Happy New Year 2025! My Pity Party Has Concluded; Back to the Pretty Quilts...

 Alright you guys — wanna know how many personal quilts, or personal sewing projects of ANY kind, I finished in 2024?  ZERO.  But 2025 is a brand-new year full of fresh possibilities and lots of pent-up creative energy.  I quilted a quilt for myself yesterday!

42 x 45 Untitled, from Maria Shell Improv Workshop

It’s just a small baby quilt, a way to use up one of the improvisationally pieced striped units I made in my Zoom workshop with Maria Shell back in September, along with some smaller yardage pieces from my stash.  The irregularity of wonky improv piecing looks very child-friendly to me, and that inspired me to use an allover quilting design (Color B2B by Anne Bright) that I’ve owned for several years but was never able to talk a client into using on a quilt.  

Color B2B Quilting Design by Anne Bright with YLI 40 Tex Cotton Thread in Rio de Janeiro

I love how it turned out!  I chose YLI 40 Tex Cotton Thread in variegated Rio de Janeiro after carefully checking that every shade in this rainbow thread was a match to fabrics I used in my pieced stripe unit.  I wanted something with an equal amount of contrast against both the lime green and the cherry red fabrics and I’m very happy with how it turned out even though cotton thread is a linty beast to work with!  My lint brush got to see lots of action.  

Sharon's La Passacaglia Millefiori Quilt, Laundry Room Makeover + My Workshop Project Pivot

Good morning and Happy Thursday, coming to you from the Severe Weather Epicenter of Hurricane Helene!  Okay, so I’m not exactly in the epicenter of the storm…  But this is our first hurricane since moving to Florida and it’s very nerve-wracking for me!  I bought a bunch of bottled water, stocked up on nonperishables, and now I’m biting my nails, listening to howling winds outside and getting nervous every time the power blips the lights off for a couple of seconds.  We’re nowhere near where storm surges or flooding or houses getting swept into the ocean is expected, but I still worry about losing power (Air conditioning — it’s still really hot here!  And refrigeration for our food!  And being able to cook!  And omigosh, why didn’t I think of asking my husband to hook my espresso machine up to an old treadle machine or something?).  EEK!!!  But the power and the air conditioning is on right now, my son is baking brownies and they smell amazing, my dog is snoring peacefully, and my husband is watching some football show on the television.   All is well in this moment and we’ll deal with anything tomorrow brings when it gets here.  So instead of watching the weather channel, I’ve decided to share a beautiful La Passacaglia Millefiori quilt with you that I quilted for my client Sharon last December, one of the last quilts before disassembling my long arm for the move to Florida.  

Sharon used the pattern from Willyne Hammerstein's Millefiori Quilts book available on Amazon here (this post contains affiliate links).  La Passacaglia and the other Millefiori quilts in the book have been very popular, and I found both acrylic templates for traditional hand piecing and foundation papers for English paper piecing this quilt on both Amazon and on Etsy.  

Sharon's 70 x 81 La Passacaglia Millefiori Quilt

What really intrigued me about Sharon's version of La Passacaglia is her restrained palette of neutrals and how that gives the quilt a completely different look from the brightly multicolored quilts many others have made with this pattern.  Her fabrics remind me of sandy beaches strewn with pale peach and cream seashells and sand dollars and I thought it was spectacular.  I loved the quilt top immediately, but Sharon thought her finished quilt top was a little bland for her taste, not as exciting as she'd envisioned it.  That's why I always ask clients what they like best about their quilt and whether there's anything they wish they had done differently or could change.  Knowing how Sharon felt about her quilt, I suggested an elaborate clamshell quilting design to inject textural drama into her quilt.  I used Quilter's Dream Wool batting for several reasons: it's very lightweight so it prevents a heavily pieced and weighty quilt top like La Passacaglia from turning into a super heavy quilt, the additional loft helps ease in the fullness that can be common with hand pieced quilts, and the loft of wool creates maximal dimension and texture.  I quilted it with matte, thin So Fine thread in color Pearl to ensure the quilting stitches would blend into her fabrics without upstaging the intricate piecing.  

