In our current state it’s rather dreamy to think about packing up and going on a sewing retreat, but that’s where this quilt started and where my mind was as I finished it here one sunny morning.
This will be the first year in many my little tribe won’t go sew, eat, drink and walk the beach so it seemed the most appropriate pull from the growing pile of UFOs.
Because I sew faster in my head than in real life, I tend to have an unrealistic vision of what I can complete in four days + days of retreat, same goes for the cooking.
A no boundaries approach would lead to the entire studio being loaded, so I tend to look for something double or triple duty in tools and material. Under those guidelines there’s no technique full of more potential than improvisational strip piecing. Half hatched ideas using that technique made the cut this past trip.
I enjoy teaching what I call an Improv Coin Quilt as my beginning improv class and wanted to take my teaching samples to make another example quilt for layout options.
In my workshops there always tends to be student or two that have taken a beginning quilting class with a more traditional scope. All those important skills like precise cutting and matching points have been covered, but what I love the most is how they just light up when they come to discover that quilting doesn’t always have to be that way.
You’d never guess from it’s simplicity how much I messed with the layout.
As far as the quilting I went with straight lines which is a divergence from the quilting design I used on my first quilt sample for this class back in 2011.
I’m a lazy quilter and like to run off the edge of my quilts. My process wasn’t any different for this one, starting with quilting a quarter inch from the seams to tack them down and working in lines here and there until it seemed visually pleasing;).
I tease at my trunk shows that I bought all of the Anna Maria Horner flannel out there so no one else can have it and I’m still using it for my quilt backs. I love the weight and drape.
I went with faced binding, a first for me. The jury is still out on whether I like it or not. I can see its appeal on an art quilt or wall hanging, but I make utilitarian quilts and I think the cuteness factor of a baby quilt would have held better had it had a binding.
You’ll be seeing more of this fabric combo and improv strip piecing in the two other quilt tops I finished at the retreat last May. They all match my box pouch. I love the color way and the pony fabric.
I’m calling Pony Up my second quilt finish of 2020.
I haven’t been in the studio much since the initial order to physically distance ourselves with the exceptions of finishing these two quilts and have just let that be. Jefe has etched out a corner of the studio for an office and our dining room table is now a school.
For me, gardening and cooking are sewing’s kindred spirits and with the weather playing so nicely my garden has been where my head space seems best. I got back to my running routine this past week after more than a few weeks of pure laziness. I’m amazed not only with how quickly things grow and bloom this time of year in Seattle, but also how quickly the muscles atrophy;)
We have rain this weekend so a little studio clean up happened yesterday with hopes of making it in there today.
Hope you are all well. xoxo
xoxo