A Top Deal and a Top Finish

I finished a quilt top of 60 degree diamonds (unfortunately too large to use Inklingo), and I am sharing some pictures of that below.

And Inklingo’s Linda Franz finished an incredible two-shape-collections-in-one (hexagons and diamonds) and you can still get it for the special low introduction price, which is an absolute steal for all that you are getting!

1.375 inch Hexagons 60° & More PDF

Final stage of piecing this top. I started this a looong time ago in a masterclass by Kaffe Fassett himself. There are several things you could notice in this picture:
– I included non-Kaffe Fassett fabrics (less obvious choices) to make my quilt ‘more unique’. Specifically there is a row with a yellowish back. This was a modern paisley fabric that had too much bright white to fit in. I put it in strong cold tea to stain it! The row below that is a 19th century or so reproduction fabric. I used this fabric in two rows.
– My table is fairly high, because I usually do my sewing and quilting standing up.
– The little mint green Jordan’s box on the left is used for safely disposing of old needles and pins.
– Underneath my table are several bins of fabric, and my printer (under the striped dust cover).

Pressing….ugh! I need a smaller iron. I have a Clover mini iron but the cord is way too short to be handy for a larger top.

Note in this picture: – The yellowish tea stained row clearly stands out from the back. – I drafted special templates for the outside half diamonds and corners, and cut and pieced these shapes with extra fabric on the outside edges. It made for short inset seams all around the edges of this top (and for some ripping :-( ).

But I think it was worth it, because I do not want to cut off any hard-earned sharp points with the binding!

Tadaa!
This quilt is not specifically meant to be on top of our bed, but it was the best place to take a picture for a full view in all its neatly pressed glory, and it turns out it works very nicely with our pink walls.

I have no plans to sandwich or quilt this anytime soon. Other projects have priority. But this became urgent when it fell off my wall. It was all wrinkly unpieced patches on a piece of flannel that I was unable to store decently until it was pieced together.

Picture with better view of the corners and edges.

Before this masterclass on using color in quilts, we were provided with the pattern of this well-known Kaffe Fassett quilt, and our homework was to cut patches in just one color family. I chose brown, because this was very much out of my comfort zone, and I really wanted to learn something new from ‘the master’.

I am not sure that I learned all that much more by using an unloved color, but I did end up with a lot of fabrics I didn’t, and still don’t like. I can piece a couple of really ugly backings or just forget about these fabrics. Meeh…. I should have gone for pink, or blue, or yellow!

One thing this top did teach me (again): Making patchwork is a great hobby for people who like laundry, ironing and vacuuming…. I prefer petting fabric, designing quilts and machine quilting!

I cut more diamonds as homework than I used. The murkiest, dullest brown fabrics ended up not being used at all. I ended up picking the fabrics that included most of the colors I do love, like pink, yellow, jade green and purple. Only once we were in class did we receive the actual assignment: Create rows in which THE PATTERN in the design flows into the pattern in the next row.

I had some trouble doing this, because I think the visual flow is more influenced by a gradual change in the colors, so I was often in doubt. Match the pattern in the print, or match the color? In the end I just went with the best color flow because I would have to live with this quilt, and not Kaffe Fassett!

But, Kaffe Fassett used me as an example in class, so he probably wasn’t too appalled by my work. I think he probably pointed my work out saying: “That’s what I mean”, because I progressed most quickly with putting rows on the design wall. From everyone in class, I had cut the most fabric options beforehand. I came this prepared because I wanted to make sure I would have time to walk around and see what others did, and also learn from Kaffe’s feedback to the other students.

You can read a previous post about this top here. I already have a pretty good idea about how I want to quilt this top, and of course I will show you that once I get to it!

XXX Annika