Monday, May 14, 2018

Stash Statement Blog Hop - Fire Pit

 Welcome to my turn on the Stash Statement Blog Hop.  Here is my version of Fire Pit.

Finished Quilt
I was thrilled when Kelly asked me to be a part of the blog hop. That was the easy part. But it was tricky to pick just one because there are several pretty quilts in this book.

Finished Flimsy

I picked Fire Pit, because it is such a striking pattern. This pattern requires Tri-Rec rulers. I have had these rulers for a while but had not used them and this was the perfect opportunity.

Secondary Pattern - the Star

Kelly's new book - Stash Statement Quilts is all about Structured Improvisational Piecing. This means two things in this order (just my opinion)
1. Go crazy with your scraps (all shapes/sizes) and experiment with improv piecing
2. Rein it in with Kelly's techniques of structure (block creation methods)

Warm Chaos

Cool Strips

THEN we get to the patchwork, followed by quilting and binding. 
I spent a whole month just making the blocks.  Why is that?
1. I chose a finer grain (smaller scraps)
2. I chose to make a twin bed size quilt instead of the lap size in the book.

Shall we start at the beginning?  I started with warm colors for the square blocks.

Chunky

I made four blocks. I stepped away from the design wall to admire my handiwork. Looked good, but the block looked chunky.

So, I cut them up, and re-stitched to end up with a finer grain, so that the block was made up of several smaller pieces than a few large pieces.

Chopped

A more cohesive look

I like this look much better. And the tone was set.

I was having so much fun that I ended up with way more blocks than required.

Needed 25, Got 42!!!

Is that a problem? Of course not.
I'll just make a larger quilt.

Next came the cool blocks, the triangles that required the tri recs ruler. Since this was my first time, I figured - let me make a couple of test blocks. When I placed the ruler/template on the improv slab, I realized that the ruler is bigger than the slab, by just a smidge.

Slightly bigger than 6.5"

A smidgen more than 6.5"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

See, that is why you make audition blocks. I chose to cut the next slab a 1/4" larger, allowing some wiggle room.

Cool Slab

Cool Triangles

42 blocks were arranged in a 6 by 7 grid, resulting in a flimsy that measured 72" by 84".

Design Wall

This is when I stretched the quilt (a little imagination and lots of scraps) by 3" on top and bottom to get a top measuring 72" by 90".

Finished Top - About 72" by 90"

This was now a perfect size for a twin bed.   I chose this green wide backing to speed things up.


Quilted it simply with my walking foot and wavy line quilting. For binding I chose a striped brown fabric.


Does the striped binding on green background remind you of a snake in the grass?  Don't worry, I have tamed the beast :-)


Who is the boss now?

In the end, what you get out of it (life, school, workout etc.) depends on what you put into it. And for the six weeks that I put into making Fire Pit, I am thrilled about it.

Setting the Fountain ablaze

It was a gorgeous sunny day and I got carried away. So here are a few more pictures.

My sunshine
bee happy, stunned owls, and dancing stick figures (can you find them)
Since my stash includes a lot of cute fabrics, you can see a glimpse of them in the picture above.

Getting Close
smiling snails



sheep and chick - deep in conversation

Labelled
Stay Still
Loving it

Finished!!!

But I am dying to know what you think. Only honest opinions, however brutal they may be...
I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties.  See sidebar.





Every week, two quilters showcase one quilt from the book.  Here is the entire line-up. 

