Monday, October 12, 2009

Fall Quilt Festival

My entry for Amy's Fall Quilt Festival is the quilt top I made on Saturday, 'Snippets.' The story isn't special, but it's the story of how I work. Remember these pincushions? Well, that's where this quilt began. The "snippets", the centers of the blocks, are leftovers from my pincushion making session. The route to this quilt was a bit circuitous.
With the pincushion leftovers, I put them together sort of like this quilt (I've been thinking about snippets for awhile.) I used a recycled linen dress for the background. I ended up with two 20" square blocks that I fully intended to make into pillows. After looking at them on the design wall I didn't love them, in fact I didn't even like them. So, out came the rotary cutter (I didn't take the time to rip), I sliced and diced and ended up with a bunch of snippets. I sewed some together to lengthen them. I was thinking elongate...so I did. I used the rest of the dress to frame the new snippets. So far, so good. I was liking what I saw. I wanted some color, so next step was to add more sashing. I looked inside the snippets and pulled some great red and blue fabric from my stash...dots, numbers, pez, all sorts of snazzy fabric. I sashed ALL of the blocks in red and blue and put them on the design wall, stood back and my heart sank. That wasn't it at all. The snazzy prints overwhelmed the snippets. In fact, they simply disappeared.

At that point my hubby brought down Saturday's mail. It was my fabric order from Anina and in that package was a yard of Michael Miller's garden pindots. I pinned the fabric on the design wall...that was it, so more slashing...again no ripping, I cut and slashed and then I resashed the snippets. I would love to say that the blue block was a design decision, but I simply ran out of the pindots. It's serendipity, though...I love that one blue block.
The red pindots sparkle from across the room, and seem to beckon you to look closer at the snippets. That's what I wanted. At this point I wanted more sashing...I wanted the blocks to stand out, but the linen dress was gone, so I grabbed some natural osnaburg and sashed some more. At that point the blocks were 12" wide, but I decided they were too wide...so I slashed some more...down to 9" and then I framed them with 3.5 inch strips. Came out to be an exact crib size. How's that for planning? Not!
Each of the center snippets are different. Different heights, different widths.
So there were a few more pieces on the cutting table. I needed a few blocks for the back, so I sliced and diced and patched and pieced and made 3 blocks for the back. I love that bias cut and sewn snippet. So much fun!
I need to find some fabric for the back and then I'm off to quilt. I love this quilt. Check out the other amazing entries in the festival. A few have brought tears to my eyes. Thanks Amy!

59 comments:

Audrie said...

The pindots are so cute! I love this quilt... wonderful pick :)

leigh said...

that first photo with the light behind it looks like a frank lloyd wright window. really pretty. I LOVE the snippet centers. What a great scrap idea.

Rebekah said...

lovely quilt! What a perfect name for it too.

Nichole said...

beautiful! isn't it amazing how much creative energy can be spent on having an idea really come together?

Missy Ann said...

Frank Llyod Wright's Falling Water.

That's what this quilt reminds me of.

KateKwiltz said...

Love it! Way to recycle, and a great description of your process. I love that they're all different!

beverlyanne said...

Very original; has a stained glass effect

Flaun said...

I am in absolute awe. This is INCREDIBLE. I feel like a no-talent cuss looking at your completely improvised, unplanned work. I have to allow myself to play more, I guess.

silversmith said...

ooh! another red and blue quilt that i LOVE!

Sequana said...

Another total success by you...*S*

I have a linen quilt top that I thot I liked, but I don't LOVE - I'm thinking maybe it's time to suck it up and think about slashing.....

Jenny said...

wow, just beautiful..lovely colors, i love the length of the project, such a regal quilt!

MichelleB said...

Another fabulous quilt! Thanks for adding an insight into your process, too. Very interesting.

Vicki said...

Gorgeous, as always, Jacquie! I love it.

Anonymous said...

beautiful as always!

Twisted Quilts said...

First of all I love the word "snippets", so descriptive. Great post on how you work. I used to think if you were making a quilt you had to know where you were going from the beginning. I am so glad to realize you can wing it. Wonderful quilt, love the pin dots.

The DO said...

Love that last one, on the bias, too cute!

Quilt Rat said...

FANTASTIC! The pindots are wonderful but I have to say that I really like the look of the one in the first photo.

Lynn said...

Such a fun quilt and I enjoyed reading about your creative process with it.

Lana Lulu Handmade said...

