Let’s see those finished quilt tops & quilts!
Feel free to link up any state of progress, but only finished quilts and quilt tops will be eligible to win one of these, co-designed by you and me!
The linkup will close next Monday at midnight, so you still have a week to work.
I can’t wait to see what you guys created!
I finished my barn door II quilt!
Sorry for the inside pictures lately. It is seriously -16 today and the snow is above my waist in our backyard.
I was so happy to finally use the Waterfront Park bridge print! I bought a whole yard of it because it’s so awesome, but every time I pull it out it’s not quite right. Until now! I guess the lesson is to be patient with those favorite prints; the right quilt will come along.
I’m really happy with how the back turned out too.
I’m curious how you guys think this second version compares to the first?
I’m not sure which one I like better.
Monday the final barn door quilt along link up opens! If you participated in the quilt along be sure to link up for a chance to win a Noodle-head divided basket handmade by me! I’ll even let you pick colors/fabrics. The link up will be open until Monday, March 10.
If you didn’t participate in the quilt along but would like to make this quilt, here’s the chart that basically gives you everything an experienced quilter would need to make the quilt: Barn door assembly chart. Just be sure to send me pictures!
A little extra blog business to tack on here: I owe you guys a book review winner! Random.org gave me number 55:
This book looks great, especially as I am not a solid lover either. I don’t buy them usually and have very few in my stash. My favourite quilt book is Sunday Morning quilts because I love the scrappy look. Thanks for a fun giveaway too.
Yay Kay! I’ll email you for your address and get that off to you right away.
Linking up for finish it up Friday!
I’m finishing up my barn door II quilt (quilt along here) and today I tackled the backing. I took more design time than usual with this backing, but I found that made the piecing go more smoothly. It took about a day, which is usually the amount of time I allow myself for a pieced backing.
I really like it. The only problem is that the design doesn’t necessarily take into account the trimming that will occur after quilting. I will lose a few inches on the top and bottom square. Next time I will have to remember to think that through sooner.
One quilt is ending and another is just beginning:
This is my first block for the gypsy wife QAL! (You can read about my fabric selections here.)
I have the fabric pulled for the next block but I just ran out of time. It’ll be really fun to come back to this after our vacation.
Speaking of vacation, since I won’t have internet access, I decided not to do the mid-month barn door link up. Instead, I thought I’d motivate you by announcing the final link up prize!
Remember these baskets I made for a giveaway/Christmas present?
I decided one of these would be a really cool and special way to commemorate our quilt along! But here’s the deal: you have to at least have a finished quilt top to be eligible. So get to work, my friends! The final link up will be March 3, but it will stay open for a week. If you link up a finished quilt or top by March 10 at noon EST, you will be in the giveaway. Please feel free to link up even if you’re not done! You just won’t be eligible to win.
If you have any specific questions, please email me. I’ll be able to check my email periodically and I’m more likely to see a direct email than a blog post comment.
Wish me luck on my trip! We’re leaving the kids in very capable grandparent care, but it’s still pretty hard. Perhaps a pina coloda will ease the pain… 😉
I loved Carolyn Friedlander’s line Architextures. It’s getting hard to find, but her new line Botanics is most certainly the next big thing. It started popping up here and there after Quilt Market and now it’s just hitting shelves. I got mine from Fat Quarter Shop when they were offering 25% off on black friday.
I gotta tell ya, I was sorely tempted by the beautiful stack of fat quarters. It’s just so pretty! But I’ve been quilting long enough to know that, for me, fat quarters are never enough. It makes more economical sense to force myself to choose my favorites and buy half yards.
All that to say, Botanics is my starting point for my next barn door quilt. I ordered most of the whites, grays, blues, and greens and a little orange. From there, I decided to incorporate what’s left of my Architextures stash (leftover from the fat quarter stack I purchased to make these airplane pillows). Then I went nuts and grabbed any similar shades from my stash, and landed here:
Botanics + stash coordinates
Low volumes
Light blues
Dark blues
Greens
Oranges
My initial plan is to not have a plan. Ha! Seriously though. I am going to start the first few rows and then see how it develops. When I made my first version I definitely planned each fabric selection very specifically before I started sewing.
They alternate with quite mathematical precision!
This time it’s a bit more complex because I’m planning to use quite a few more fabrics, so I’m just going to take it one row at a time. Eventually a more specific plan will form, I promise.
The pattern works outward from the middle. The first row we sew will be the hourglass row at the center. From there we’ll sew both the adjoining rows and work out until we have completed the central X of the design. From there we add the top and bottom borders and we’re done! It really does come together quite quickly. The trickiest part is lining up the triangles but we’ll worry about that next year.
I’m so excited to see what you guys are thinking about using for your fabrics! Please do not hesitate to ask questions. I love talking about this stuff. If you’re on Flickr please upload your fabric stacks here! If you’re not on Flickr you should consider joining, especially if you don’t have a blog. We’re all going to want to see your quilt!
Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday. It’s an official WIP once you’ve got fabric and a pattern… right?
Oh, and if you’re new around here, you can always catch up on everything Barn door quilt-a-long related by clicking its tab at the top of the screen!
I love working with patterns (I was an English major, not a math major) but there’s something extra special about designing a quilt yourself.
Barn Door is my original design but I know it is the result of inspiration from a variety of sources. I spend a lot of my stay-at-home-mom-free-but-not-really-free time online looking at quilts. I’m a really obsessive focused person so quilting is much more than a hobby for me. I have a hard time not cringing when people refer to it that way actually. So when I have to step away from the sewing machine because I have something important to do (like eat) my natural inclination is to stay quilt-focused by reading books and magazines about quilting and more often than not, reading quilting blogs.
I am constantly inspired by the quilts I see you all making. I know that this design springs out of the many, many quilt images that are constantly floating around inside my head. But I did have a few more specific inspirations at the time that I made this sketch.
My primary inspiration was this quilt by Meg Callahan. (I know. Genius.) My fabric and color palette inspiration was master of low volume Red Pepper Quilts, whose blog brought this fabric line to my attention. The inclusion of dots instead of solid white is definitely inspired by Sarah Fielke, whose declaration “I don’t use solids” in the forward to her book Quilting From Little Things really got me thinking.
I originally intended to piece the strips by joining the fabrics with 45 degree angle seams, like when you’re making binding. This would have given the whole quilt a smoother appearance (fewer seams). But when I got started I realized that the math involved would be way beyond me, at least if I ever had any hope of sharing this pattern with anyone else. So instead I opted for half square triangles and a lone hourglass unit at the center.
For the back I knew I wanted to use up some of the leftovers. Of course then I got a little carried away playing with letters.
As usual I did straight line quilting because I like the fabric and piecing to be the primary focus. And also free motion quilting scares me.
I would definitely consider sharing this pattern with you guys if there is interest. Maybe a 2014 quilt-a-long?
Linking up for Blogger’s Quilt Festival! I can’t wait to see what everyone else is sharing.
Also linking up for: Fabric Tuesday, Needle and Thread Thursday, Thursday Threads, and Finish it up Friday.
Sarah Quilts 