Stash Statement Blog Tour Schedule-

4/16- Grand Bazaar    Shelley @ Cora's Quilts
                                    Connie @ Freemotion by the River

                           Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts

4/30- Precarious  Jess @ Quilty Habit                       
                             Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
                                                            
5/7- Beach Retreat  Sarah @ Sarah Goer Quilts                               
                                 Liz @ Savor Every Stitch 
                                                           
5/14- Fire Pit   Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts                                          
                         Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts (you are here)
                                                            
5/21- Detour    Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts                         
                         Shelley @ The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts
                                                            
5/28- Murrina    Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl             
                            Leanne @ Devoted Quilter
                                                            
6/4- Scattered    Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal                      
                           Christine @ Triangles and Squares 
                                                            
6/11- Bloom Chicka Boom   Chris @ made by ChrissieD            
                                               Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
                                                            
6/18- Regatta   Susan @ Quilt Fabrication                             
                          Debbie @ A Quilter's Table    
                          Christa @ Christa Quilts
                                                            
6/25- Catch a Falling Star  Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework        
                                              Anja @ Anja Quilts
                                                            
7/2- College Prep   Hilary @ by Hilary Jordan                 
                                Lori @ Crossquilt
                                                            
7/9- Take Flight (bonus digital pattern)  Kelli @ Seriously, I Think It Needs Stitches 
                                                                 Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Stash Statement is available from the following:

50 comments:

  1. I think it's wonderful! So interesting to discover the many fabrics, and I love the little hidden surprise animals and such. The binding is perfect too.

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  2. Honestly I love it! A fun colourful quilt, nicely tamed.

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  3. Love your use of warm and cool fabrics. Colourful and beautiful as are all your quilts!

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  4. I love your photo shoot images of this wonderful and interesting-to-explore quilt. Well done!!!

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  5. Your Fire Pit quilt is absolutely gorgeous, Preeti! I love all of your little glimpses of your favorite scraps. Thank you so much for participating in the blog hop!

    :) Kelly

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  6. This is absolutely gorgeous, Preeti! I love everything about it!

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  7. Thanks for sharing your design process. Only a quilter would cut scraps into smaller pieces but it did make your blocks more harmonious:-) Beautiful.

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  8. I do not need any more quilting books but this one looks interesting! I used tri-recs for years but then I discovered Deb Tucker's rulers. I am a convert.

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  9. Just gorgeous, all your hard work paid off!

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  10. It is gorgeous! Chopping up the chunky blocks was a great idea; the result is way more interesting.

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  11. Love all your cute fabrics peeking out! The Tri-Recs sure make great shaped trees. I'm glad you had so much fun with all your scraps. Love the striped binding--I'm about to put one on my latest quilt made with your Meet Cute pattern.

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  12. This is just beautiful, Preeti! It is fun to sew this way and see all your favorite, fun fabric scraps throughout the quilt. I also have a Tri Recs ruler set that I've never used, and now I think I'm going to have to try it!

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  13. It is fabulous! I love how you describe what Kelly has achieved with her book. Crazy and controlled. I'm pretty sure my daughter is getting this book for Christmas whether she wants it or not. She'll love it though.

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  14. Your Fire Pit is warm and inviting! I'm glad you made it twin-size, it shows you were enjoying the process. A78mandel at yahoo dot com

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  15. Good call, Preeti, on chopping it up. The scraps still have fun details, but the colors and prints are cohesive in all their scrappiness instead of having some fabric pieces take over. The photos “on location” are gorgeous. Isn’t it great to be back in outdoor photo shoot season again?

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  16. Hi Preeti,
    You have been MIA for a bit . . . or I have missed your emails. I am so happy to see a post and email from you today! You do have cute fabrics - I love that little snail. I think you need to make an I Spy quilt next, unless you have used up all of your cute fabric (go buy more then). I am thrilled to see another project that uses the tri-recs ruler - I have one and only used it once. I need another project like a hole in the head . . . but I digress. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  17. This is such an awesome quilt, Preeti! At first glance, I didn’t realize it’s made with improvisational piecing. Your little hidden gems are adorable. This is one great finish! I would have taken a lot of photos, too, especially with the backdrop you had.

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  18. What a lovely quilt, I do like your colour scheme. I’ve only used a tri rec once making Gypsy Wife, I must say it made the block so much easier to make. Great pics Preeti, especially the fountain one, was that to put the fire out?

