Amazing what can happen when you make a block here, a block there. One day you realize the pile is done, and it’s time to start playing on the design wall.
In this case, the entire design wall and a few inches of wall space surrounding it. The far right-hand blocks are taped to the wall beside the flannel design cloth, and the bottom row are pinned to and dangling from the bottom inch of flannel.
Mr de H’s reaction: “Wow, that’s big.”
It will shrink a bit with final seaming of course, but yes, it’s a big one at 8×8 12″ blocks (yup, that’s 64 of ‘em, for a 96″x96″ finished size). There’s a chance I’ll slim it down and only do 7 columns of blocks, but it’s for our bed, and the hubs is a cover hog so I want ample overhang on the sides.
These are the same type of blocks, following the same Quiltville tutorial, as this flickr sew-along, which I just discovered today. I’ve decided to go non-traditional with my layout, so instead of “trips around the world” I’m calling this one “World Traveler.” Or maybe “the state of my stash, 2012,” or “Pixelated Petri-Dish,” although that doesn’t sound like anything I’d want to sleep under.
I’ll likely stare at this for a week or so and move a few things around before calling the layout “done”. I’ve got two extra blocks that may rotate in (three, if I fix the one I sewed together wrong). The plan is to quilt this in sections, which makes it possible on my home machine. It will be my first try at that method, and a trial run for the aqua New York Beauty quilt when it gets to this stage. Which won’t be anytime soon, as there are a few things ahead of it on the “next ups” list.
{ 27 comments }
Wow! This is stunning. I have been dutifully cutting out my squares from scraps, but have yet to sew any together. I was just thinking I need to start making 16 patch blocks and see what happens. Fantastic job on a great project.
Best part about this method is it is made with strips, rather than so many individual squares. I don’t think you can go wrong, though, with any variation on scrappy squares blocks. Have fun!
I love love L.O.V.E. the layout! I am *totally* going to copy you!
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Happy to have inspired you!
Amazing – I wanted to jump on the scrappy around the world frenzy and just can’t squeeze it in. How long did you work on it?
Hi Karen, I caught the bug to make this sometime early last year, and worked in bits and spurts in between other things. On days when I felt like slicing up some fabric, I cut strips (and more strips, and more strips). Selecting sets of 6 strips to make a block together happened over multiple sessions, a few blocks worth at a time. The scrappier you go, the less you have to think about what goes together (I did pay attention to VALUE, though, so each bock has similar balance of light/dark/medium, with the darkest in the middle). I sewed strips together whenever I needed a break from a complex project and wanted to churn through mindless seaming for a while. Some days I’d just do one or two sets, other times I’d get in the zone and crank out a huge pile. Same with pressing seams (only so much of that I can do in one go!), and the final block assembly. So, getting to this stage took maybe 10 months of here and there attention.
I feel better now knowing all the work and time you put into it – the rage hit about 36 hrs ago from what I can tell and you just had the foresight to be way ahead of the game. I like the dark in the middle tip and the not overthinking it idea. I wished all those times I had my fabric ironed and cutting for another project I would have just sliced one or two more right then and there! Thanks for the info – it is stunning.
I am soooo in love with this quilt!! Hmmm… do I feel a scrap quilt coming on… just maybe. Looking forward to seeing it quilted.
Me too! Quilting something this size will be an adventure.
It looks wonderful! Both random yet orderly!
Thanks! Something about this combination of chaotic scrappiness and the regularity of the squares is captivating.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Beautiful…did you use Kaffe? When did you sleep???
Oh yes, lots and lots of Kaffe in there! And some of my favorite Brandon Mably prints, too, and some batiks, and some old and uglies. I’ll show off some of the individual blocks as I get into quilting it.
Wow! this is so beautiful! I love the color & your “world traveler” layout. Stunning!
Thanks, Wendy!
love this……just had a very enjoyable half hour with a coffee and your blog….wonderful stitching….very inspiring
Thanks, Ella! Glad you stopped by!
Love it! Good grief, you’ve made a LOT of those blocks. It think it looks wonderful as is, and kudos to you for quilting it all by your big-girl self.
Oh my goodness yes, a LOT of blocks. I originally just cut strips for a crib-sized version, but like it so much I decided to go big! Save those quilting kudos until I get that stage done… looking forward to the challenge, and hoping it will go smoothly.
Stunning! I’ve read all the comments (and love that you reply to each one). Thanks for the tip on where you paid attention and where you just zoned out *grin* Going to make a few notes and then start slicing. I can’t seem to keep up with all the things I discover that I want to create!!! Must I really sleep? Thanks for sharing…I’ve been dabbling with the idea of a TATW for a while….this looks like so much more fun! You’ve convinced me to “buy my ticket”
Hi Karyn, a smaller quilt from these blocks won’t take very long to do. And if you go larger, it’s a good project for fitting in between other sewing. Have fun!
Hi,
I have fallen in love with your quilt and would love to make something similar. I think yours works so well because you have stuck to value. I have been looking at your blocks to see if I can figure out the order you have used and I’m stuck. I can see some light-dark-medium sections, but is this the order you used from the first corner of the block or did you vary it? Congratulations, stunning quilt!
Hi Laura, my value placement is not exactly the same in all blocks. I did take care to always place the darkest strip in the center, with lighter strips on either side of it, followed by mediums. However, some of my fabrics are used as lights in some blocks and mediums in the other.
Since there’s been a lot of interest in how I approached this pattern/method, I’ll put together a separate post on that to address all the questions with more detail. Will hope to get that posted tonight or tomorrow, depending on how the rest of the day goes.
That is totally cool! Love the colors and big perspective shapes. I am a sucker for good ol’ fashion patchwork.
I LOVE this!!! Absolutely beautiful and very inspiring. And I like the layout much better than the traditional trip around the world. Look forward to hearing how the quilting goes. I struggle with quilting large tops with my small arm space and thus have a “galaxy of my own UFO’s” Love that term.
Thanks, Anne! Cleaning up the sewing room this morning, to get ready to quilt. I’ve done several not-quite-queen size and decided that is too much quilt to wrestle through my small-arm machine. Hopes are very high for this sectional method… I’ll post some progress updates as soon as I have progress to report!
You can start now! Just toss those extra strips in a small bin and before you know it there’s be a big enough heap to make a lap quilt.