free-wheeling single girl

 

spinning elizabeths, a start

recently, i pulled out a few of my quilting books to peruse for ideas and inspiration. that's what they're for, right? i've invested in these books, i should make use of them. jolene at blue elephant stitches was considering a "sew the book" project again and i got curious which book i would choose to sew all (or most) of the quilts from. 

i was looking over one of my favorites, quilt lovely by jen kingwell, and remembered again how much i like the "spinning around" quilt with it's 3 columns of pinwheels and subtly-striped fabric in between.

a few days later an order i had placed for some newer anna maria horner fabrics arrived, including yardage of the brilliant "social climber" print in the newer pink and green colorways. somewhere along the way i started thinking those columns of roses could make a pretty background column to go between the pinwheel columns in a "spinning around" quilt. i got out the print and pulled all the warm/red/pink amh prints i had to coordinate, plus other blenders, to use for pinwheels.

i decided i didn't really want to do three different pinwheels, but to use one type of pinwheel three times. that would simplify the making a whole lot.

now, i don't need any new quilt starts. just look at my wip page - there's something like 25 projects i have in the works. BUT, i had reasons to start this one right away. namely, i was going to get a good chunk of sewing time over a four day period and i thought i could knock this project out into a top in that time. i'm also going to have a similar amount of time in a few weeks, at which time i would work in batch mode to get all my tops sandwiched, and all my sandwiches quilted. why not have one more top to add to the pile?

and so ...

i made several pairings of 4 fabrics and got to work making the double pinwheel blocks.

the color palette i chose is pinks and reds from the "social climber" print, khaki greens, navy blue, deep and mauvy purples, a range of gold-tone and cinnamon browns.

i selected a lot of vintage, antique-type blenders, like the kind denyse schmidt is really good at.

each fabric pairing makes two double pinwheel blocks, so i made three sets (6 total) from each pairing, one pair per column.

i didn't realize when i started just how many hsts i would be making and trimming.

a lot.

there are four double hsts per block. times 37 blocks per column, times three columns.

a lot.

i've never had a trimmings pile this big before, and this was only half way through.

for anyone making double pinwheel blocks, here are my tips:

1. cut your starting strips a smidge (like, 1/16th of an inch) larger than called for in length and width. it will give you more wiggle room when trimming in case something is off. then your center squares have a better chance of matching up.

2. pay very close attention to how your strip blocks are oriented BEFORE you cut on the diagonal to create your triangles. it really matters.

i did not pay close attention to my diagonal cuts the first few times and got some interesting results, and had to make a few additional sets in some cases. see the photo below, the two mixed-up pinwheels in the center, bottom.

and one time (above), i accidentally sewed some triangles together in a mismatched fashion. it was hurting my brain so bad to figure out how i did that and how to undo it! lol. i was about to just sew them together as they were and let them be a fun feature in the quilt, when i realized what i had done and unpicked it to correct. this was the only unpick in hours of sewing and from nearly a hundred blocks, so i'd say i did pretty well.

at first i played around with pairings of fabrics to come up with different configurations. but eventually i decided that going for highest contrast between the pairings was best as it made the pinwheels the most visible and discernable, and i just stuck to one configuration.

looking back, i should have used more low-volume blenders and a few more bright colors.

friday mornings the grandbaby comes to spend time with granna while his mom goes to the gym. he was quite interested in this quilt.

i think he wanted to rearrange them for me.

halfway through the morning, i realized we were wearing matching outfits: we both had denim blue shirts and black leggings on.

let's talk about how this quilt is looking.

i definitely nailed a very specific aesthetic - the scrappy, sort of retro vibe that i see in a lot of australian quilts - in a very fall-feeling palette.

the question is: do i like it?

hmm. 

i'm actually not sure.

this is one super wild quilt.

i learned a long time ago that blenders matter. don't just use all focal fabrics. you need those quiet, more subtle pretties to make your loud ones stand out and shine.

also, go for contrast in scale and color. mix geometrics with the florals.

some tips i picked up on from dana of old red barn co. for scrappy quilts that guided me here:

1. use more fabrics, the more the better

2. choose a color palette and make sure all your fabrics are in it. lots of colors is fine.

some helpful things i have realized while studying the quilts of jen kingwell:

1. lots of dots; polka dots of all sizes and styles are great.

2. make use of what i call "jen kingwell neutrals" to get her vibe. i see a smattering of these vintage-looking, cream- and gold- and tan-toned blenders in a lot of her quilts. i've started collecting them myself. i was looking at some civil war era reproduction prints the other day and i think that's one category where you can find this type i'm talking about.

these are some in my stash. they aren't the type of fabric print i would have selected before, but i do now.

one thing i decided for sure now that most of the blocks are done - i'm not using "social climber" as my background column fabric. it's just way too busy and the pinwheels get lost against it. i did not spend hours and days making pinwheels for them not to be seen. so i'm on the hunt for a good background.

this quilt is definitely in the "hot mess, what-have-i-done" phase. maybe when i have it put together with a good background i will like it. 

it was certainly fun to make; no regrets there.