Detail of Faceted Clams E2E in So Fine Thread, Color Pearl

By the way, fairly heavy quilting like this is not just for looks -- there's a functional benefit.  Hand pieced seams aren't always as strong as machine pieced seams, but heavy quilting secures and reinforces the patchwork seams, protecting them from stress damage throughout the life of the quilt.  Whenever someone grabs or tugs at a quilt with heavy quilting, they are pulling on all three layers of the quilt together (pieced top, batting and backing).  When someone grabs or tugs at a minimally quilted or hand tied quilt, they often grab hold of just the quilt top layer, causing those fabrics to wear and tear and the patchwork seams to pop prematurely.  Heavy quilting doesn't need to result in a stiff quilt as long as the batting is soft and supple and you use a thin, pliable thread for the quilting.

Maria Shell Workshop In Progress + Carrie's Traverse Row Quilt

The second half of my two-part Making Prints improvisational piecing workshop with Maria Shell was this past Monday evening via Zoom.  Our assignment from Part One of the class had been to create a palette of solid color fabrics and then construct a bunch of different units using those fabrics and techniques that had been demonstrated in class.  Despite being down with Covid all week, I managed to get a bunch of these chunks made, slapped them on my design wall in the main hallway of my house, and then every time I walked by I either stopped to scowl at everything but left things along, or started rearranging the units.  Here's what I had going on the last time I touched it, on the morning before the last class:

My Design Wall, 11 AM on Monday

In Part Two of the workshop Maria introduced several techniques involving triangles and I might make some of those to mix in with what I've got here so far, or I might make some additional units like what I already have so I can balance things out with a little repetition.  I do want to finish the workshop piece and put enough thought and effort into the composition to get everything I can out of the class, but the danger for me with an open-ended assignment like this -- and no grades or deadlines to rein me in -- is that I could easily go on and on, arranging and rearranging ad infinitum and never actually finish the project!

I haven't moved anything or made any new units in the last two days.  Still feeling low-energy and needing daily naps from the Covid and just decided to let what's on the wall marinate for a bit while I am resting.

However, the portion of Monday's class where Maria discussed different composition structures (grid, row, medallion etc) reminded me of a client's quilt that I long armed about a year ago and never shared with you.

Carrie's Traverse Quilt, Pattern by Tara Faughnan

This gorgeous Traverse Quilt is a kit designed by another modern quilter I admire, Tara Faughnan.  I just checked on Etsy and found lots of options available if you'd like to make one of your own, from complete Traverse kits in these exact fabrics still available, to patterns only, to completed quilts for sale.  (This post contains affiliate links).  

Detail of Traverse Quilt, Designed by Tara Faughnan, Pieced by Carrie, Quilted by Me

Looking at these photos again after taking Maria Shell's workshop, I'm seeing some similarities between these two quilters: Both are working exclusively in solids, and both use a large palette of solid fabrics with a nice assortment of hues and values.  Both are creating print-like patterns in patchwork stripes of fabric.  Maria sometimes sets her pieced strip units in rows like Tara has done in Traverse.  

The Power of a Really Great Stripe: Maria Shell Workshop + Only Murders In the Building

Good Morning, Stitchy Peeps!  I am feeling clammy and gross and drowning in mucus quantities that have not been seen since the ectoplasm in the movie Ghostbusters.  I have an appointment at Urgent Care in an hour and a half, fingers crossed that whatever ick I've got is something that they can treat with medication.  Most likely it's COVID since my son just had it and I started getting sick several days after he tested positive, but my husband is just as sick as I am and he has tested negative for COVID four times.  Blech, blech, BLECH!

