the excess fabric that has been cut away.

Here's a final view of a pile of perfect 2 1/2" HSTs on the right, with all the excess strips on the left.  You can see how important this step is - if the strips were left in, there is no way that the squares would line up and lay flat.  

Redwork Teddy Bears

This quilt is one I made for Alexis and Jimmy's daughter Catherine. The kit came from Jack Dempsey's needle arts. I had lots of fun embroidering the bears - they were all different and had their own personalities. I used a red marble for the sashing and pink hearts for the backing. Virginia Gore did the machine quilting.

<

Rocking Horses

This baby quilt for Noemi R. is a departure from my usual quilting style. The kit was purchased at Stitching Corner, which was located in West Jordan, UT. The fabric squares are fleece, and I used my Pfaff embroidery unit to create the rocking horses on alternate squares. The backing was a soft pastel flannel. The quilt was tied with a pink crochet thread and completed in March of 2006.

Sunflowers

The Sunflowers wall hanging belongs to Sean R. of Westford, MA. The pattern called for lots of little tiny pieces assembled to create the flowers. Because of the sizes and shapes of the pieces, it wasn't possible to do any time-saving steps like strip piecing except for the border, which was constructed from strip sets of orange, gold and yellow. I pieced the flowers from various greens, oranges, golds and yellows and did the machine quilting as well. The quilt was finished in March of 2005.