My quilting voyage of the past decade is marked by some distinct phases when I would make many quilts of a particular type. Here are the phases (and I have many books supporting each one):
– Beginner, when I carried with me the fabric requirements for the same log cabin quilt, and everywhere I went I bought fabrics for those (12!) quilts I ended up making;
– Floral with gold phase;
– Fabric folding flowers;
– Machine applique’ phase;
– Quilts using only fabrics from the same collection;
– Landscape quilts; and
– Foundation piecing.
My current phase is scrappy. It has taken me many years to appreciate the beauty of scrappy quilts and no doubt the moniker ‘scrappy’ has all to do with it as I could not, for the the longest time, disassociate the word from its negative connotation. I would prefer to call them ‘Confetti Quilts’. Confetti are colorful, happy, and when you throw them up in the air no matter where the colors fall the composition turns out pretty. Just like scrappy quilts!
Whether fabric patches are simply stitched side by side or are part of more intricate designs, the possibilities are endless, with the additional bonus of allowing the quilter to use leftover fabric from previous projects. With this in mind, the book “Block-Buster Quilts – I Love Nine Patches“, curated by the quilting elves at The Patchwork Place, blew my mind away as I learned how versatile a simple block – nine patch – can be. Here is what I mean (all photographs by Brent Kane for Martingale, used by permission):
