Free Play - Thursday
April 11, 2013
I didn't get to log any free play yesterday - Wednesdays as a rule are super busy. But, I did sneak upstairs to the design wall for about fifteen or twenty minutes after dinner and arranged the blocks until I was satisfied with how they looked. I envision this quilt as asquare so I left blank spaces where I thought something else was needed.
This morning, still satisfied with my arrangement from last night, I separated the blocks into groups for sewing. I find it much easier to sew small groups of blocks together to make bigger blocks and then join the bigger blocks into a quilt top. This way, there are no inset seams and it is easy to stop and start without getting things too messed up. I should also note that I still would have photographed each step for a visual reference even if I hadn't planned on blogging it.
I started in the top left corner and took the first set of blocks downstairs to sew. The photo above shows the process after I sewed the first two groups into bigger blocks. Unlike when I originally pieced the smaller blocks, I was very deliberate about how I added fabrics so it would be a pleasing composition overall. The first two photos came in handy here - I could look at them and see what fabrics would be next to each other and if there was too much or too little of a certain value or color.
This is what I had before I sewed it all together. I took a good long look and threw some different fabrics in the white spaces to see what worked and what didn't. It was a happy accident that I needed to add some longer, narrow pieces to make all the blocks fit together - I thought the compostition lacked those shapes.
And here it is! The final size is 33.5 x 35.5 which is just about perfect as I wanted it to be about 36" square. I plan on adding some borders to it to make it about a 60" square throw quilt. I've already pulled the fabrics for the borders and will probably start on those Saturday. Fridays are also normally crazy. I plan on improvisationally piecing the borders as well, but will use much larger pieces of fabric to balance all the little pieces in the main patchwork.
I need to emphasize that so far this has been a very worthwhile and freeing exercise for me. And fun! So much fun.
I love it!
Posted by: Jenny | April 11, 2013 at 04:31 PM
Very inspiring!
Posted by: jess | April 11, 2013 at 06:09 PM
I love this, Erin! The colors are just gorgeous!
Posted by: The Lazy Fair | April 12, 2013 at 07:46 AM
I love the pops of solid aqua in the quilt!
Posted by: Cindy | April 12, 2013 at 08:19 AM
It sure looks like fun! I've enjoyed watching you through this process :)
Posted by: beki | April 12, 2013 at 10:55 AM
So fun to see your work prcess.
I piece in a similar fashion avoiding inset seams at all costs.
Posted by: larissa | April 12, 2013 at 02:57 PM
I've really enjoyed following your process on this so far. I've been a bit overwhelmed wen thinking about attempting an improv piece, but you've inspired me. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result!
Posted by: Samantha C. | April 13, 2013 at 05:06 PM
Thanks, Samantha!
Posted by: Erin | house on hill road | April 13, 2013 at 06:35 PM