Baby quilt preview

I've got a nephew due to arrive in October so I started a quilt for him. His parents are big Illini fans so it will be made of blue, orange and white solids. 

I can't share too many photos just in case my sister-in-law looks at this post, but I can tell you that it's made of 1 1/2-inch squares and I'm going to need a design wall to put it together.

A busy July

Where has the month gone?

Since my last post I attended a Saturday workshop to make a tree skirt, got distracted while finishing it with making a design wall for my sewing room, broke my sewing machine, got a new onw and sewed up the top to the sunflower table runner above last night.

What have you all been?

Liberated quilting with Gwen Marston

Liberated quilt champion Gwen Marston was the featured speaker at the Mississippi Valley Quilt Guild this month and I really enjoyed her presentation.

She started her lecture by describing her experiences learning to quilt with Mennonite women and then having the opportunity to see a large collection of antique quilts early in her quilting life and how the two influenced her quilting style.


She sews the same way a women used to, quilting out of their sewing baskets using scraps would without the aid of a design wall. The result are quilts that have clumps of a color in a corner instead of spreading it out over the entire quilt, borders that look nice in proportion to the center design, but don't necessarily exactly measure the same length as the piece it surrounds, and filler pieces in sampler quilts made of blocks in various sizes.


I really enjoyed the applique quilts she shared with us. She makes them by following a general, somewhat abstract shape that she cuts out herself from a piece of folded fabric, the way women used to before quilting magazines and readily available templates. Not every leaf is exactly the same size and that's OK.

Marston kept emphasizing that she is not throwing the baby out with the wash water and although her quilts do not follow the current standards of perfection in symmetry or border and block placement, they are sewed with impeccable skill and attention to detail.


And to show our appreciation, our guild presented Marston with a Fourth of July themed liberated quilt.

The scrap quilt is coming along

I finally finished sewing my 400th flying geese unit last weekend for the scrap quilt I'm working on. It was a good feeling, let me tell you.

I still have to piece a couple dozen quarter square triangles, and then all the 4.5-inch units that make up my 16-inch blocks will be complete. I've been busy arranging the blocks on my makeshift design wall, which really is going to be coming down soon, because the painters tape isn't holding it up anymore.


I'd like to get the first twelve blocks that are laid out above sewed together this week before taking it down this weekend. Then I'll have to lay the rest out on my bed or something until I can make, and have space for, a real design wall.

A peak at the design wall

I had a great time at quilt retreat. I did nothing but sew and chat with other quilters for three days, and while my husband doesn't understand why that was so fun, I'll definitely be going back for the fall retreat.

On Friday afternoon I finished the quilt top for my signature quilt, layered and basted it. Then I spent the rest of the retreat making quarter square triangles and flying geese for another quilt I'm working on. It's all in shades of brown and cream with a few greens, blues and reds thrown in for variety.

I've started arranging the blocks on my design wall. I need to buy eight more fat quarters to have enough fabric to complete the quilt, but when it's done there will be 42 different fabrics in the quilt. I'll post a few more glimpses as I add more blocks to the wall.