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  19. Honest comment? You rocked this quilt! I love it. It reminds me of sitting by a campfire and looking into the embers as they glow. I don't know that I've seen smiling snails or sheep, but I did see those colors!! I'm not thinking about snakes in that green backing grass - nope, nope, nope. Just lovely green with a sassy striped binding. Perfect! Now where are my marshmallows??? :-)

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  20. Beautiful in every way! I couldn't tell you'd made it longer outside of the pattern directions until it was pointed out - great job!

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  21. It's amazing. The colours are fabulous. Great photos.

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  22. You did a fabulous job on this. Thanks for sharing the process and the pics.

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  23. Preeti, honey, it’s absolutely amazing, made only better by the incredible photo shoot! This is the quilt that would inspire me to purchase the book!

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  24. Great colors, binding choice perfect and love the backing. This quilt looks huge. The photo shoot was so cool. I always look forward to your new quilts.

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  25. Preeti, You have the most amazing and interesting stash. I love the way you've put them together - mixing up blues and greens and the reds with yellows. Gorgeous quilt!

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  26. It is so pretty! I love the warm and cool colors in it!

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  27. Wow, incredible work! This is one gorgeous quilt, I love it!!

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  28. Love the colors, the straight line quilting and the way the star jumps out at you.

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  29. Perfect name for it too! Fire Pit! LOL.

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  30. What a beautiful quilt Preeti! And what lovely pictures. I love the colors and the striped binding!

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  31. What an excellent way to make a scrappy quilt. I love it! And I can definitely see why it took you six weeks to put it together. But a worthy endeavor :)

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  32. This quilt is so beautiful and so you. Did you only use the 60 degree ruler. The more quilts I see , the more I think I need this book.

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    1. Lisa, it is not the 60 degree ruler. It is the tri-recs ruler. Kelly calls it the triangle in a square ruler.

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  33. Your version is beautiful. I have to buy this book, I think I like her approach!

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  34. Your quilt is gorgeous, I have the book and am anxious to get busy, I am having a problem deciding on which one also. Now I am leaning toward Fire Pit! Good job!

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  35. Stunning!!! I love how you sliced and diced the block to get the look you wanted. So many times I prevent myself from doing that just to follow the pattern. Your post reminded me to sew outside the lines.

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  36. Oh Preeti, what a lovely quilt. And if I know you, it's going to someone special. I've been looking at the quilt and trying to figure out the blocks (It's one of many quirks, ha!) but this one looks difficult. Until I read your blog--now I want the book! (And, I guess, the rulers.)

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  37. Your quilt is breathtaking! Yes, I can tell you put a lot of thought, work and heart into it. Great idea to cut those blocks up and scramble to give a more interesting look. I just got the book.

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  38. Love your quilt (front - you wanted honest - and I am not the green fan - ask Allison :)) As said on IG, I admire the secondary star pattern. And it looks so vibrant! You added border for size is perfect. Congrats on the finish! xo

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  39. Your quilt is beautiful! Great job. I will be revealing my quilt from the book soon.

    Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  40. Lovely pictures for a stunning quilt Preeti!

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  41. It is so beautiful Preeti! I love the stars and the secondary patterns that come out, and your fabrics are just so adorable, I love the little details, and I imagine you must have fun looking at it!

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  42. Such a beautiful quilt. I love your bright colors.

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  43. Lovely version of Firepit! I got to see the original and meet Kelly at Market last week - she's got beautiful quilts!

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  44. Your COLORS -- and your quilt -- SING!! Bravo!!!! This is truly something to be proud of. Wish I had your eye!!!

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  45. Honest opinion? Fantastic! Great choices all around, and it was so smart of you to start with a test. I love seeing the picture of your warms and cools. I think I'll start doing that to get a better view of whether everything fits into a category.

    Gor-ge-ous!

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  46. Your version turned out beautifully!

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  47. Oh Preeti I just love the warm and cool of your quilt, the stars that I see, the trees, warm nights and cool waters... I know how much effort went into this! Whose twin bed is it going on?!

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