A New Modern Quilt

I finished a quilt this weekend.

This is an idea that has been rattling around in my head for months.  What would happen if I stacked four fabrics, then rough cut them into a free-form churn dash block?

No pattern - no measuring - just cut them by eye.

Mix them up and sew them back together.

What would it look like?

I squared up each block, adding a little more "wonkiness" to each block, then sewed the four blocks together to make this nice little wall hanging.

I just love the freestyle look it gives to this traditional block.

I quilted each block with a slight curved line to start, then echoed it all the way to the edge.  Then went back and added matchstick quilting to just the first arc in each block, emphasizing the pinwheel effect in the center.

I also deviated from my normal binding on this quilt, and decided to try a facing instead.  I followed this tutorial from Terry Aske Quilts and found it very easy to follow.

I am very happy with how it turned out, and actually prefer this type of edge for a wall quilt.  Now I have lots of ideas for more quilts like this!

Edit:  I'm having a hard time photographing this quilt.  The colors just aren't true and I'm not having much luck with edits.  I just tried another angle in another location and it's a little closer to the actual colors, which are softer and more muted than the first three pictures.  I wish I was a better photographer...

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - 2 New Quilt Tops

I spent the "best-est" long weekend quilting with the "best-est" of friends at our annual quilting retreat.  Amongst the singing, laughing, eating, etc...  I managed to get some sewing done too.

Last week I showed you the shott cottons that I had cut, and here is the finished quilt top.

A Modern Churn Dash.

I absolutely love these shott cottons.  The colors change, depending on the angle you view them from.  It's hard to illustrate in a photo, but take a look at this block from straight on...

See how the background color changes when you view it from an angle?

It's all one fabric, but the warp threads and weft threads are two different colors - burgundy and turquoise.  It's really quite magical to see it change as you move around the quilt.  I'm so excited to quilt this one and see how the texture of the quilting stitches add to the effect!  Can't wait!

Now I just have to decide on a quilting design...

The other project I finished assembling was this circle quilt.

The blocks are made from this huge pack of Dimples Charm Squares that I won in an Andover contest a couple of years ago.

I'm not sure whether to do some free-motion quilting on this one, or maybe just lots of straight lines to offset all the curves in the piecing...

At least I've got a couple of projects to think about when I can't sleep at night.

Cheers!