Depression Block Quilts, My Latest Passion Continues to Fascinate

This is a top I've recently finished piecing, I'm utterly smitten with these particular fabrics. A collection of fabrics I've accumulated in recent years; wonderful play with such fun and interesting patterns.

Depression Blogs Should Come with a Warning Label -- Can be Addictive

Here's my latest fascination: this sample block, a Motif called Depression Block, simple but so very effective. I had these lovely charm squares in vibrant prints. Seemed like it'd be nice. Against the white it's so crisp & with a subtle directional, white-on-white provides a sharp contrast. I used a sheer white fabric with it that I'd found & layered it with a sheet of fusible interfacing between the layers to give it more stability. Such fun! And on the back, I took a chance to play a little bit more.

Recent Charity Work - Doll Quilts

These several doll quilts were interesting to make from orphan blocks & bits of samplers. and the Back: Doing these can be fast & fun & make for small lessons of their own in the process. These quilt blocks were made from what I chose to call 'unfortunately colored' charms squares which came my way some how or another. While the colors are questionable, the way they're laid out, there's enough color contrast to play up the graphic quality of this particular design. On the reverse, a bit of piecing.

Nice, bright shot, Original work 'Romantic Florals Old & New'

I recently received this picture, photo by JoAnn Gatch, in great natural light.

Here's the latest Charity project I've made to donate through my Guild (Empire Quilters Guild in NYC). The fabrics were all donated to the Guild and these fabrics seemed to want to go together. This is called Romantic Florals, Old and New. The center panel is composed of a group of 6 1/2” squares which I cut by rotary cutter and candlelight, after Hurricane Sandy. In my apartment which had no heat, nor electricity and I’d come home from work and find it was still early, maybe 7- 8:00 PM. So since I wasn’t going to bed that early, what to do? Listening to the transistor radio, I started looking at these fabrics and seeing how well they all went together. So I cut a few squares of each of several floral prints. Over the weekends when I was able to be home during the day, I starting playing around with the resultant 25 squares and changing their arrangement. Here are some shots of it on my own King sized bed which. I wanted to show the whole thing, on a bed. When I heard at the Guild that larger sized quilts were needed, large than lap sized, I decided to grow this quilt larger and began making a border comprised of blocks made from 1/2 square triangles and 1/4 square triangles to surround the center panel. Added some corner squares for good measure. From another angle: Then to grow it further I added another couple of rows, top and bottom using a setting of Roman Rail. After speaking with several of the more experienced Quilters in my Guild, on the Service Committee, I'd learned some recommended bed quilt sizes and suggested border sizes. Then consulted with them further on setting more corner squares. I've donated this top asking that it be long-arm quilted (rather than tied); I hope to post pictures of it when complete.

The next quilt was made at a Class called The Big Quilt, featuring fabrics with those large repeat design motifs (often Asian themed) and showing one way to work with them. The Class was held at my Local Quilt Shop. This particular fabric captivated me because I thought it such a beautiful floral print, but unusually executed in this coloration of brown and gray. I couldn't imagine how I'd work with it, until I saw this wonderful peach colored print that would be the perfect accompaniment. Here's the Quilt One of the corners for the detail Then I decided to be a bit playful on the back, I'd try piecing several different fabrics. My Mother was a weaver and taught me to weave when I was a child. As I worked on piecing this backing, it began to resemble warp stripes, the (sometimes) patterned yarns on a loom during a weaving. One of these prints is of coffee beans and so I titled this backing, Coffee Mocha Warp Stripes.

Earlier this year, Crazy Cats Checkerboard done for charity. Fun combination of fabrics and colors, turquoise used with red, there's a design challenge for me. Some recent charity work: this top was donated, in several sections; a quilting colleague (Sara N.) assembled the top from 2 or 3 sections and chose the backing fabric. Fortunate choice of this unusual ombred fabric. Unusual in that it goes from red, to yellow to green to brown, rather than the much more commonly seen monochromatic ombres, you know, all shades of blue for example. The reversible (2 sided) bindings afford really interesting design possibilities. Note the happy accident of the printed binding matching all colors in the ombred back, really fortuitous happenstance and my noticing it and putting it to work. To me, that final detail is a particularly masterful touch.