"I do not know how you draw the line between fine art and craft, or
between the utilitarian and the non-utilitarian... I want to be an artist
... I intend to walk where I choose and not care which country I'm in."
~June Schwarcz,
Fourth National Conference of the American Craft Council, 1961
The quote reminds me of a recent well-written post by Kris of Pixeladies. I spend so much time {way too much!} worrying about all sorts of things it's a family joke. But I've decided to quit fretting about quilting. Even though I love stretching myself to make art quilts, the usefulness of bed quilts draws me back again and again. But whenever I've "created" a unique layout for any traditional block a photo of a similar quilt comes to my attention... usually just as mine is finished. Not worrying about that either; I'll just show mine and detail my inspiration. I will "walk where I choose and not care which country I'm in."Quilting
I've been thinking about many ways to lengthen the LeMoyne Star quilt - applique, hourglasses, more HSTs - and finally decided to add a row of smaller stars to each end. In red. Except... there's not much red in my stash. One delightfully splashy floral print, two solids, and a handful of tone-on-tone batiks. Neither inspiring nor extensive. I pulled out all the red HSTs for potential star points then looked at these fabrics again. |
| Fabric choices for center of Sawtooth Star blocks |
With such a small group of fabrics I again thought of slabs using bits of these and any red scraps in my bag. Everyone else makes lovely slab blocks. Mine get to a certain size and then look terrible. With a four-inch center, this should be about enough to work out even for me. Here are my first two samples. Not bad although the corners of the Sawtooth Stars could/should be changed around.
 |
| Sawtooth Star quilt blocks in progress |
That was a quick fix. Then I sewed a row together with narrow sashing between the stars. Why? Two reasons. I don't want them as tightly packed as the HSTs and I'm tired of working with odd sizes. These sawtooth stars finish at eight inches, close but not exactly the needed width. Cutting pairs of random sashing in different widths fills out the spacing and gives the quilt a homespun look. {At least that's my story.} Can you tell that each sashing is a different cream print and a different width?
With one side sewn, it's an adequate length. I could stop now but making a second side will balance it better and the recipient will like it more.
I was dismayed after snapping this quick shot when both ends were sewn because the sides look lopped off. Will it need more stars? Oh, golly. Then it will become too big for a lap quilt and too small for a bed quilt. This is where "the need to add borders" started. {It was too large for a baby quilt and too small for a lap quilt.}
In the end I added a narrow border of random strips around all the sides. Enormous improvement from such a tiny change and something to remember.
Now there are three largish tops that need quilting. And the scrap bag is still full.
With one side sewn, it's an adequate length. I could stop now but making a second side will balance it better and the recipient will like it more.
 |
| Sawtooth Star blocks added to one end |
I was dismayed after snapping this quick shot when both ends were sewn because the sides look lopped off. Will it need more stars? Oh, golly. Then it will become too big for a lap quilt and too small for a bed quilt. This is where "the need to add borders" started. {It was too large for a baby quilt and too small for a lap quilt.}
 |
| LeMoyne Star quilt with Sawtooth borders on two sides |
In the end I added a narrow border of random strips around all the sides. Enormous improvement from such a tiny change and something to remember.
 |
| Final narrow border of cream print |
Now there are three largish tops that need quilting. And the scrap bag is still full.
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