Squares and String

I have abandoned (for now anyway) Marisa’s Surprise Baby Quilt in favor of something a little more “me.”

The Denyse Schmdt quilt I based it on was graphic and bold and modern…in pictures. In person, the graphic quality of the concentric squares was secondary to the texture created by the log cabin construction. And that was the problem. Log cabin quilts are beautiful, but very “country” in style, and that is just not my thing, and certainly not Marisa’s. I think my color choice may not have helped either, in the inspiration quilts, the colors are very close in value, and mine weren’t as much, and that in a way may have hurt it, but more so than that was the very obvious log cabin pattern.

I made a log cabin knitted quilt (the Anniversary Blanket, which is becoming the Housewarming Blanket shortly) using concentric squares, but it was much more successful because the knitted texture and the very fact that it was knitted at all played down the style of quilt it was. I was hoping to recapture some of that look, but it’s not to be. So now I’m thinking of giving the fabric new life in a more representational form, I’m thinking of rolling hills, and embroidered tress and a circle of life kind of idea…we’ll see, I have time with that one.

But in the meantime, inspiration struck again in the fabric store.

I was there to find some patterned fabrics to throw into the mix with the Surprise Quilt, in hopes of getting me interested again. I picked a pale yellow with brown polka dots, which I loved, and thought I could work in there, somewhere. And then I found a great Civil War repro fabric with, thorny vines all over it… with red flowers. There is no red in the Surprise Quilt. Then I saw a sweet toile in white and pale pink… and more tan… and then the new quilt was born.

I picked a tan, white, pale yellow, pink and red scheme, with bright blue as an accent. Some dots, some stripes, some all-over flower patterns. All in fabrics I loved.

1. I still loved the idea of the Schmidt inspiration, but switched it up a little to be closer to the Buncha Squares look. Then, needed a new construction plan. In the end, here’s what I did:
   
   Using my 6” plastic template, I cut 3-4 squares from each of my fabrics. How many was decided by how much of the fabric I had, some of it was fat quarters or less, and some of it was yardage (1 at the most).
   
2. Then cut 3-4 strips from each fabric, 6” long by varying widths. Also didn’t worry too much about straight lines (corners were not square, but edges were straight.)
   
3. Then cut my freezer paper into squares of all sizes, 4-sided but not square corners. Ironed it to fabric and cut 3-4 small squares from each fabric.
   
4. Took a 6” square and a strip, and sewed the strip to roughly the center of the square, making sure that when I folded back the strip, it would overlap the square edge. In the cases were I miscalculated, I simply appliquéd the other side of the strip in place, with made the strip into more of a stripe.
   
5. Positioned the small square next to the strip in roughly the center of the large square, pinned it in place and appliquéd it down. Repeat with all the other squares.

As I went, I cut the backing fabric out of the appliqué to cut down on bulk, and did the same in back of the strip where it overlapped the large square.

The result is what I’m calling the Squares and String Quilt. I’m still debating how I want to assemble it, whether all the “Strings” (strips) will be going in the same direction, or maybe alternating in a rail fence pattern. I bought a bunch of muslin today for another project, maybe I’ll use some of it for sashing. I’ve got about 12-14 blocks done, so plenty of time to decide. So far, it’s been fun.

I’ve learned a lot by both of these projects, one important thing being: experiment with your ideas before buying a crapload of fabric. I could have saved some money on the solid fabrics if I had done that with the Drunk Love quilt.

But more than that, I’ve realized that sometimes quilting can be like sketching, you can try different things, and if they don’t work out the way you hope or expect, you can rip threads and try again. You can experiment with ideas on a small scale before going crazy all out with yards of fabric. And the more I work, the faster I get, to the point where I can enjoy the process without getting bogged down in the process.All in all, I feel like I’ve rediscovered my creativity and expression. It may be kind of old-fashioned, and not very cutting edge, but if I can be happy with what I’m producing and love the process, beginning to end, then it’s good. It’s very good.