TideMark

Tidemark: 2021  (Started:2019)

I just love scrap quilts and after a rather too-long hiatus and an overflowing scrap bin, I felt the urge to search the net for inspiration.  Thanks to viewing an “extreme” (well, for me) quilt collection makeover by Pat Sloan, dying of envy for Jeni Baker's (In Colour Order) organised stash and suggestions by my friendly quilting buddies to check out Bonnie Hunter for her scrappy quilts, I present to you my take on Bonnie Hunter’s 2014 leader & ender challenge quilt.

Bonnie’s original design inspiration came from an old quilt named “Stained Glass”. It was made in 1890 by Frances Clarke Westergren of Boston and can be found in the book “Massachusetts Quilts, Our Common Wealth”.  It looks just fabulous as it is but also serves as great design to mess about with and to add your own personal touches. 

My scraps were not so much scraps but fabrics from a Moda Metro Mixologie Layer Cake pack lying dormant in my “Collections” box just waiting for the right moment to present itself.  I wanted a modern look, and if anything, thought using this selection of fabrics might lead to the quilt looking a bit too samey-samey (bland!).  Perhaps to rescue it, I decided on a black and whites for the corner blocks.  Not wanting to waste any of my Layer Cake pieces, I modified Bonnie’s block to suit, i.e. larger pieces.  Now that took some math effort! 

I’m normally fairly lazy when it comes to cutting – lulled by the ever-accurate rotary cutting instructions in Judy Martin’s books, so this came as quite a shock for the old grey matter.  Never-the-less it worked out and my math held up, until after a loooong break in proceedings, I inadvertently cut my remaining corner squares the wrong size.  Back to the drawing board, hi ho!  I now cut shapes then store them in sandwich bags; all clearly labelled with sizes.  

I’d planned to make this for a friend’s 60th (it did take a wee bit longer though) as the colours seemed to suit those chosen for her house renovation.  And the modern design, highlighted by the black & white corner blocks, looked great.  To me, it was very much in keeping with her outlook on life.  She loves the water, and as the quilt looked rather like tiles in an exotic swimming pool, I chose to finish it off with a medium stipple (or meander) pattern.  

For those interested in Pat Sloan’s stash management process, here is a link to her blog post.  Pat offers a quick and easy approach to sorting out the bags, boxes and suitcases full of scraps into functional scrap sizes. Now all I need is the time to be so organised - ha ha!   

The garden is a bit too shady to show the quilt colours at their best

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 159 x 190cm
Block Sizes: 4.5 x 8.5” rectangles; 2 ¾” squares (incl s.a.)
Cut in: 17 Jan 2019 (started working out pattern size)
Pieced Started: 21 Mar 2020; Finished: 28 Dec 2020
Basted: 2 Jan 2021
Quilted: Machine: 15 Mar 2021
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: 24 Mar 2021
Exhibited:
Collection: Home #071
Pattern Name: Lozenges
Pattern Source: Bonnie Hunter 2014 (PDF pattern here)
Fabrics Purchased: Moda Metro Mixologie layer cake…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & Dots
Fabric Style: Brights
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants
 

Progress underway in 2020

Cross Roads

At this point (the start of 2021) and with time at home to think, I found myself dithering over where and how to organise my posts featuring finished quilts.  When I started this blog, it was easy to list quilts by "year started" as all I had was a photo of a finished article.  Now I am at a cross-roads with UFO’s.  I have bits & bobs here & there and lots on the go in the WORK BOX too.  Not to mention quite a few unfinished items.  I wonder (to myself loudly) if it wouldn’t be easier to change mid-stream and begin tagging projects by year finished.  What a beat-up!  What a lot of work!

But this great idea has since hit the floor with a thud… Everything would have to be re-arranged and perhaps nothing would make any sense.  There would be no apparent logical order.  And the world as we know, loves order.  Yes, even finding it in chaos. 

However, I've since had an epiphany. My plan now, after all this wasted time on “will I or won’t I” debate, is to note:

   1. The FINISH & START year in my post sub-headings. 

   2. The FINISH year in a "label cloud" making it easy to search.  

All dates will still be located in "Just for the Record" notes of each finished quilt and every post will still be dated according to time/date posted.  In all, this organisation should allow me to easily find key quilt dates, and enable linking of posts (perhaps), even in-progress reports (if I'm super-keen).  I’m so very slow to finish quilts, some taking years (and years) to finish so it is easy to forget details.  And doesn’t everyone keep digital photos and an excel spreadsheet (a documented quilt list) of their wonderful creations?

There, that feels better.  Now, did you really need to know this? 

Wildflower in the Blue Mountains