I'm have so much fun with playing with my swap quiltlets. Those two will go out on Monday, so I'll post photos at completion. In the meantime I'll share some photos I took a few weeks ago...
Heather Baily Friendship Braid ready for quilting:
Tested just about every color in there for the border as well as white. Went with the chocolate brown because I love how it frames everything and shifts the colors from pastel to almost jewel tones. It will go much better in our house now.
Ironed the top to perfection and wanted to keep it that way while prepping the back and batting. Usually the ironing board or dining table serves, but my feline and canine helpers were in fine form that day, so I hung this from the door frame as a last resort.
After standing back I considered leaving it, but we do use that door (oh well).
I always admired the Kaffe Fassett version of this from his first book. If I ever have the right place for it I will have to try this stained-glass effect. I think it would be perfect for a window that needs permanent cover.
I LOVE this quilt, but I want to share the following as a cautionary tale. These braid strips are created randomly, but in two different directions to create four A strips and four B strips. You layout the finished strips in A/B order, so your options for rearranging the final strips are limited. Still, nut job that I am I sorted, considered, resorted, had lunch, did it again, etc. All good and optimized. Time to sew.
I should have taken the pairs one a time to the machine, but I got efficient cocky and paired and sewed all the strip pairs at once. (Yeah, I know cocky implies male, but there's not a good female equivalent that I can think of right now. Feel free to post one in comments. I just accept that it's a testosterone driven behavior anyway.) In my defense, I did use different colored pins at the top of each pair to show placement and direction, but that obviously wasn't enough. Between sewing and ironing I must have switched a pairing because these two were NOT next to each other in my optimized layout! Considering that I made each strip independently, the similarity between these two strips also tells me that I'm just a touch hyper-controlling, even when trying to be random!
This bottom border should have been a clue, but I'd pieced these in an odd way, so brushed it away rather than really thinking about what I was seeing. This was a side project to a larger quilt, so I didn't start with all the fabric at once and also mis-cut some patches too short (the orange print right of center). At the end of piecing the strips I added a few patches to some strips to balance patterns, so the unevenness didn't jump out at me. Note to self, no more ignoring those little "Hey, what's that?" thoughts! Really. Stop doing that!
Embarrassed that I only caught it when adding the border. NO WAY was I ripping to fix it -- I've got enough hard-learned wisdom to know that would do more damage than good.
Next time I'm indicating row placement and vertical direction by either safety pinning a note or writing with water-soluble marker on the back of each strip. Something I can check one last time before lowering those feed dogs.
As penance I documented the problem and am sharing it with you. Mistake recognized, penance done. I'm at peace with it. I know non-quilters will never see it, but I do and yet that's OK. I love it anyway. Now to figure out the quilting...
That is absolutely gorgeous!!! If you hadn't said anything about the creative piecing, nobody would have noticed!
Posted by: Maria | November 21, 2008 at 01:59 PM
This is BEAUTIFUL! I love this quilt. And while I can honestly say that your "mistake" in no way detracts from the quilt, I can also relate because I'd be bothered by the same type of thing!
Posted by: John | November 21, 2008 at 01:59 PM
It's beautiful!
(And I'm VERY curious about the quilting!)
Posted by: Lynn in Tucson | November 21, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Oh my gosh, this is absolutely stunning. And I love it as a door cover! :)
Posted by: kristin | November 21, 2008 at 05:24 PM
It is a beautiful quilt. I so understand the whole process of laying it out (spending far to much time laying it out), and then by the time it's all sewn together, realizing that you screwed up somewhere. Even when you point it out to me, I don't really see it. But I know that if I had done it, I would see those pieces all of the time. As for quilting, I'm kind of into diagonal quilting these days. But with all those diagonal lines, maybe you want something straight. Or even just stippling.
Posted by: MichelleB | November 21, 2008 at 09:49 PM
This is beautiful and very stunning with the light behind it. Being a novice I wouldn't have noticed your "mistake", but being a perfectionist I understand your frustrations! I have started my quilt but am having problems with our new computer and my camera. Will post some when I get going. Happy "making things"!
Posted by: alison | November 22, 2008 at 01:49 AM
It is beautiful. I love brown as a border too; its warmth transfers to the quilt top itself. Your piecing is fantastic. Do you have a set quilting pattern yet?
