Saturday, February 18, 2017

Glitter Block


Ever since I saw this Glitter quilt in the book Quilt Lovely by Jen Kingwell, I have been intrigued.  It looks so different from the usual quilt, and all those lovely scraps look so good together.  I immediately decided I was going to make it. While I kept working on my current projects, I thought about all the scraps I would use. I even bought a packet of fabric from Connecting Threads that I thought would lovely in this quilt. How else can I get the loveliness of a scrappy scrap quilt than to buy a packet of coordinating fabric? haha

Yes, I see that there are set in seams, and fabric that is cut with templates.  The quilt looks easier to make than it really is, but that is how you can make such an intriguing, different quilt.  Even though I bought enough fabric to make one or two or these quilts, I decided to think practically and make a small quilt, maybe 36, 25 blocks, or even 16.  Today, while I am waiting for your advice on my Adinkra quilt (see my previous post, please), I decided to go ahead and start this quilt with a sample block.

I looked more closely at the sparse directions  and the set-in seams - four of them in each block. I thought that  eight blocks would make a nice small quilt - four in a row.  I chose some fabric and decided to make a trial block.  There are three colors and four different shapes, so it takes attention to make sure everything in the right place.  Trying to make more than one until I had a hang of it would be too much. I didn't even try to work it in with  a leader/ender, opting to use a scrap fabric for that purpose. 

I thought I could avoid that diamond shape by cutting it in half. But it really doesn't help with the piecing. (It may have helped slightly with finding the right place to join the fabric.)  The background setting is a weird shape and while I could try to piece it, I decided to make it the way Jen did.  The center worked out pretty well.  The first set in seams not so much.  I thought maybe a three block quilt would look good. 

As I added the other background pieces, I had to convince myself to just finish the one block, just to show that I could.  I did get better as I went along, pinning properly and finding the right place to start the sewing. You have to keep going back to the block - those set in seams require eight separate passes through the machine, meaning eight passes through the leader/ender scrap. When I thought about string piecing it, trying to keep all the colors and pieces together, I got a headache. 

This one will go into the orphan block box.  It wasn't awful, but it takes more attention than I want to give it now.  This scrap quilt doesn't look like a masterpiece quilt to me, and I would like to spend that kind of time on quilts that will be masterpiece quilts. That leader/ender scrap was thoroughly filled by the time I finished the block.

The four squares in the middle is the binding fabric for The Earth Laughs in Flowers (formerly known as Daisy's Chickenpox).

5 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I think I would add side borders and make it into a placemat or mugrug. I don't like projects that are that fussy either. I have made many one block starts.

Allie-oops Designs said...

Laughed out loud at the 3 block quilt - I think one would be enough for me too. But it sure is pretty!!

Kaja said...

Well it is a pretty quilt, but sometimes life is just too short, isn't it?

Marle said...

Quilt looks pretty but who have time to do it? If you change your mind you have the first block already!

Tanya said...

Oh dear... that does look like a handful. I think I would relegate that pattern to a hand piecing box... maybe over the years one could make eight or nine blocks...