oh. "what about that name?," you ask.

well, most of the time i was working on this quilt i had a niece here with my daughter. they're best friend cousins and always have been. both of their middle names are elizabeth. i'm considering giving this quilt to cousin elizabeth if i determine she actually really likes it. so "spinning around" plus the elizabeths present made for "spinning elizabeths."

brightside

 

thinking i could complete a quilt top in less than 24 hours is definitely looking on the bright side of things.

in reality, i didn't start out thinking i was going to complete this in under 24 hours. i thought it would be fast, but didn't count on it being this fast or me having the time even if it was fast.

i'm happy to say i was very pleasantly surprised!

when i saw this photo in october 2019 posted by meghan @thencamejune, my jaw dropped. i was totally in love. those bold horizontal stripe sections and all the vertical stripes were just so fun. admittedly, the setting takes the quilt up a few notches, too. the way the reds in the leaves bring out the reds in the quilt is perfection.

this #brightsidequilt went on my "to make" list immediately.

a little while later meghan posted this beautiful stack of kona cotton solids for a different project and i thought it would be the perfect palette for my brightside quilt. i could just see the deep teal green on the bottom and the white as the horizontal stripe blocks.

meghan kindly shared the colors for this stack: haze, lingerie, petal, peach, orangeade, wasabi, pickle, jade green, cypress, white, and enchanted (color of the year 2020). 

i quickly made an order for the colors, as well as a pile of blues and berries for another boxy quilt like my cheery easter quilt. when my fabrics came, the orangeade was a tad too bright for me, so i traded it for one close but not so bright in my stash (i think melon?). otherwise, i loved everything as it came.

these two pretty piles have been sitting side by side in my sewing room for ages, always making me smile and tempting me to start them. but i've been awful busy elsewhere whenever i'm sewing. i've started at least 4 new quilts in the last month, but it was never one of these two.

then designer maureen cracknal posted this very pretty version of the brightside quilt made from her new (very pretty) "open heart" fabric line for art gallery fabrics. i was smitten and reminded how much i have wanted to make this pattern. which i already have the fabrics for. i got pulled into scrolling the brightside hashtag and my itch to make it was renewed.

i had aunt bet's laid out on the floor outside my sewing room doors, with the top half fully attached and the bottom in it's rows but not complete. i so did not want to tackle it. there had been issues with my rows coming out even and i was just plain tired of aunt bet's. but i made myself put it together and then i put her away in the naughty corner.

then i pulled out the piece of enchanted and cut away.

after cutting all the green and white strips, i pieced the first block and pressed it open to test it before i did all of them.

it came out a full 1/4" short on the height!

no bueno.

i made another block, this time with a scant 1/4" seam and being more careful with my pressing of the seams.

block number two was just right.

i went back and ironed the heck out of the first block's seams to open them up more and gain a bit more length in my block. of course it was a bit distorted after the aggressive ironing, but i did manage to get it closer to the needed size.

then i chain pieced like crazy, doing pairs of colors first and then pairing pairs until i had none left.

that was a logistical oversite on my part. there an odd number of strips in each block, so i had to unpick some of my pairs to get the blocks made correctly.

starting out with shortages and unpicking seemed an ill omen.

fortunately, it was smooth sailing from there. i never had another size issue or unpicking required.

the quilt is composed of 5 more block styles in addition to the stripe blocks. it really is quite brilliant. i began making the blocks in sets, doing as many as were needed of each block one at a time.

the pattern called for 18 fat quarters but my fabric pull inspired by meghan only had 9 fabrics in it. originally i intended to just use each color twice. once i got started, i thought that might not give me the same depth of color play as the pattern called for, so i started pulling coordinates from my stash. i was doing this at night, with only my electric lights to select fabric colors by, and was concerned how they would look in daylight. but when i looked at everything in the morning, i was quite pleased.

i've noticed as i work with solids that having two different but similar tones of the same hue really adds depth to the quilt, so i chose one or two more of each color, trying to get close but not too close to each. i didn't add any more neutrals.

i was a little concerned about getting the colors evenly or pleasingly spread around the quilt. i could have studied everything more closely in the pattern to make sure i got the colors spread out, but i didn't want to spend that much time when everything was moving so fast. in order to keep really similar hues from being next to each other, i made sure that the pairs for each block were contrasting and put colors that i had a lot of (grellows) in blocks that called for 3 colors. then i put the grellows in the middle of those blocks. that was my best attempt at spreading around my colors. i also switched 2 or 3 of the blocks before assembly, but that's all.

i stayed up later than usual to sew that night, but by the time i went to bed, i had all the blocks put together and laid out in order. amazing.

in the morning, i got back to work and assembled the full top in an hour and a half with no mistakes.

i could not believe it!

after all the wait to get it started, i finally made this quilt top and completed it in less than 24 hours.

so awesome.

i need to decide on the backing and then i'll be able to finish this one off.

i'm leaning toward an all-solids back, probably like the one i have on "cheery easter" quilt. i just need to pick which color to use as the main one and then get the yardage.

then maybe i can make that berry blues boxy quilt?