Meanwhile, here's what my design wall looks like three days after Part One of my 2-part Making Prints workshop with Maria Shell:

My Design Wall, 9 AM on Thursday

Our assignment between classes was to make a bunch of units based on the techniques/"prints" that she demonstrated in class, and put them up on our design walls.  Students are permitted to cut their fabric with rulers, but encouraged to try cutting without rulers in order to create more organic, irregular lines with their patchwork.  I'm cutting my fabric without rulers and finding that it's more difficult than you'd think to cut crooked and sew crooked on purpose!  

My Design Wall, 9 AM on Wednesday

The irregular striped units above were pieced the first day after class, and they incorporate all of the colors from my palette.  Initially we were told to create a 12-color palette, but I asked if I could sneak in more and got permission to do so during the class.  The extra colors allowed me to have three shades of brown instead of one and a royal blue as well as light blue.  I think I have 15 colors going on.  Anyway, when I did this first exercise of randomly pairing up my colors I was really pleased that I liked how pretty much every color looked with every other color in my palette.  I struggled to sew my strips together, though -- somehow even though I hadn't cut them straight, they were annoying me by looking straighter after I sewed them together and pressed the seams.  

Upcoming Zoom Workshop With Maria Shell, "Making Prints Out of Solids" + Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds Exhibit

You guys, I am SEW excited to be taking a 2-part Zoom workshop this month with quilt artist Maria Shell!  And there are still a few spaces available in the class in case any of YOU would like to join me, from wherever you are in the world!  But hurry if you're interested -- Maria will be lecturing at the guild meeting tomorrow night and the class will probably sell out once members see her work and hear her speak.

Maria Shell, "Making Prints Out of Solids" Workshop September 9th and 16th

This workshop, "Making Prints Out of Solids -- Lines, Tracks & More" is being offered by the Charlotte Quilters Guild and I helped our Programs Director set this up months ago when I was still the guild President, before moving to Florida.  I believe there are still spaces available and registration has now opened up for nonmembers.  At just $50, this is an absolute steal for a two-part workshop with a teacher of this caliber.  The workshop will be conducted via Zoom from 7-9 PM Eastern Standard Time on Monday, September 9th and Monday, September 16th, and you can register here.  There is no kit or pattern required for the class; you just need a copy of Maria's book Improv Patchwork that is available on Amazon here (affiliate link).  

So...  I have the book, I read the book, and I'm nervous about cutting without rulers (!!!) but excited to give it a try and see what happens.  My homework to prepare for class was to put together a palette of solid colors to work with, all pulled from my stash, and prewash half yard pieces of each color.  Here's what I have so far, subject to change of course.  I did have to dash out to JoAnn's for a half yard of brown fabric: 

My Fabric Pull for Maria Shell's Workshop

I have lots of other options littering my worktable, too.  Who knew I had so many solids tucked away in those fabric bins?!

Suzette's Stunning Improv Quilt + The Barnful of Quilts Show in Waxhaw TODAY!

Good Morning, my lovelies!  Today's post needs to be short and sweet because I'm exhibiting at today's Barnful of Quilts show in Waxhaw from 10 AM to 6 PM.  If you're local and you're looking for something fun to do today (I'm writing this on Saturday, October 15th), head on out to Waxhaw and look for me!  The address is 7505 Sims Road in Waxhaw, NC.  Hope to see you there!

Before I head out the door, I wanted to share this stunning improvisationally pieced quilt made by my client Suzette.  It looks like an art piece that you'd hang in a gallery, but at 93" x 105" it was sized and intended to be a bed quilt for her daughter.

Suzette's 93 x 105 Improv Bed Quilt with Tikki Soft E2E Quilting

Suzette's daughter, the one for whom she made this quilt, works at the Whitney Museum in New York City.  

Tikki Soft E2E Stitched Sideways in Omni Natural White Thread

Now for the quilty details: We chose the Tikki Soft E2E quilting design by Karlee Porter for functional as well as aesthetic reasons, loading the quilt sideways on my frame to stitch the design with a vertical orientation.  I used Quilter's Dream 80/20 batting and Omni thread in Natural White (this post contains affiliate links).

Delicious Distractions: Slicing Through Scrap Bins, Sidetracked by Improv Piecing!

