Sometimes they have to be quick ...

Not all quilts can be planned out in advance ... my boss announced unexpectedly last Monday that she was going to be leaving the company ... on Friday ...

As a true believer that all life events are quilt-worthy ... I had some quick work to do.  Off to the LQS and into the stash ... 

I settled on a triangle pattern ... 1) I had never made one and 2) I thought it would be high impact for the time it takes to pull it together.

My new design wall got it's first use.

And I REALLY began to appreciate the opportunity to use a design wall in the creation of a quilt.  It delivered way more benefit than I had initially imagined in the initial lay out as well as the ability to move things around so easily once it was laid out.

For those who missed my design wall post ...

The finished quilt was 56 x 72".  And looking at it from the the finished quilt angle, I can see that the design wall is only half of the opportunity.  Looks like I flipped one of the rows when I pieced the rows together ... see those three white triangles lined up too perfectly in a row? [ sigh ]

The back was pretty simple ... used up a few extra triangles from the front so that I could maximize the yardage utilization .. 44" wide x 72" long made it a lot simpler.  Sometimes I feel I spend way too much time on piecing backs -- that simply was not an option on this one.

The label simply wishes her well on this new chapter in her life.  

Of course, not having made this before, I bought way too much fabric ... so I see another coming my way soon ... because, while it was quick, I really loved the color palette as well and it would go great in my den.

Signed, sealed and delivered ...

All the best,
Lisa

I saw this quilt ... and FELL IN LOVE !!!

I saw this quilt ... and   F E L L   I N   L O V E !!!!!

Sadly ... the link does not take me back to the creator ... so I cannot give credit where it is due ... but if anyone knows who made this ... let me know, as I would love to share!

UPDATE:  thanks so much to Kat @ ZaUSELLoCKE I can now share that the inspiration quilt is from American Jane Patterns Quilt Kits -- it is the 19th quilt down on the page.  On an irony note ... isn't it awesome that German blogger responded to a Seattle Quilter to help her find a quilt designer from an American Quilting magazine ... oh how I love the internet !!!

I pinned it about 6 months ago ... and have thought about it weekly ever since!  Kind of like the tune that you can't get out of your head ... no matter what.  In August, I hunted down my materials.  And here I am ...

My version has a few minor differences.  While I've used a collection of small print fabrics, mine is in a softer pallet.  I've also transposed the pattern, running the colors horizontally rather than vertically as in the inspiration quilt.

It definitely gives it a different vibe.

I like my version, but for different reasons.   Mine seems like a chevron with a more transparent fabric of each color used within.

I have a quarter yard of each fabric.  I've used < half the fabric of each fabric on this quilt.  So I am thinking of trying the pattern the same way as in the inspiration quilt to see what that one would look like as well.

It's been full pulling this quilt top together ... looking forward to working on it over the next few weeks and finishing it off as a quilt!

All the best
Lisa

Design wall

Quilting Design Wall

TOTALLY thrilled to finally have a design wall!  (more to come on the new room it's in soon!)

Thanks so much to Marianne over at The Quilting Edge for the fabulous tutorial on how to create a design wall.  

Up until now, I've had to lay my quilts out on tables and beds and then stand on chairs to take photos to decide whether they were laid out the way I wanted them to be ...

Sometimes a dog 'straightens' them out for me ...

The new wall is great ... it helps me visualize what I'm doing.  I wasn't able to find the pre-packaged insulation board that Marianne found, but went to Home Depot and they helped me think it through.  I purchased 1" board, as I live in the pacific northwest where it rains a lot and wanted to make sure that the boards wouldn't warp.

My design wall is 96" wide by 72" tall and is comprised of 6 boards that are 24" by 48".

Some days ... I actually feel like a real artist!

All the best!

Lisa