My Pandemic Quilt 2020 - Part 2

A Finished Quilt

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My Pandemic Quilt is finished and I have lots of photos to share with you today. Our Covid situation is improving, and we are keenly anticipating the lifting of some restrictions that has seen us at home for what seems like all year. It does mean I have had lots of time to reflect, ponder, prioritise, and of course sew. There have been some dark days, but we're optimistic, grateful for family, friends, and that Spring is finally here to help lift our spirits.

I am pretty happy with how this quilt turned out. I have enjoyed stitching it together by hand (English Paper Piecing), and am proud of having quilted this one myself. I do machine quilt most of my own quilts, but despite having quilted many quilts I do worry with each new quilt that I could mess up the quilting, particularly when the quilt is larger and involves many small patchwork pieces.

The quilt has been quilted with closely spaced straight lines - ¾ of an inch apart. I use the hexagons as a quilting guide and quilt from edge to edge - no lines were marked. For this quilt I have again used QuiltLite as batting. QuiltLite is a light weight woven fabric similar to a loosely woven flannel fabric. I really like the look and feel of a low loft finished quilt, and although this quilt is quilted it feels more like a coverlet.

For the back of the quilt I have used a beautiful floral fabric Social Climber from the Floral Retrospective collection by Anna Maria Horner. I adore this fabric and was pleased to be able to use some of my stashed yardage for the back of this quilt (see below for a photo of the full quilt back - print matching success 👍).

QUILT DETAILS

Pandemic Quilt 2020

The finished quilt measures 55 inches x 73 inches.

Started: May 2020.

Finished: August 2020.

English Paper Pieced.

137 Hexagon Flowers.

¾ inch hexagons.

A total of 2768 hexagons.

Background fabric:

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in ASH.

Black dot fabric: Swiss Dots  in Black - Riley Blake Designs.

Green text fabric: Dictionary in Green from the

First of Infinity collection by Kumiko Fujita.

All solids fabrics are Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton.

Backing fabric:

Social Climber - Floral Retrospective 

by Anna Maria Horner for Freespirit Fabrics

TOOLS AND NOTIONS
¾ Inch Hexagon Papers
¾ Inch Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.
Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.
Straw Needles - Size 11.
The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads in
neutral tones including a dark beige - color #654 - for the
red hexagon border.

This quilt is inspired by a quilt called Talking to Flowers made by 山口智恵子＊Chieko Yamaguchi; a quilt that I very much admired at the Tokyo Quilt Show in 2018 and will not be offered for sale.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and scrolling through the many photos.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
My Pandemic Quilt 2020 - Part 1 (Work in Progress)
Tokyo Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 1
Tokyo Quilt Festival 2018 - Part 2
More RPQ English Paper Pieced Quilts:
Liberty Stars Quilt January 2018
Floral Hexagon Quilt September 2017
The Daisy Chain Quilt November 2016
B is for Blues Hexagon Quilt August 2020

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COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt

A finished quilt and a picture post ~

Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt
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My second red and white quilt is finished and another bucket list quilt has been ticked off! I love Irish Chain quilts and as it is a block-based design these quilts really are a lot easier to piece than what you may imagine. I also love tiny patchwork piecing - although at  3/4" finished squares this is not exactly all that tiny - and as such this kind of repetitive piecing suits me perfectly.

In the same way that I quilted my first Red and White Irish Chain Quilt this quilt has been quilted with an all over 3/4" grid. I also chose to mark some of the quilting lines as the distance between seam lines and the patchwork pieces was too great for me to judge a straight line by eye. I used a Clover Water Soluble Marker and a ruler to mark some of the lines prior to basting.

The marked blue lines were easily removed by gently immersing the whole quilt in a tub of cool water (after quilting). Concerned about possible color run from the red and black solid fabrics I did add multiple Color Catcher sheets to the water. Thankfully the fabric was color fast and did not bleed (I don't pre-wash fabric). I then tumble dried the quilt on a gentle setting, giving the quilt a soft and slightly crinkled look and feel. All of the photos in this blog post are of the washed and tumble dried quilt.

For the back of the quilt I have used go-to backing fabric: Newsprint in White from the Story Collection by Carrie Bloomston. The binding fabric is the same as the background fabric used for the quilt top: Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Snow. The binding was attached to the quilt after the quilt had been washed and dried; this simply allowed me to trim off excess batting and accurately square up the quilting after it had been washed/dried.

QUILT STATS

Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt 

Inspired by the Red and White Quilts featured in the book:

Red and White Quilts: Infinite Variety: 
Presented by The American Folk Art Museum

Quilt size:
Finished quilt measures 61 inches x 61 inches.

Solid fabric used:

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Snow

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Tomato
Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Pepper

Thread:

Aurifil 50wt (orange spool) for piecing.

Aurifil 28wt (grey spool) for quilting.

Low Loft Cotton Batting:

Warm & White batting from The Warm Company;

a low loft batting perfect for use with low volume and bright white fabrics.

This quilt is available for purchase from my Etsy Store.