Posted by: MJ | November 22, 2008 at 05:09 AM
That's a quilt on my list of quilts to make. You've inspired me more to keep moving it forward. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Julie | November 22, 2008 at 06:36 AM
Fab quilt.......I have always loved this quilt pattern and love it in these fabrics and the lush brown border is just perfect, gives it some real warmth and depth and enhances all the other colours in the blocks as well as framing it beautifully........and I would never have spotted the fabrics next to each other - it looks beautiful and thats all you need to fix on (mind you I know I'd be just as bad if it was something I'd made - lol)
And I love it hanging in the door way, can't you use another door????
Posted by: Jules | November 22, 2008 at 08:09 AM
breathtaking! It looks beautiful hanging up in the doorway, and laying down too! All the colors, all the prints work so well with each other its breathtaking! I love your quilting posts, with each one that I read I feel just a little bit more inspired to finish my eldest daughters quilt that my mother started and handed over to me to finish (gah).
Posted by: Amanda Cathleen | November 22, 2008 at 08:27 AM
Looks wonderful, I think I will have to put that on my list.
Posted by: pam | November 24, 2008 at 07:50 AM
absolutely beautiful. I love the stained glass effect - especially how the light behind it makes the seam allowances appear to be the leading.
great job.
jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer | November 24, 2008 at 08:09 AM
I think it's just beautiful! What an amazing idea to put it front of a window - I may have to try that at home!
I love the fabric and colors you chose too.
Posted by: Jody | November 24, 2008 at 10:06 AM
beautiful as usual! you make it look easy :)
Posted by: Moni | November 26, 2008 at 04:40 PM
All I could think of was stained glass, and THEN you hung it on the door. Unbelievably gorgeous!
The brown border really sets the colors off. Come to think of it...you are the one responsible for my current brown obsession. I am just now realizing that it was a quilt you'd done for your daughter in brown and turquoise, maybe??? Now I can't get the brown-and- color combo out of my head!
(I'll just keep looking at your many quilts, and eventually the obsession will switch, I'm sure!)
Posted by: marissa | November 30, 2008 at 10:55 PM
I keep dragging my family members over to look at the photo with your quilt hanging in the door. "It's a wonderful decorating tip" I say to them, "we need one like that in our home". They agree we need a quilt like that in our home but then I get funny looks about hanging it over a window! My suggestion to you is that doors are over rated and any sane quilting, knitting, scrap booking, and stamping person would easily give up a doorway to have such a beauty reside in their home! All kidding aside, I have to say that is one of my favorite quilts. How long does it take you to lay our the color strips so you are reasonably happy with the outcome? I'm hoping to see a book published by you sometime in the near future. You have real talent! I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Your should be breathing cleaner smoke free air this time of the year and I imagine the weather is just beautiful. My sister lived in San Tee (spelling?) about 30 yrs ago for a year while going to school so I have visited that area a few times many, many years ago. I'm sure I wouldn't recognize the area. Alison
Posted by: Alison | December 01, 2008 at 08:22 AM
Love love love love this quilt! Didn't see any errors till you pointed them out! What errors??
Posted by: Helen | December 12, 2008 at 05:30 AM
Love love love love this quilt! Didn't see any errors till you pointed them out! What errors??
Posted by: Helen | December 12, 2008 at 05:34 AM
I love this quilt top! So gorgeous!
Posted by: Karin | January 03, 2009 at 11:31 PM
ohh beautiful...I love heather bailey's fabrics. Did you follow a pattern, I'm trying to work out how you did as i just love it!!
Posted by: Samantha | January 19, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Hello and congratulations on your fabulous braided quilt, the colours are gorgeous and so is the stained glass effect, well done you!!
Warm Wishes,
Annie Dunn
Saudi Arabia
Posted by: Annie Dunn | January 26, 2009 at 09:32 AM
This is an absolutely beautiful quilt. You have done such a great job. Do you mind my asking what jelly roll you used. Our local quilt shop is offering a class making this quilt and I had liked but not loved the pictures of others I've seen made so I was going to pass. After seeing yours, I know think I might take it. I also love it as a stained glass piece. What a great idea to hang it up like that.
Thanks for sharing,
Betsy Olguin
Posted by: Betsy | February 26, 2009 at 09:40 AM
so pretty! thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Paulyn | February 28, 2009 at 11:52 PM
I do love your quilt, I also love any thing scrappy, cos that the way quilts were 1st made. Yes you should be proud of it, Krystyna
Posted by: Krysytyna Stigger | June 21, 2009 at 05:48 PM
wow! This is soooo pretty!! I'm new to quilting, I just took my first class and am still working on my first quilt. The one you made here is so beautiful! What fabric did you use for it? Its really lovely!
Posted by: Olivia | April 14, 2010 at 07:47 AM