I was at the dentist the other day. We’ve all seen that overhead light. It suddenly struck me that there was a face above me – I love the row of bottom teeth – I couldn’t actually see them from where I was sitting, but the positioning of the iPhone picked up that reflection. Other-worldy, don’t you think?
This quilt uses a combination of Kaffe Fassett large print fabrics with contrasting pieces of Fossil Fern (Benartex). The quilt turned out quite a bit larger than my other quilts – not quite a twin bed size. So the back had to have an embellishment to extend the single length of backing fabric I had.
[Someone asked whether I had a pattern – I didn’t – I’d seen a photo and could immediately see the whole was constructed as a 9-patch with a “solid” square at the centre (I used a KF fabric centre) and surrounded it with 8 HST squares which I constructed from the KF fabric and a light fabric (I used a number of different Benartex light Fossil Fern fabrics I had in my stash). I’d suggest using the same pale fabric throughout if you’re new to quilting – easier to see how to arrange the blocks.
The HST are arranged to form a 4-point star around the centre square. The outer corners are triangles from the KF fabrics. All my KF fabrics were in shades of red or deep pink so they all blended and could be placed against one another. My quilt top was a 3 x 4 array of the 9-patch blocks. Where they join you have a square, on point, made from four different KF triangles.]
The quilt was embroidered in my 360 X 350 hoop using a large design I created – that allowed me to quilt 4 squares at a time!
I finished this quilt this morning. It’s based on an idea of Joe Cunningham – Pattern-free quilt making (a Craftsy class) – Fantasy Four Patch. The idea is simple – take two fabrics (one dark, one light), cut 1 strip from each: 5 1/2″, 4 1/2″, 3 1/2″, 2 1/2″, 1 1/2″. Sew them in pairs to make 6 1/2″ strips, then cut the strips: 5 1/2″, 4 1/2″, 3 1/2″, 2 1/2″, 1 1/2″. Again, sew together in pairs to make 6 1/2″ blocks! Now start laying them out to make a design pleasing to you – there are no rules here. I wanted a 5 X 7 array so I needed 35 blocks. I could have done a 6 X 8 array which would have needed 48 blocks – you get the idea.
This was my idea – to draw the colour concentration from the dark fabric toward the light fabric to get a colour flow. I tossed in three small bits of contrasting fabric to catch the eye.
The binding carries on the colour flow extending the dark into the light.
Because this is a small quilt (~42″ X 54″) I was able to back it with a single (unpieced) WOF (width of fabric) panel so there’s nothing to show on the back.
I enjoyed making this quilt. It went very quickly.
Forgot to post a photo of this pair of socks – I knit them for a friend initially (large size), but because she’s also a knitter I thought she might be offended if I gave them to her so I gave them to another friend who isn’t a knitter!
I bought the variegated yarn initially to make another shawl, (I had skeins of navy, green and pale blue in my stash which would have been enough for the shawl), but decided I wasn’t up for that investment of time, so I used the variegated yarn for this pair of socks.
This is the state of my sewing room: at the top is the enlarged photo for the next art/landscape quilt of the two boys, below that is the pattern and fabric for a jeans jacket I want to make in the next couple of weeks, on the seat of the sofa are two quilts that are stitched in the ditch but need to be quilted, and fabric and ideas for one quilt from a stack of fat quarters and another from a jellyroll. Lots to do and not enough hours in the day! First to finish the two nearly done quilts, then the jacket, I think, before I tackle the two new quilts. Endless ideas for projects.
Finished this pair while I was in Toronto last week. The two socks aren’t an exact match – it was difficult to actually locate the start of the “pattern” so I just started on the second sock where I left off. The stripes make a “match” irrelevant. These go into the give-away pile. And I was on to the next pair.
Finished this pair the other day and sent them off yesterday to my friend Andrea in Newfoundland. I’m hoping the foot is long enough for her – if not, she knows to send them back and I’ll adjust the length.
Next pair is already on the go – can’t leave the needles unoccupied!
Finished this afternoon, the lap quilt made using half-square triangles using the Japanese sample fabrics that I bought at the yard sale in Portland Oregon last spring. I didn’t arrange the blocks in any of the usual half-square triangle patterns – Instead I set up two blocks near the “top” and worked in a “frame” around them, then filled in the remaining space creating diagonal rows – at the same time I was also trying to create a bit of colour flow – difficult because the colourful floral blocks were so different in hue. The border took a bit of care, I wanted the diagonal joins to flow from the diagonal lines in the pieced top – I found the way to do that was to make sure the seams aligned first, basted them in place to make sure the line worked, then stitched the rest of the border piece. The overall effect I wanted was to have an indigo quilt with colourful triangles embedded in it. I used the indigo fabric with the circles on the back – A WOF (width of fabric) piece was wide enough for the backing so there is no embellishment on the back. Notice the embroidered dragonflies on the top. I quilted in the hoop using a sashiko single run overall design in each block and a modification of the design in the border. I intentionally used a dark navy variegated thread front and back so the embroidery doesn’t stand out but creates a quilted look. The striped binding was a third indigo fabric from the collection that had the other two.
Just got the Pinterest Weekly and found a quilt I’d made (photographed on my bed) attributed to someone else! I thought I ought to set the record straight: I have done seven quilts, either using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, or based on photos of his quilts I’ve found online.
#1: At the time I didn’t have any Kaffe Fassett fabrics so I took his idea (which I’d seen online) and made it using batiks I had in my stash. The backing is a single fabric.
#2: I had no sooner started #1 when I realized I could do something more with the way the colours were assembled and started #2 – setting it up to tell a colour story. The back of this quilt is also a single fabric.
#3: The idea of a colour story grew when I came across the Kaffe Fassett diamonds quilt – this quilt has 650+ pieces including diamonds and borders and partial diamonds on the outer edges. Back of quilt is still a single fabric.
#4: This quilt uses Kaffe Fassett fabrics but is built on a vanishing 4-patch. This was one of the first quilts where I did something interesting on the second side – I had to because the quilt was wider than WOF (width of fabric) and I needed more width than my backing fabric provided.
#5: A Kaffe Fassett idea (from one of his books – although I worked entirely from an image on Pinterest) using batik fabric from my stash. The back of this quilt is a single run of fabric.
#6: This is the quilt I found on Pinterest attributed to someone else! It’s both Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the squares as well as based on a Kaffe Fassett quilt (again from an image of a quilt he did which I found online). This quilt has a pieced second side using left over bits of fabric from the top using a “jellyroll race” technique to make the inserted strip.
#7: This quilt uses Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the central squares of each block – it isn’t a Kaffe Fassett design, I don’t believe. Again the inspiration came from a photo I found online. The back is also pieces using leftover blocks from the front of the quilt.
So these are my Kaffe Fassett quilts to date – either made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics or from images of quilts he’s done which I’ve found online. I still have quite a bit of Kaffe Fassett fabric in my stash so there will be more quilts…
So, this morning I went through photos to see what I might attempt next as an art quilt… Here’s an idea 
The image is a composite – the sidewalk beside the Public Gardens in Halifax and Ben and Zach at the Toronto Zoo. The original Zoo image background was just too dull to bother using – so I cut the boys out and added them to an enlargement of the background scene. I have to do it all again making careful adjustments to the enlargements, and the boys need to be played with quite a bit in Photoshop because I need to sharpen the detail and add a bit more sunlight/highlights so they aren’t so dark.
I have a few other ideas as well:
Halifax in the fog from across the harbour
Paragliding from Second Beach, Parrsboro NS
Sailboats in Halifax Harbour
jmn 