Well, this post was a long time coming to press! Goodness gracious. The second post in this 3-part series was written five months ago, but this particular quilt has been finished for a year. I’ve clearly not kept up with the blog or the chronology of my projects this year.
Time. It’s fleeting.
Let’s just get to it…meet the quilt lovingly called “The Beast”. The third in a 3 part series.
The Beast
Why “The Beast”? First and probably singularly named because it’s huge. Huge by the standards I’d set for some of my quilts when this was finished in the summer of 2022. With this being an improv style, there wasn’t a pattern or an end size in mind when I started. It was finished when I was finished and that took months (years?). It’s perfectly suited to keep my tall husband cozy on movie nights, so all’s well that ends well.
Strings
There’s no surprise this is another scrappy quilt. I never tire of seeing a decade of fabric bits thrown together into something useful. Thrown together may be a stretch, but I can say without hesitation that I don’t spend much time thinking about which fabrics are pulled from my overflowing bin. I’ve purchased all these pieces because I like them individually, so my thought is that collectively, it will work out. This quilt represents years of previous projects. I love it.
Like most quilters, I have a multiple scrap bins. Some sorted by color, some by designer, some by size. The pieces of this quilt came from the “strings & strips” bin. With the completion of each project, I sort scraps into the appropriate bin and anything more than an inch wide, but in a long strip, goes into this one space. When it hits overflowing, it’s time to piece them together.
Foundation Paper Piecing
I started these blocks with ten inch foundation paper piecing squares from http://www.missouriquiltco.com. The lightweight and easily torn-away foundation papers made these blocks a breeze. I constructed this like a “string quilt”, with a fabric strip placed face-up, diagonally across the center and then worked in each consecutive strip to one side until the foundation was covered. I flipped the square around and repeated on the other half of the square. Everything was given a good press, trimmed and set aside. Over and over and over!
As you can see, there isn’t a theme. The strips vary in color, width, designer and style. It seems to me that in scrappy quilts, the more fabrics, the more it makes sense. It’s not like trying to stay in a zone and missing it…the more the better. At least to my eye.
A Traveling Top
From New England to Utah, this quilt saw some mileage. In the summer of 2022, my husband & I were in Provo, Utah as well as Sundance. The scenery is incredible; perfect for quilt photos. We hopped around town, a bag of quilt tops in tow, and then headed into the mountains. I’m so lucky to have a husband who will carry quilts up steep terrain and then also hold them off the ground while I try to capture good angles. He’s the best. We’ve learned that photos of large quilts in the wild are easier when they are just pieced tops. These babies get heavy!
Stewart’s Cascade Trail
Into the mountains we go. These photos were taken along Stewart’s Cascade Trail, a 1.9 mile hike from the south side of Mount Timpanogos. The trail traverses through thick fir trees, oak, maple, aspens, and an avalanche path. It is stunning. The aspens were spectacular and when the sun shines just right, everything is more beautiful. The elevation is significantly higher than what we are used to at home, but it was manageable. The snakes, not my thing. I kept a good watch after the first one crossed my path.
Anyone else love to see quilts in the wild or in the wind? I love the burst of color among nature’s glory.
The goal was to get to the waterfall and take the photos there. A few people stopped to ask what we were carrying, so the trek took more time as we stopped to explain the quilts. I never know if other hikers think it’s cool or wacky that this is what we are doing, but I’m guessing it leads to a story of “you’re not going to believe what I saw on the trail today!” Just as we got to the clearing and the waterfall was within sight, a young couple moved passed us and perched on a rocky ledge and made themselves comfortable. We debated waiting them out, but also made note of the time and impending sunset. Hiking back down a trail we didn’t know, in the dark, wasn’t top priority. The waterfall shot was over. So here we are…imagine a waterfall just behind the quilt. It’s there, I promise.
Quilted
I had this longarm quilted by Jenn, http://www.knottedthread.com using the Time Warp pantograph. The movement of the panto across these angular cuts is exactly what I wanted.
With so much going on in the front of the quilt, I opted for a simple black & white striped binding. The back of the quilt is mainly black and white with a pieced section, too. I like how the striped binding frames everything.
I had two bolts of the terrier fabric & it has come in handy for quilt backs. I really like this print and have used it on quilts I know I intend to keep in our family.
The Beast finished at 75″ x 87″; a decade of fabric, many months of sewing, a bit more than two thousand miles of travel and a day’s hike in Utah. Worth every minute of effort.
-Happy Quilting!
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