I love the colors and pattern block. So beautiful as always. You are really inspiring. For that reason, I have passed on the Blog De Oro award to your blog. You can check out the post on my blog: http://lanalulucreations.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-first-blog-award.html. To accept the award, just copy the image, paste it in a blog post, and select the 10 blogs you think should receive it next. Thanks for your inspiration! Keep it up!

Lisa said...

Love it! A lot of slicing and dicing! The blocks look really big in the photos... how big are they?

Kristin L said...

It looks so tidy and orderly for an unplanned quilt that started with scraps (my quilts like that become a riot of clashing colors ). The elongation is fresh and wonderful. :-)

Allie said...

This is phenomenal. I LOVE it.

Annette said...

I really love the blue block too. Awesome design!!

sallgood said...

LOVE the quilt and your process. Creativity isn't a straight line, is it? And it can start with scraps, mistakes, do-overs and leftovers. I think that's why quilting is so appealing to me! Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Allie said...

Absolutely beautiful! I love hearing how the process happened for you on this. Aren't you glad you weren't afraid to change your mind! Lovely.

beth said...

love your quilt!

Stephanie Hughes said...

Jacquie,
Thanks for sharing your lovely window squares. I can't wait to see the finished product. Love drowling over your blog! Steph

Meg said...

Jacquie, this turned out great! I think perhaps invention has more to do with frustration sometimes, rather than necessity. :)

Nanette Merrill said...

You are so creative. So amazing. I can't wait to get my prize!!!!!!

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

You are such an artist! Just amazing!

YankeeQuilter said...

Like the process as much as the quilt..and I really like the quilt!

Sio

audreypawdrey said...

I really enjoyed hearing your creative process! It is wonderful and I love that bias cut block for the back. I need to remember to upcycle some of my old clothes.:)

Anne at Film and Thread said...

My first reaction was Frank Lloyd Wright windows and I can see a lot of other people saw that, too! Wonderful, as always.

Unknown said...

This is fun Jacquie! I love hearing how you work - so opposite of me :) Thanks for sharing.

Gigi's Thimble said...

I love it all! And, you seem to be much more patient and carefree than I, but it turned out beautiful!

Robin said...

This quilt is nifty on so many levels... red and aqua! linen! modern yet warm! dots! It is lovely.

Shari said...

You always amaze me! Thanks so much for sharing your process and this quilt! It definitely draws one in to have a closer look!

henny said...

Jacquie,
you had brought my college's memories back. The 1st pic really look like FLW's Falling Water House windows. Ah, I should look for my old text book :)
Beautiful !!

Cheryl Arkison said...

I love that you shared the process. And the honesty in the cutting, not ripping.
And how cool is it that someone said this reminded them of Falling Water? That's high praise.

Lurline said...

Just so gorgeous!
Hugs - Lurline♥

MightyMom said...

I guess it's the seam allowances...but I thought you'd put piping around the blocks in that first pic...which I thought was sooo cool....that's what I get for thinking!

Roslyn said...

After all that imaginative slicing & dicing you came up with a terrific end product, can't wait to see how you quilt it.

Zarina said...

I would love to see it complete. So far its looking awesome.

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

I love those blocks; what a clever way to use those little scraps in the centre!

Fulvia said...

Nice job again, Jacquie. You are the only other person I know that's working with Osnaburg; how do you like it better, before or after washing?

Rebecka said...

Love your quilt and how you put it together. The linen is great.

Poppyprint said...

It's fabulous Jacquie - great recycling, too! I've been using linen a little bit (not in quilts het), but can't believe how swishy it is, hardly holding a cut line straight. Do you stabilize it before cutting it into strips? It always looks very straight and true in your quilts!

Alissa said...

Beautiful beautiful beautiful!! Completely worth all the work!!

Dresden Quilter said...

Thank you for letting us into the window of your work. It is stunning!

em's scrapbag said...

This turned out great. I loved hearing how it evolved.

corry said...

Wow! that quilt is fantastic, really beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Sandra said...

What a story behind this quilt and what a GREAT result: I love the snippet strippes in the center and the colours and oh well, just the whole quilt!

Kaye Prince said...

Wow, those elongated blocks are so interesting! The colours are great!

jovaliquilts said...

Really terrific, and I love the story of how you work. It's inspiring.

Amanda Jean said...

i love that you used tiny pieces as the centers. so good and thrifty!!!

taylorsoutback said...

Terrific design elements and choice of colors! Thank you for sharing how this quilt progressed.

Anonymous said...

LOVE !!! I am big on anything with little bits of fabric.

Leslie said...

this is gorgeous...love the colors

Julie @ Jaybird Quilts said...

great design & great story... i love when you are able to take something that is not working out as planned & make it into something you want!