Hopefully, none of you have read my recent posts about my previous Weekly To-Do Lists or my June One Monthly Goal, because I haven't been working on any of those projects recently.  Instead, I went off on a wild scrap-slicing, improv piecing tangent and I'm blaming it all on Kelly Young for seducing me with her book Scrappy Improv Piecing: 22 Mini Quilts to Make With Easy Piecing!  (By the way, this post contains affiliate links.  This helps me to pay for Band-Aids, the importance of which you will appreciate in a moment).

5" Scrappy Improv Blocks For No Reason Or Purpose

What with the crazy news cycle last week, I was suffering from a bit of Fuzzy Brain syndrome and couldn't muster the concentration to follow any of the project instructions in Kelly's book, so instead I was just loosely following her method of sewing random bits and pieces together and then cutting them down into regular shapes.  This resulted in an assortment of 5" scrappy improv blocks for which I have only the vaguest of plans.  I had some of those red/pink sections left over from the Valentine's Day mini quilt I made for the blog hop to promote Kelly's book last year and I cut them down to 5" squares, like charm squares from a precut package.  And then I pulled out my blue and green scrap bin and started randomly slicing, sewing, pressing, slicing, sewing, pressing...  Making a glorious mess along the way, listening to the news and to podcasts and only barely paying attention to what I was doing...  

Making a Mess: The Scene of the Injury

The whole while I was off on this little tangent, I was singing "Slicing Through Scraps" in my head to the tune of "Dancing Through Life" from the musical Wicked.  Yes, it's all fun and games until you slice your rotary cutter right into your finger.  As this type of injury goes, mine was pretty minor -- no stitches, just an annoyance for several days while the Band-Aid wrapped fingertip got in my way and impeded my typing accuracy.  All better now, though.  

"Heartbroken": A Valentine's Day Mini for the Scrappy Improv Quilting Blog Hop Tour

Woo-hoo!  It's finally my turn to share my project on the Scrappy Improv Quilting blog hop, hosted by Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation in conjunction with the release of her newest book!  When Kelly asked me to participate several months ago, I was thrilled to accept because: 1. I have never done ANY improv quilting before and it's something I've been wanting to try anyway, and 2. the "mini quilt" projects in Kelly's book are small and manageable, most finishing at 24" x 24" like the one I'm sharing today.  Great size for experimenting with new techniques when you're not sure you are ready to commit to a huge bed quilt.  

My 24 x 24 "Heartbroken" Improv Mini with Rose Texture B2B Quilting Design

The project I was assigned is called "Heartstruck" in Kelly's book, and it's the Valentine's Day project from her Seasonal Sensations chapter.  Most projects in this book finish at 24" x 24", by the way, which is awesome for your front door,  entryway, classroom, office  -- any space you're wanting to brighten up with a splash of quilty cheer that can be swapped out regularly so you never get tired of any one quilt.  Since many of my clients drop off and pick up their quilts from my home, I'm thinking of making a whole series of these mini quilts to display on my front door to welcome new clients -- and to reassure them that yes, this IS the right house where the quilter lives!

Kelly's 24 x 24 "Heartstrings" Improv Mini, As Featured In Her Book

Studying Kelly's "Heartstrings" mini, I love how her arrows direct your eye through the quilt in a back-and-forth motion and I was also excited about all of the empty "negative" background space because that's a great opportunity for dramatic quilting to make an impact. When Kelly invited me to participate in the blog hop, she encouraged me to "make the project my own" and have fun with it.  So, as much as I like Kelly's Heartstrings mini, I was looking for a way to change it up somehow to make it "mine."  I started thinking about the fact that there were three hearts rather than just two,  kind of like a Love Triangle.  And THAT reminded me of the late Princess Diana's remark in her 1995 BBC interview, about how there were three people in her marriage, making things "a bit crowded."  💔. Aha!  In my version, the top two hearts were going to be lucky lovers who get "struck by Cupid's arrow," but the third one was going to be a broken heart that Cupid passes by.