I finished up another quilt top a couple weeks ago. In a first for me, not counting quilt alongs, I followed a published pattern, the Facet quilt by Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy from their book "Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts."
My original plan was to use up a good part of several jelly rolls that have been sitting in my stash for too long. Since this pattern called for strips it seemed like a good idea. But when I looked at those fabrics together, I realized they didn't have enough visual interest: the patterns were too small and were too monochromatic to work properly. I found myself pulling more and more other fabrics from my stash, including several Kaffe Fassett prints and a bunch of fun Tula Pink fabrics.
As I was making it I wasn't sure I if I'd be pleased with the result, but I'm glad I soldiered on to finish it. The colors are fresh and the design is crisp.
I did manage to use up some of the jelly roll fabrics, most of which ended up in the border.
I should note a couple of quibbles I have with the pattern as written. First, it instructs you to cut all the strips to at least 11 inches long. Once the strips are sewn into rectangles they get trimmed down to 8 5/8 inches, leaving a nearly 2 1/2 inch wide scrap, which seems excessively wasteful. Fortunately, I happen to have a scrap quilt in progress that accommodated most of those pieces.
Second, the instructions tell you to use a quarter inch seam throughout. That is incorrect because of the tall triangles. The correct way is to sew the triangles into rectangles with a quarter inch seam, then sew the rectangles into horizontal strips with quarter inch seams. Finally, sew the horizontal strips together with a nearly half inch seam. You can measure the edges where the points come together to get the exact seam allowance.
As I was making it I wasn't sure I if I'd be pleased with the result, but I'm glad I soldiered on to finish it. The colors are fresh and the design is crisp.
I should note a couple of quibbles I have with the pattern as written. First, it instructs you to cut all the strips to at least 11 inches long. Once the strips are sewn into rectangles they get trimmed down to 8 5/8 inches, leaving a nearly 2 1/2 inch wide scrap, which seems excessively wasteful. Fortunately, I happen to have a scrap quilt in progress that accommodated most of those pieces.
Second, the instructions tell you to use a quarter inch seam throughout. That is incorrect because of the tall triangles. The correct way is to sew the triangles into rectangles with a quarter inch seam, then sew the rectangles into horizontal strips with quarter inch seams. Finally, sew the horizontal strips together with a nearly half inch seam. You can measure the edges where the points come together to get the exact seam allowance.
Since we aren't traveling, I'll leave you with a couple images of our resident fox, out early one morning in search of a meal for her three kits.
She is remarkably nimble - we watched her climb straight up this very steep cliff.
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