When Inspiration Hits

Sometimes we see something that clicks in our brain and we just HAVE to do something with the spark.  It might be a piece of fabric, an architectural design, a new way of looking at a ruler or template, or it might be........a rug.

This isn't my story, but I must share it with my fellow quilters as it's quite remarkable.  My phone rang one day in June and a lady on the other end says, "I have a quilt that needs to be finished".  She was referred to me from another customer, (thank you Nancy) and showed up at my studio with this quilt.  MLW started telling me she wasn't a quilter, but that she has been working on this project, on and off, for 10 years.  Apparently it was "lost" for a few years.  We wouldn't know anything about that, right? (*wink*) 

After much searching online and pondering design ideas for the navy blue negative space, we finalized a design that was both circular and linear.  She also wanted Stitch in the Ditch around all the patchwork.  Can you see me tremble?  This baby is 116" wide.....

And now click on the picture below.  See all that jute cording around the piecing?  She couched that on every block before she constructed the quilt, and in the process, this covered up the ditch.

The upside of that? It was much easier to do the ruler work around all the blocks.  The sashing running through the blocks was all diamonds, with a fabulous Kaffe stripe and MLW rotated every second block to achieve the same look as the rug that sits at the foot of her bed in her Mexican getaway.

There were a few issues along the border of the patchwork that needed a bit of cleaning up, and after 10 years, we found that that the back was not big enough .  So off to the store she goes, and returned with this fabulous cheddar piece that I inset down the middle and it is gorgeous. 

For someone who claims to "not be a quilter" the work was extraordinary. The ruler work was a delight, as her piecing was spot on, the pressing was suburb, and this makes a machine quilter's job so much more enjoyable. Since the navy rows were hand guided, they are not perfect. I loved stitching out this motif, I could see it as a fabulous border design on something. It was a perfect combo for this quilt.

When MLW picked up her quilt, I told her she should continue to quilt. The workmanship was so wonderful and she made this whole piece because of the inspiration she got for her rug. Can you imagine what else she might make? I hope to see something else from this talented crafter.

Keep stitching,
Sharon

Sacagewea Sampler Update

Hello out there!  Is anyone still listening?  How did I have time to blog and have so much to blog about and now nothing??   I started down the slippery slope of Instagram and my blog had withered away.  Kind of like my lawn these days.  I'm not complaining, but geez, can we get some moisture in the Pacific NW? 

OK onto quilting, that's what this blog is supposed to be about. 

I'm still poking along on my Sacagawea Sampler by Minnick and Simpson.  Here is an appliqued block I started Dec 8th, 2014. How can I remember that?  Because I prepped it in a frantic moment when I realized I didn't have anything to do on a 6 hour plane trip Dec 9th!    I  have finally got everything stitched down and all the Mark B Gone, thankfully, washed out with a quick bath in cold water.

Next up is the Lone Star block.  Thank goodness I have made one of these before and that I know how to set in Y seams.  Good luck on getting this block done with the lack of instructions in the pattern.  Truly not for an inexperienced quilter.  I love this block, I can envision a whole quilt of Lone Stars.............. Not!

Next up is the Basket block.  Yet again, the directions are a major fail for this block.  I'm referring to the borders.  I hand pieced the zigzags and then machine pieced them to the center strip.  Pinning very carefully ensured that this block turned out.  I shall not be making the second block that has the same border.  I've never been one to repeat less than relaxing blocks.

And in no particular order, here are the 9 finished blocks I have so far.  I'm LOVING this sampler, and I've been using mostly Clermont Farms by Minnick and Simpson.  My background is French Vanilla by RJR.  Kind of hard to find, I buy it by the bolt from the warehouse when I purchase my rolls of batting and other longarm supplies.  Yes, I'm still doing LONGARM quilting, email me if you would like me to help get some of your tops into quilts!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of blogland.  If you Instagram, you can follow me at #grassrootsquilting

Keep on stitching,
Sharon