Category: Projects

How many Color Stack quilts have I made?  Maybe half a dozen, if you count the baby size versions I’ve given away.  Yet here I am today, with another one.  This was an experiment in toning down the color and contrast while still making all those strips interesting.  I’m calling it my Faded Color Stack quilt.

This version was made with softer colors, such as pinks and purples, peaches and some low volume prints.  I added in a little red, brown, and darker purple to ensure there would be good contrast throughout.  But color-wise, this is a softer quilt.

This Faded Color Stack quilt was a gift to my daughter’s best friend Abby and her husband and son, so the fabrics were selected with her in mind.  I love the way they came together.  Definitely faded or toned down, but still lots of movement and interest throughout.  It reminds me a little of this baby version , but with a bit more color.

I quilted it on my longarm in horizontal rows, alternating the quilting designs as I went along.  The thread is gold, and I love how it looks.  I got lucky in general on this one, because I like the quilting.  What a relief!  For the back I chose a lawn so it’s extra soft and lightweight.

My binding is a Victoria & Albert print I’d never have predicted for binding, but it felt like the right match.  It sort of blends all the colors together without emphasizing one too much, and yet it also frames the quilt nicely.

My Color Stack pattern has become a favorite make for me.  It’s simple to choose fabrics for, fast and fun to sew, but also a bit of a challenge to pair colors together and arrange them across the quilt.  I have started another in all blues, this for a friend also.  It’s fun to have an interesting, modern “go to” quilt pattern and I suppose the Color Stack is mine.

I’m happy to have the Faded Color Stack Quilt off on it’s adventure with the Serr family.  I hope they love it and use it to make lots of memories!

I finished a quilt top!  It was an easy one to put together, and it felt like a great way to begin a new month.  Four simple rows, large top and bottom borders, and it is ready for quilting. Here is my Bow Quilt top!

After finishing all the blocks , I didn’t worry much about the layout.  I believe I’ve shared this before, but I don’t typically stress much about block layout when piecing together a quilt.  It seems like there will always be a reason to keep moving them around.  I guess I’m too impatient for that; I just want to sew them together!  But it’s more, because I feel like part of the beauty is letting them fall where they may.  If you’re going to say it’s a “random” layout, why fuss over it for an hour?

For example, I honestly didn’t think twice about the aqua fabrics being so close to one another until I took this photo.  I think if all the colors and fabrics in the quilt are beautiful together, then it shouldn’t matter much where they all end up.  So that’s what I did, and I like it.

Sewing my blocks together got me excited about this project once again.  I am planning several more complex applique projects, and was anxious to complete this one.  My bow blocks had ceased to be interesting to me, but together they look so cute!

My daughter Liberty took one look at these blocks and decided it’s her favorite quilt ever, which makes me happy.  I’ll give the quilt to her when it’s finished.  The pattern is the Bow Quilt by Carolyn Friedlander , and I highly recommend it.  Carolyn’s patterns are always well written and fun to make.  I altered mine, though, and split the background fabric in half, sewing one piece to the top and one to the bottom.  This places the rainbows across the center of the quilt instead of at the bottom.  Liberty agreed.  We both want the rainbows to be seen easily across the center.

I feel great about finishing my Bow Quilt top.  I nearly set this project aside to work on other things, but decided to finish it instead.  Now I’m happy to have my first quilt top of the year instead of another stack of blocks, and another item on my list.  Perhaps 2023 can be a year for finishing old projects?  With QuiltCon 2023 around the corner, it feels good to have this one done.  No need to let it languish past the year mark.

Hooray for a finished quilt top!

This quilt is the result of simple experimentation and working with what you’ve got on hand.  Some time ago a customer asked for help resizing blocks in my Giant Hunter’s Star pattern .  Just for fun, I made a block to test my math before sending her the measurements.  Months later, not knowing what else to do with it, I made some more.  I had a lot of the Denyse Schmidt floral and figured it would be good to use it up.  Then I ran out of pink fabric, so I added the green, and this is how I came to make a Hunter’s Star Nine Patch quilt.

It’s a fun twist on the traditional Hunter’s star quilt.  I’ve made a lot of them, you can see some here , and here .

I’ve made scrappy Hunter’s star quilts before, but never one with two distinct second colors.  And I like it.  I think it’s really fun.

Like too many others, this quilt top waited a very long time for quilting.  And like my Raspberry Applique quilt, I had a good idea for the quilting but wasn’t able to execute like I hoped.  It’s a combination of my poor novice skills and the limitations of my machine.  You can see that I tried!

But once again, a finished quilt is more useful than a quilt top, so I’m happy it’s done.  I really enjoyed adding the nine patch twist to an old favorite.  Exploring ways to combine quilt patterns is a good way to get creative juices flowing.

I used the remainder of the Denyse Schmidt floral fabric on the back of the quilt (I still remember buying it for $2.40/yard on a crazy clearance sale years ago), and the rest of my green solid finished off the corner.

My final bit of pink solid was barely enough to bind the quilt, and I also finished it on my machine to give my elbow a break from binding.  It was nice to use up three pieces of fabric in making this quilt.

One less quilt top in the queue means I’m making progress!

What are you working on?  I hope you’re enjoying it, whatever it is.

Happy Sewing!