This quilt originated with a photo of Nettie Young's Stacked Bricks. Link in this post. Interestingly, Monica at Lakeview Stitching was concurrently inspired by Nettie's quilt. Although they all different, I can see the relationship between them.
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| Chinese Coins II: Stacked Bricks top |
Several pennants were replaced. It wasn't difficult but certainly was a pain in the neck. As each pennant was removed, I laid it over another and then trimmed the new one to fit exactly.
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| Cutting new pennants to fit the old |
Layering and slicing sets of strips worked very well until I moved pennants around. When I changed my mind about their order I realized I'd created a mess. The angles and curves are slightly different for each and required lots of adjustments to keep the border level. For examples of places where true freehand works well, look at Stephie's Fete and Sujata's Endless Mountains. Stephie uses freehand to make all her pennants different. Sujata actually maintained the order of cutting in her outer border. {She chose fabric order well.} For someone like me who changes her mind frequently, cutting with a ruler at a set angle would have been a more rational choice. I am going to try layering/slicing/rotating again but swear to determine all the colors before cutting anything.
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| Cutting corner squares |
Now it needs a back, quilting, and binding.
So many people stricken with disasters. Floods in Texas, Florida, the Caribbean, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Fires throughout the North American West. Magnitude-8 earthquake in Mexico; aftershocks expected. Heat wave in Europe.
"Sometimes we come to gratitude too late.
It's only after blessing has passed on that we realize what we had."
Philip Gulley
Let's all lend a hand. We will need one someday, too.
Enjoy the day, Ann
21 comments:
Love this quilt! Those borders are the perfect finish and worth the wait.
Yours and Monica's quilts are truly different. Loved seeing them come along and all from the same inspiration quilt! I had to wince at your work with making the free-cut pennants play nice when deciding to move them around. We do manage to get ourselves into some tricky situations occasionally! Guess that's why your quilts always sparkle and look so good, you care enough to get the details 'just so'!
I have trouble with those conflicting guidelines you spoke of. I understand! My quilts tend to "simmer" too long! A guild mate died unexpectedly last month. The question asked now is "how many tops will YOU leave behind on this earthly plane?"
What a treasure you've made Ann! The border has worked beautifully. and spending the time making sure you had the angles of the replacement pieces paid off. Conflicting guidelines -yes, same sort of problem at my place, a number of my quilts seem to have been simmering for too long, and the pan may have dried up!! I echo your thoughts on the crises throughout our world at the moment, I find it quite unbelievable sometimes. Lovely quote Ann.
Congratulations on the finish - you've invested so much of yourself in this beautiful top!! LOVE the quotation -- so utterly true.
Love the quote, so true. And such a wonderful quilt, I love how everything has come together beautifully over time! (So glad this one didn't get tucked away for years!)
Thanks, Georgia. I think it looks better than the photo. Why do we consistently get these oddly colored shots?
Starting from the same point and heading in our own direction always reminds me of the story of the blind men and the elephant. Except in this case, we each picked one aspect of the elephant to run with.
I was just glad to figure out how to get myself out of the corner I'd painted myself into. Or cut myself into. Everyone works differently but it sure is fun to try new ways.
Thank you for the kind comments, Audrey. High praise from someone whose work I admire so much.
The perfect reminder to us all. Glad to know I'm not alone.
Years ago I read about Dutch quilters who (according to the article) only purchased what they needed for one quilt and worked on it until it was done. No UFOs in the Netherlands. I believed it then but am more skeptical now. Or perhaps it's just envy.
The pan may have dried up. I love it. So true. Many older quilts just look... older. Something about the layout or color scheme. And still I have trouble donating them as is.
I hope all is well in NZ. You had an earthquake last year, too.
Thanks, Julie. It's good to have it to this stage and better to get it quilted. I'm developing quite a pile of tops this summer.
Sadly, I think I'm recognizing my blessings awfully late. My family always closes conversations with, "I love you." We said it and meant it. Such a comfort to me now that several are gone.
That quote grabbed me when I read it.
I'm glad this top is ready to sandwich, too. Although I'm not the best at quilting stacks of tops. Must get on it.
I love this--so wild, and colorful, and fun to look at!
Thanks. It has gone back and forth from very quiet to quite wild.
This quilt looks like a lot of work, but it sure is beautiful.
I love the colors in this quilt! And the border is really great. A nice shape compliment to the center! cheers!
The hardest part is recovering from my poor decisions. Ha.
The colors metamorphosed with each row. Thanks for writing, Claire.
Another quilt that shows the value of borders (and the work that goes into them!) Wonderful quilt.
What a kind remark, Cathy. Thanks. I certainly enjoy making borders. For me, it breaks up the monotony of making the same blocks.
... and thanks for sharing with 'sew stitch snap SHARE'
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