Full Tilt Quilt

Well hi there;)

On my flight to teach in Jackson Hole I finished the binding on what I’ll call Full Tilt.  I always love to have something new to share and this was just in time for a line up of winter-spring lectures and workshops teaching this block.

 Traveling and spending time with my tribe is such a bonus of being in this industry and you quilters are the nicest people.  The inspiration you pull from your own toolbox when given a few improv techniques and a little structure is quite energizing even when I feel a little exhausted.  It all kind of kicks my brain and my wanderlust into overdrive.

Travel on top of the home front’s Open Studios and Workshops hasn’t allowed me a lot of time to get ideas out of my own head and into fabric.  Good things take time I hear, and in the meantime I’ve been directing my sewing groove into quick projects we can explore in Open Studio like these reversible grocery bags and rope bowls.

| Inspiration |

I know, again with the Psychedelic Baby Block.  You all might be sick of seeing this block, but I have yet to scratch the design surface with it and its secondary block that we make in this workshop.  Full Tilt’s colorway was this sweet geometric dress I found in a catalog.  Its layout is simple and inspired by another string quilt I made this year.

I noticed in lecturing this season that my solids have shifted over the years from a abundance of Osnaburgh to Essex.  Solid fabric quilts can be so flat and the indigo here adds some much-needed texture.  I went with 4 different blues, including some shot cotton and the Essex.  The rest of the solids are a mix of Kona and Michael Miller Cotton Couture.

| Quilting |

I was asked in a lecture this month who was the favorite to quilt my quilts?  I whole heartedly answered “Me.”

I didn’t always feel this way.  Often it was where I stalled out on a finish. I didn’t feel I had the skills or vision to free-motion with the amount of precision I desired.  I know, I know, ‘practice is the best teacher,’ and I did that, but I was just never feeling it with free-motion as I did with a straight line.

It took time for me, years actually, to figure out that my quilts really didn’t need the fancy quilting I thought they did.  It often distracted or even clashed with the piecing, stealing the limelight. I think my patchwork holds its own quite well.

Once I just started quilting straight lines I lost the anxiousness AND actually started finishing quilts at a faster rate.  Straight-line quilting felt intuitive to me.  Another unexpected discovery was I liked my quilts more.  Now they’re a 100% ME from start to finish.

The quilts I have with a variety of straight line quilting keeps building.  As I was getting my Straight Line Quilting Workshop together, I first thought I would quilt some simple panels in a variety of designs until I realized how many samples of straight line quilting I already had.  Actual quilts to demonstrate the tips and tricks, just like my other classes, duh.

That’s a long-winded way of saying Full Tilt got a simple grid in a light pink Metler thread and I like it;)

| Binding & Backing |

I went pieced.  I considered the navy to frame, but regardless I had to order fabric for the finish.  I thought it would carry the piecing of the blocks onto the edge for a detailed addition to the design.

My technique for this is to strip piece some panels and sub-cut them to the binding’s width.  I sew it on until I’m about to turn a corner and then I’ll add a larger strip of one fabric that accommodates the turn so that I don’t have seams stuck in the miter.  Once the corner is turned I reattach my pieced binding and continue until I come to the next corner.

I have a whole photo shoot of this process that some day I’ll get up here as a tutorial.

I haven’t bought backing fabric in ages, just pulling and piecing from stash,  I don’t see a noticeable dent honestly.  Apparently I bought up all of this flannel so that none of you could have any.  I’ve used it to back several quilts.  The vans have now made an appearance in the blue and pink.  It all seemed to compliment the front and come together simple enough.

All in all I love it;)

 I’ve added a few more dates for the straight line quilting workshop onto the schedule, including an evening slot as requested.  I also have a reader coming to the studio from Germany that picked playing with the Psychedelic Baby Block if anyone would like to join us.  Just follow the links;)

Happy week Peeps!  I’m actually heading out to the studio;)