What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the “Design Bed”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

The Happy Ending quilt top is done!

I first introduced this project in the post Diving into a quilt (and other stuff) and What’s on the Design Wall. As I mentioned in my prior post, I had to move it from the “design wall” to the “design bed” (a concept I borrowed from Claire @ knitNkwilt) as it grew (and grew) in length.

I am not sure what I was thinking. I have no twin beds in the house, but the quilt top (pattern by Lesley Chaisson, from the book Perfect Quilts for Precut Fabrics by Patchwork Place, 2014) measures 81.5 in. x 105.5 in. !!!

Yikes!

So Many Precuts…

I was going to photograph my entire fabric precut collection (jelly rolls, fat quarters, charm squares, layer cakes) but I am not ready to share my dirty little secret.

I will share that I was able to decrease this basket of charm squares (5 inch precut squares) by 2+ packages of 42 charm squares to make the Happy Ending quilt:

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It Started on the Design Wall

I have a giant design wall in my hallway (the one hallway in my little house) and I thought I could layout the entire quilt on the design wall.

Building the quilt top:

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Um…it is now dragging on the floor:

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So I had to abandon the design wall for the “design bed”.

On the Design Bed

Here are photos of the quilt top completed and laid out on the “design bed”:

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I used two Moda Fabrics charm packs (Basic Grey line) to make the half-square triangles. Everything is set in Peppered Cottons by Pepper Cory fabric (color PC44-45 – Ink).

Shot Cotton Challenges

Peppered Cottons are shot cottons are fabrics woven with two slightly different colors creating a shimmering effect (source: Purl Solo). Many shot cottons are lightweight and some are rather sheer. They can be challenging to work with and if not cut correctly can had friable and fraying edges.

As shown in my personal example below:

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I was discussing this challenge with my friend Susan who is a masterfully precise technical sewer/quilter, and she advised that if I carefully cut the fabric along the straight line of the threads, I would have less fraying.

I also found these tips (which I should have searched for prior to beginning a project that involved a large amount of shot cotton yardage):

HOW TO WORK WITH PEPPERED COTTONS BY PEPPER CORY

Next Steps

I am putting together the backing (yardage from the Moda Fabrics Basic Grey line):

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Then it is time to connect with Cindy of A Quilter’s Corner with Cindy Anderson (inastitchquilting.com) on shipping the quilt top and quilt backing to her. She is my longtime blogging buddy and this will be our first collaboration on a quilt!

NEXT POST: Saturday I took my sewing machine in for service and visited the new Sew Many Quilts quilt shop location. Photos and musing to come.

Follow the musings of Sassy the Highly Opinionated Schnauzer at her Schnauzer Snips blog.

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

16 thoughts on “What’s on the “Design Bed””

    1. Thanks and yes the florals are for the back, they are the same Moda line as the charm squares used for the top. I was originally saving them for a quilt top but I have had them for 6 years and not used them yet, might as well use them now for the back!

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    1. Several people thought it was black. It is a super deep dark blue and on the computer it is hard to tell. It would have been interesting with black too – I think if I do the pattern again I might do it in a like a black and white with pops of yellow and gray palette!

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