Hello again, and many thanks for reading along with the Modern Appliqué Illusions blog tour! Today, head over to my good friend Kristy Daum’s blog, St. Louis Folk Victorian, to read her lovely review of the book and enter for a chance to win a copy!
Today, I’d like to tell you a little more about the Baby Blocks quilt from the book. I envisioned this one as another modern baby quilt, with lots of bright colors and high contrast to interest young eyes. I actually used a photograph of stacked blocks to work out the perspective, so this is one of the few quilts in the book that isn’t based on a purely mathematical perspective system or shadows to achieve it’s illusion.
The week before my appointment to quilt this on the long arm at the shop where I rent time, I was at a loss for how to quilt the background. As it usually does, inspiration struck in the middle of the night, and I chose a simple cursive alphabet for the quilting. Surprisingly, and perhaps because we have such good muscle memory for our own handwriting, writing with the machine was incredibly easy (although I did have to repeat the ABCs in my head over and over to make sure I got the letters in the right order and didn’t skip any!).
I quilted the narrow channels in the blocks themselves on my home machine, and I really love the texture they add to the front and back of the quilt.
For the back, I found a plaid print by Valori Wells that matched the colors from the front perfectly.
To add a bit more interest, I appliqued circles from the solids left over from the front.
I don’t have a lot of scraps left over from this quilt, but if you’d be interested in winning them, along with some Pellon 805 Wonder Under, please leave a comment on this post! I’ll draw a winner in three days (so Nov. 24 at midnight). And congratulations to Jackie, who is the winner of the River Bend scrap bag!
There are two more days left on the tour after today, so make sure to visit the last couple of stops! And, if you haven’t read all of the posts, here’s the full schedule for you!
11/10: C&T Publishing
11/11: Jenifer Dick/42 Quilts
11/12: Debbie Grifka/Esch House Quilts
11/13: Kathy Mack/Pink Chalk Studio
11/14: Shannon Brinkley/Bottle Tree
11/15: Pellon
11/16: Kevin Kosbab/Feed Dog Designs
11/17: Generation Q Magazine
11/18: Krista Robbins/Sew What’s Cooking?
11/19: Fat Quarter Shop/Jolly Jabber
11/20: Violet Craft
11/21: Kristy Daum/St. Louis Folk Victorian
11/22: Cindy Lammon/Hyacinth Quilt Designs
11/23: Modern Quilts Unlimited
Thanks again for reading, and have a lovely weekend!
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Cute quilt! The alphabet quilting is adorable.
Quilting the ABCs, Brilliant idea for this quilt!! I’m saddened to see only two more days left on this hop. I’ve enjoyed the quilts and reading about the construction of each one. I hope you’ll be creating more quilts for a second book.
Your alphabet decision inspiration reminds me of my own…..fumbling for a light and pen and paper in the middle of the night so I will have that memory in the morning. It is a perfect background for the ABC blocks. The choice of a plaid and the balls for the back and rounding the corners is perfect also.
I like the idea of quilting the alphabet and I love the circle appliqués on the back! I like for my backs to look almost as good as the fronts and this one is great! Thanks got the giveaway and for your book. If I don’t win a copy, I will definitely be buying one.
I love how the quilting on the letter blocks enhances the baby block illusion.
I’ve pieced some baby blocks using light, medium and dark fabrics but this is a different approach.
I’ve learned so much from your book blog tour.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Your work is so inspiring.
The abc quilting is amazing!