Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Frankie Quilt ~ Work in Progress

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

Since finishing my Carousel Quilt I have eagerly been looking for my next hand piecing project; something portable, simple, and preferably a block based design for which I can choose, cut, and mark fabrics in advance.

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017
Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017
Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

And I thought I had found it! Frankie Quilt is a star based design and pattern by Treehouse Textiles. Acrylic templates are also available for this pattern (a triangle and a hexagon - templates are sold separately) which allows for quick and accurate cutting and marking of fabric pieces.

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017
Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

I couldn't wait to get started on this quilt. The day the templates arrived in my mail box I hand pieced the first star block. At that point I had to re-assess my overly ambitious plans for this quilt. Hand sewing was going to take much longer than anticipated and realistically this wasn't the right time for me to commit to another slow sewing project.

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

However, what can be done by hand, can also be done by machine, and I quickly worked out an easy way to sew this quilt by machine ~ simple row sewing, no inset seams. Sewing the pieces together into rows does make it feel like you are working on a giant puzzle, with each row of stars interlocking with stars from the previous row as well as the next row. A design wall - or design floor - comes in very handy!

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

QUILT STATS
Quilt top measures approx 64 inches x 72 inches.
46 Star Blocks.
Instead of adding borders to the top and bottom of the quilt as per 
the pattern I have added an extra row of stars (additional 7 stars).
Background fabric is Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in White.
I used acrylic templates to cut all fabric pieces.

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

I have loved working on this quilt top, and regardless of how you go about piecing it together (by hand, by machine, or even English Paper Piecing) the quilt design is modern, fresh, and so striking. I especially enjoyed choosing the fabrics for each star block, so much so that I ended up with a few star blocks that didn't make it into the quilt. Mind you, it was a lot of work and I have had some late nights which are catching up with me now. Lots of coffee and an afternoon nap have seen me through this day.

Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017
Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017
Frankie Quilt | Work in Progress | © Red Pepper Quilts 2017

Ready for basting and quilting!

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Frankie Quilt Pattern and Acrylic Templates from Treehouse Textiles
The finished Frankie Quilt ~ all the photos!

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17 comments:

  1. It's really sweet! I love how crisp it looks.

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  2. Could you elaborate on how you sewed this by machine? I can't see how you could avoid Y-seams if the hexagons are a single piece. I love it, and I have some precut hexagons, and I don't hand piece, so I'd love to learn how you did it.

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  3. Another beautiful quilt. Can't wait to see the backing and binding you use, although I can probably guess the binding.

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  4. This is really looking great! I've been drawn to those triangles for a while now, and this design really pulls them together beautifully.

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  5. I love how you are able to make fabric pairings for your triangles which are out of the ordinary. I love the scrappy look! Were the tips of the triangles trimmed off when you cut them with the template to make piecing easier?

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  6. This quilt had a very reminiscent feeling to it. I remember seeing a similar design on my grandmother's bed. Good memories. Thanks for sharing your pictures. --Andrea

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  7. Looks beautiful (as usual!)

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  8. WOW RITA😀
    This is beautific. Now I want to make one. It looks very scrap friendly - and it looks so happy.
    I love white kona. I get nervous when my inventory is less than 3 yards.
    I love this quilt. What a nice surprise

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  9. could you tell me the size of the hexie and triangle you are using? I have templates for 2" hexie and 2" triangles? You are right about the EEP being a big projects, but I can see how it could be done by machine. I did a EEP I Spy quilt for my youngest grandson using the templates I mentioned above. But I really like what you have done. I am doing a EEP 2" 6-pointed star separated by a hexie quilt now, but I am sure I cut (I was in a hurry and didn't count how many I needed) enough star pieces for 2 quilts. So I think the second quilt will have low volume triangles surrounding the stars. The low volume pieces will then form a hexie. I love having hand work on hand. The pattern you are using makes a really nice quilt. I would just like to know if I would need to buy different templates. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.net

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  10. The crisp white fabric against the nice spring pallette, just gorgeous

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  11. I love your quilts. They're scrappy but the background always looks so crisp. Thanks for sharing; I do enjoy.

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  12. A giant beautiful puzzle indeed!

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  13. Fabulous! Can't wait to see it quilted!

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