Day: January 18, 2012

Turkey Tracks:  January 18, 2012

Blue Tango Quilt

To continue my scrappy quilting saga and the using up of cut scraps…

At least four years ago, for a Coastal Quilters’ program, I made a set of blocks to illustrate “how to make” and the versatility of half-square triangle blocks.  On the “how to make” side, I can tell you I learned early on from my Virginia quilting buddies to cut the light/dark squares you’re going to layer a bit bigger–as much as a half-inch bigger–layer the blocks, draw a line down the center diagonal, sew a quarter-inch from the center line on each side, and cut apart your blocks on the center line, press, and trim them to exact size.

At the meeting, people could place the blocks into a design on the portable design wall we had set up.  There are, literally, dozens of beautiful combinations.  I took those blocks, added to them, and made one of my favorite designs:

I called this quilt Blue Tango.

I had a large piece of fabric that has been in the stash for years and years that worked perfectly for both the border and the backing.  I really like the very lively movement it brings to the quilt.  And, here’s another light binding–something different for me as I tend toward dark bindings.

I quilted Blue Tango with the “Chocolate Feather” pantograph.  I’m getting slightly better, but learning to have complete control with the machine while using a pantograph is still hard, and it’s been nice to have all these quilts to practice on.

I’m going out today to get backings for four quilt tops that are finished or nearly finished.  How fun is that?