See all the listing details here:
Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt 

I am so very happy with how this quilt turned out although having made three quilts from solid fabric in a row has me wanting to dive back into my stash of printed fabrics for my next quilt!

Thank you for stopping by and scrolling through to see the many photos!
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Red Pepper Quilts Etsy Store
Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt - Work in Progress (includes example of quilt top construction).
Red and White Irish Chain Quilt - January 2017

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COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt

Work in Progress.

Red and White Quilts are my most recent fascination! After the completion of my recent Red and White Irish Chain Quilt I could not help but delve further into the world of traditional red and white quilts, and more specifically Irish Chain Quilts. I have added a resource book to my extensive quilt book library that I can highly recommend called: Red and White Quilts: Infinite Variety: Presented by The American Folk Art Museum.

This book is a catalog of red and white quilts (it is not a pattern book). It is a detailed look at the world’s most celebrated collection of red and white quilts. The book features over 650+  beautifully photographed quilts from the past three centuries and includes many traditional quilt designs and examples of of feathered stars, diamonds, log cabins, Irish chain, baskets, lettering, snowflakes, embroidery and applique. Anyway, inspiration for my quilt has come from the examples of Irish Chain Quilts that are featured in this book. Although I have added my own variation ...

The quilt design is block based, and when broken down into smaller units it is not difficult to piece. In an effort to sew efficiently I first made in excess of 200 nine patch blocks pieced from strip sets. Each finished nine patch block measures 2 1/4" x 2 1/4", with each tiny square measuring 3/4" x 3/4" (finished).

Piecing 200+ nine patch blocks was time consuming, but once these were done the quilt top came together in an afternoon + evening sewing session.

QUILT DETAILS:

Red and White Double Irish Chain Quilt

Quilt top measures 62 inches x 62 inches.

Fabrics Used:

Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Tomato, Snow, and Pepper.

Nine Patch Block measures 2 3/4" x 2 3/4 inch (incl seam allowances).

200 red and white nine patch blocks.

16 black and white nine patch blocks.

Quilt top is made up of four blocks:

BLOCK 1: Make 12 blocks.

BLOCK 2: Make 8 blocks.

BLOCK 3 (Center Block): Make 1 block.

BLOCK 4: Make 4 blocks.

TOTAL: 25 Blocks (5 rows of 5 blocks).

Press all seams away from the nine-patch blocks and all seams will nest.

Adjust nine-patch block to the size your prefer to work with. 

I am so pleased with how this quilt top came together and cannot wait to add texture by way of quilting! 

Lots of photos ... I thought I might as well show them all! 

Thank you for stopping by and scrolling though.

Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Red and White Irish Chain Quilt - January 2017

Book: Red and White Quilts: Infinite Variety: Presented by The American Folk Art Museum

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COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

A Drunkard's Path Variation and a Pillow

Shortly after I had finished my recent Drunkard's Path Quilts (here and here) I noticed that Bloc-Loc (manufacturer and distributor of unique templates and rulers) had just released a set of new templates specifically for traditional Drunkard's Path blocks in 3 different sizes. Bloc-Loc templates and rulers are generally based on over-sizing and trimming blocks (squaring up) for accuracy, and this is how I like to sew. They get me! I have previously used Bloc-Loc templates for Flying Geese Units and Half Rectangle Triangles with great results.

Bloc-Loc Templates
Fabric cutting templates (bottom) and trimming templates (top)

I had to try it. My order arrived promptly and along with it a complimentary set of rulers for a 2:1 ratio Drunkard's Path block in two different sizes:

Bloc-Loc 2:1 Drunkard's Path Blocks
2" x 4" on the left and 3" x 6" on the right.
The above (4 patch) blocks measure 4" x 8" and 6" x 12"
 (excludes seam allowances).

I had a play with both block sizes and decided to push ahead with the smaller templates. This block has a tight curve which is tricky to handle under the machine, but I did not resort to using pins. My blocks looked pretty ordinary before trimming and pressing!

One point to note with using these trimming templates is that the seam can only be pressed together and to the one side which does not allow for nesting seams when joining blocks together. Regardless, I am really happy with how my seams match. 

Robert Kaufman Kona Cottons in:
Red, Medium Pink, Kumquat and Citrus

I turned my Drunkard's Path blocks into a pillow cover and used this iconic Marimekko fabric for the back:

Pieni Unikko cotton fabric by Marimekko

Quilted with thread in coordinating colors ~ red, pink, orange and yellow and a half inch all over grid.

This pillow cover is for sale and is listed in my Etsy Store.

See all of the listing details here: Modern Patchwork Pillow Cover

Thank you for stopping by,
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
Red Pepper Quilts Etsy Store
More RPQ Drunkard's Path Projects
More RPQ Patchwork Pillows
More RPQ Bloc-Loc Projects

Edited to add: Bloc_Loc Drunkard's Path Rulers are usually available for purchase online from Bloc_Loc USA and Bloc_Loc AUST. Currently this product is out of stock.



Disclosure: Bloc-Loc templates featured in this blog post were sent to me courtesy of Bloc-Loc USA without obligation - the words, photos and opinions are all mine. No persuasion needed.