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.

A fine gentleman on instragram recently organized a mini quilt swap and I thought it would be fun to jump in.

I was assigned a partner and commenced stalking her IG feed. She seemed to like subtle colors and beautiful, small scale floral prints. I had recently purchased a some pre-cut London of Liberty florals in a rainbow of colors, so I decided they would be my main fabrics. I decided on a plus quilt. There are so many great design options when laying out a plus quilt, and I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at inspiring quilts. I ended up basing my layout on this gorgeous quilt by Megan of City Stitches.

I used a variety of whites and greys for my background, since I had them on hand from another project. I wanted to add something a little special, so I decided to make teeny tiny wonky stars for the center of each plus. I tried to use contrasting colors to make each star, but sometimes they ended up blending in with the plus more than I intended. The stars were so small that sometimes the secondary colors in the prints came to the forefront, and the stars didn't stand out as much as I thought they would. It bothered me at first, but then I decided to embrace it as another design element. Some stars that pop out, and some that blend in. I had this quilted by Nikki Maroon and she did a beautiful job. The finished piece measures 24" square.

It was fun to make this quilt and see my partner leaving comments about how much she loved it as I posted progress pics, since she didn't know it was intended for her. I didn't have to worry about whether she would like it. I already knew. I also really enjoyed picking out extras to send with her quilt. Paper Source is an excellent place to buy swap extras, it turns out. I didn't take a picture of those, but I think I sent some washi tape, a notebook, a candle, and some candy.

I received a fabulous quilt from another IG user, which you can see here. All in all, a successful swap. I'll definitely do another when I have the time.

What's Up, You Cool Baby?

My first quilt swap