So I have this history of making gifts for my family for birthdays and Christmas. Though not always a hit, I have preferred to make gifts for people. Quilting has become a great option as people seem to like receiving them.
Choosing the right fabric and patterns are now the most complicated part – which brings me to my story…
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The Purpose of the Quilt
Both sons hit milestones this past year – the youngest turned 13 in April and the oldest hit 16 in May. I started thinking about quilts for them last January, knowing that it would be wise to start early. The only question I asked them was what colors they wanted. Their response?
Black.
Seriously – just black.
Both of them were told to pony up a contrasting color. The oldest went first and chose red.
Okay. So a quilt of unknown pattern for a May birthday out of black and red fabric.
Good deal.
Alright – so now the quest to find a suitable pattern with just two colors.
I originally started with the idea of doing a log cabin. I haven’t yet tackled one though I have it on my Quilt It List. I checked out some available books at my LQS on different log cabin designs (read: looked at while there 😊). I was working on some details during a sit and sew (love sewing with awesome ladies!) and enter my friend Sandra.
She pipes up with a suggestion to check out Eleanor Burns’ pattern Day and Night.
As luck would have it, the store had the pattern book available so I grabbed it. I decided it looked like a pattern my oldest would love! The pattern can be done with two or three fabrics, so the black and red theme would work.
If you haven’t seen it before, check it out here!
I will say this – the pattern is fairly simple though it doesn’t seem that way. I was given some advice – just look at the pictures. It went easier after that 😊
A disclaimer: what I am offering amounts to my opinion based on my experiences. Take it for what it’s worth – the point is to hopefully save someone some time, effort or frustration.
Here goes with some of the stuff I discovered during this project.
Lessons Learned
So the first lesson is one that I probably should have ‘learned’ long ago, but I guess it hadn’t sunk in.
If you find fabric you love (or in this case need), then make sure you buy all that you need.
Plus extra.
I’m not kidding.
I failed to math correctly as I wanted to make quilt in dimensions that weren’t already calculated. You see, the pattern book (yes, it’s a book. With a ruler. I will get to that) had fabric requirements for 4, 6, 12, 24, 42 and 49 blocks.
I wanted about 30.
Yup, I make life difficult. I like to do things the size I want them – and in this case that meant guessing. I won’t even call it an educated guess because it was strictly guessing. This is probably why I tend to stick with making up my own patterns.
Ooops.
I decided on batiks, because, well, I’ve had a lifelong love affair with all things batik.
I found this incredible red – which I bought – based on my guessing game.
Having quickly discovered that I definitely didn’t guess right, I went back and finished the bolt. Good thing too, because there wasn’t too much left.
Then onto the black fabric.
Didn’t have enough of that either.
Enter trips to other quilt shops, searching online, and agonizing. Agonizing over the fact that someone had snagged the rest of this fantastic black batik with circles of dots.
Darn it.
After exhausting my resources, I went looking for a different kind of solution. I found it in one of those great mixer batiks with dots all over. Slightly different coloring, however the design lends itself to masking the differences. Not that a teenage boy is likely to notice anyway!
I’m not alone in this fabric regret boat, I’m sure – but I now err on the side of caution if I’m really excited about the fabric.
I also check my math. Repeatedly.
And when I’m nervous I buy extra.
Yay for my stash!!!
Sad for the checking account ☹
Because the original black had a distinct pattern to the dots, I elected to use it in all of the larger strips. I saved the smaller strips for the different pattern. I have shown this quilt to multiple quilters and they can’t tell there are two blacks in there. Mission accomplished.
Then there were…
…the Eleanor specific lessons
Here is where I might lose some loyalists – please don’t be too quick to judge. I want to share some insights I gained after a couple (yup – did one for the 13 year old too) of her quilts. I’m not sure I would have opted to do two in such a short time span had I known the below.
First – they are not quick.
Easy? Sure.
Not quick.
Very tedious, in fact. So allot yourself ample time and if you hate cutting and more cutting – think about this quilt before you start.
It is strip pieced, which is what makes it super easy. But there is a pattern specific ruler (comes with the book) and the many cuts you will need to make. This is where the advice to just look at the pictures came in – her patterns seem very wordy. The pictures were much more instructive.
That said- I would advise cutting all at the same time. I found myself splitting the cutting up and found it difficult to refocus on where I had stopped.
An approach I might take in the future – cutting and sewing my strip sets and then setting aside. Then revisiting and cutting the right or left side one day and the other half another day. That is solely because standing at the cutting table for that long is too much for me. I was doing this at my LQS, and even though the cutting tables are more height appropriate – it was still too much.
Maybe some stretching in between. 😊
The other, somewhat lasting thing is the copious amount of scraps I have from this quilt.
I will give her kudos- she added an entire bonus section to the pattern book. Just to account for the scraps, complete with options that her testers came up with. That said, I must not have cut quite well enough because I’m going to have to come up with something else.
That’s a problem for another day though, so they sit in a gallon Ziploc bag to await some solution.
Maybe next year.
Final thoughts
The bright side was of course, my kiddo’s reaction – he did indeed love his new quilt. Though it was a few months before he could use it, he has been thoroughly enjoying it since fall. I also don’t regret the 30 blocks. The size is perfect for him – the 42 would have been way too big. So despite some of the more frustrating lessons, I am quite happy with the outcome. My son got a special gift he can keep forever and I got to cross something off my Quilt It List.
Does it matter that I added it just to cross it off?
Nah! I can’t be the only one who does that to their to do lists, can I?
What are you working on? Have you tackled Eleanor projects yet? If so, which ones and did you enjoy them?
Keep Quilting!
Amanda
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