Friday, June 16, 2023

A Plaid-ish Finish! / Beauties Pageant 220

A guildmate once shared a scrap quilt of hers in which there were no repeats—each fabric was used just once. Can you imagine the scrap bin necessary to create such a masterpiece?! Although a challenge like that would be a worthwhile one, my taste in scrappy quilts swings to the other end of the spectrum. 

First, I like my scrappy projects to have a strong geometry. Sharp, predictable lines create an orderly environment for me and my scrap bin to play. Then I need a well-defined palette to reign things in—I can’t handle what I’ve heard others refer to as “scrap vomit”—and my favorite way to develop a color scheme is to use a few fabrics as inspiration. 

My latest finish, a second go-round with Kitchen Table Quilting’s Plaid-ish pattern, meets both of those criteria. I started with a few prints from Kate Spain’s Sunnyside, and from there fleshed out a sizable  enough fabric pull to complete this 64-inch by 82-inch quilt.

Some fabrics make a single appearance, but there are many others that are represented a half-dozen times or more. I like that kind of repetition in my scrap quilts—it creates some cohesion and helps me bust through a few fat quarters while I chip away at my stash of scraps.

I’d be remiss not to mention the beautiful quilting in this finished quilt. It was done by my friend Ophelia and is a pantograph by Urban Elementz called Diamond Plaid. Those angled lines soften the horizontal and vertical seams in the piecing, don’t they?

To read more about how I built my palette (and expanded it when necessary), click here. To see my first Plaid-ish quilt, read this blog post. And to make your own Plaid-ish, visit Kitchen Table Quilting and click on “tutorials.”

 I have more to say and show you about this Plaid-ish finish. Come back next week to see what I did with the back. Spoiler alert: I used Kelly Young’s new book, Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs, to make it!

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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11 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful, a job well done!

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  2. I’m suffering FOMO with this pattern. I’ve thought about it a lot and how I’m going to fit it into my non-scrappy quilting joy. There are definitely enough prints in my stash to pull it off but definitely there will be repeats. I carry around this fantastic pattern every few days. You inspire me, dear friend!!!

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  3. A beautiful finish, Michelle, and I look forward to learning about the backing next week!

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  4. Love your (second) version of this classic scrap quilt. I've made one so far... Using a similar colour palette to yours :-) https://patchwork-quilting.co.uk/2022/02/20/meet-the-patchwork-juggler/

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  5. Hi Michelle, that's a really lovely quilt.

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  6. Great way to use up a myriad of scraps. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs from down under.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, not sure why I came up anonymous, but that was me above.

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  7. This quilt is on my to-do list. I really like how yors turned out.

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  8. Such a pretty quilt, Michelle! Every Plaidish quilt I've seen looks good! When I made mine, I truly used all scraps and it felt so good to do that. I gave away the quilt to a special male cousin, and he seemed to like it. I obviously have way too many WIPs because I can't remember the last time I blogged about a finish. One of these days, I might get to "brag about my beauties."

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  9. Congrats on your finish! I re-use fabrics in scrap quilts too. Imagine the Scrappy Pixel without repetition *big eyes*

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