To be a bit cliché, this shoemaker is a professional Web Developer and her child is this blog, but it was past time to launch what I have of a new design. All the content is still here, everything else is a work in progress (kind of like most of my sewing projects)!
My latest quilt is being shipped off this weekend, so its debut here will have to wait until it arrives. In the mean time, I dug into my stash today for a small gift for that quilt recipient’s sister. I still had a few bits and pieces left over from the quilt I made her in 2012—the Impressions Baby Quilt—so I thought it high time to round out her gifts with a doll quilt (prop Vermont Teddy Bear not included).
It was an extraordinarily fast project; all the half-square triangle blocks were already sewn up and sitting in my scrap bin from the original quilt piecing, waiting to be stitched up into something. Finished size is 15″×20″.
A scrap of 80/20 batting and a bit of stashed cuddle-type fabric that’s cut edge shed so much I’m amazed there’s still fabric finished up the quilt sandwich. I quilted it with just a few straight lines following the HST seams, which is how the larger quilt was quilted. I bound it with more scraps from the line that were already conveniently cut into 2.5″ strips.
More of my stash was busted and one little girl won’t be so sad when her baby sister receives a package next week. That’s not too shabby for an hour or so on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
When I made “Disappearing Seven Wonders” last year, I purchased far more fabric than I needed for that top—including prints from the green and orange colorways. When it came time to whip up something for my nephew’s 13th birthday, it was the perfect stack to pull out of my stash.
“Wonders of Impromptu”, Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
In the past, I’ve always precisely planned out my quilts. When I set out to do so with this one, I realized that while I needed to aim for a certain final dimension and thus height of the individual strips, the actual piecing didn’t have to be precise. So, I branched out in a new direction and played with impromptu piecing. I worked with 2.5″, 3.5″, and 5″ WOF strips and pieced the different sections without much planning at all. It was a fun exercise.
“Wonders of Impromptu” (detail), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″.
Sometimes I had to chop a bit off, or add a bit more to a strip, because they weren’t the right width for the quilt.
“Wonders of Impromptu” (detail), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″.
Because 2.5″ + 3.5″ is greater than 5″, I was able to trim down different sizes and mix up seams for an even more arbitrary layout. It all ended up creating a fun flow to the quilt, and a more interesting layout than my original thought of simple floating strips.
“Wonders of Impromptu” (back), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
The backing is pieced from a Ty Pennington Impressions home dec print and leftovers from the front.
“Wonders of Impromptu” (label), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
Although this home dec fabric is lighter and finer than the backing on my last quilt (Thorny Patchwork), I chose to stick with straight-line quilting on this one to avoid more annoyances with broken needles. It’s slightly less dense than most of my recent projects, but still has a nice drape thanks to the low-loft cotton batting (Warm & White or Nature’s Touch White—possibly both—since I pieced it together from scraps in my stash).
“Wonders of Impromptu” (detail), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
I wanted to make sure it was in his hands by his birthday (I’m notoriously late in sending birthday cards, but managed to send his two sisters’ quilts on time last fall), so I machine bound this. It’s not perfect, but it is secure and looks fine from the front.
“Wonders of Impromptu” (detail), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
Now it’s time to focus on a handful of baby quilts for recent births and others due soon!
“Wonders of Impromptu” (detail), Rachael Arnold, January 2014, 50″x72″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
Baby quilt two of the fall rush is complete and delivered.
I was inspired by all the diamond HST quilts in blogland, and decided to throw in a heart just for good measure. It finished at around 41″×45″.
It’s backed with a solid piece of Minky fabric. It’s wonderfully soft and cozy.
Because of the Minky backing, I didn’t want to quilt it too closely. So, I just echoed the diamond inside the middle of the HSTs, and made a couple of echo lines inside the heart. Her initials are also in the middle of the heart. The density (or lack thereof) is pushing the limits of the 80/20 batting I used, but I think it will be ok.
Because of the lack of pieced backing, I didn’t make a custom label. I just used one I had printed from Spoonflower, and added a few details in handwriting.
To complete the set, I made another modified Simplicity 2613 dog out of the leftover Minky, along with a small scarf of leftover top pieces and some other fuzzy purple fabric I had in my stash. I like how the pattern goes together with the Minky… it will be used again, I’m sure.