In September of 2020 I had the opportunity to film a few segments for Fresh Quilting. I was so nervous! I planned my segments. I practiced a lot, over zoom with some good friends. I drove to Ohio and fretted about COVID. It all ended up fine. I was a bit doe-eyed and tongue-tied during my segments but I gave it my best shot! It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m glad I did it.

One of my segments focused on making simple patchwork letters using curves, triangles, and squares. This quilt was used to demonstrate the technique on the show. When we filmed, it was in progress so I could show how I put the blocks together. Later, I finished piecing it and decided to quilt it by tying. I had tied one quilt before, using embroidery floss. This time I wanted to try yarn that would felt up and make a little poof. I ended up tying it on both sides. I also added x’s across the quilt and handquilting around the stars. I love how all the handwork looks together.

The color palette came from a print I love: Clementine by Melody Miller. The stars are made in a style I learned from Gwen Marston in her book Liberated Quiltmaking II (one of my favorite quilt books ever). I have zines for sale that show you how to make these curvy patchwork letters. The phrase, “What’s up, you cool baby?” comes from a favorite podcast, My Brother My Brother and Me. I got a kick out of putting it on a baby quilt. Measures 43”x48”, final photos by Mitch Hopper.

sketchbook showing sketch and color palette

Tie technique! I used the grid method from Sherri Lynn Wood’s excellent book. It’s cool. Basically you make lines across the quilt, taking small stitches every so often, one direction, then another, making a grid across the quilt. You can cut the yarn where it intersects, and then you’re ready to tie knots. I did two grids on the back of this quilt because I wanted lots of ties and I wanted to stagger them. I did one grid on the front, much less densely tied on that side. The last two pictures show ties before and after washing. These fuzzy wool ties remind me of wild tufts of troll hair. I thought they’d make tidy little balls but they had their own plans.