New House, New Quilt

This is my latest project. It's called "Let There Be Light." In my new house, I have a very odd sized panel on my wall that I need to cover. It is in the area where there is a cathedral ceiling and from my chair I look directly at it, so I needed something that I really liked. I used EQ6 to design this quilt to fit the space. All the blocks are the same uneven log cabin and range between 2-1/2" to 9". They are all are paper pieced, which is my favorite way of piecing. The blocks turn out perfectly every time. I'd never be making 2-1/2" long cabin blocks any other way! That would be murder.

It is so easy to design in EQ6 (Electric Quilt). I have been using the program since it first came out. Remember those 5-1/2" floppies? I think I payed $5 for it. It was shareware back then. It was a real challenge to use because the technology was new, but EQ made the directions as simple as possible. After work, I would come home exhausted and spend a little time designing quilts just to relax. I've made a thousand quilts, I guess and, of course, I'll never make them all, but the creative process is so restorative.

After I finished the design I'm going to use, I started playing around with the blocks and colors. Here are some of the ones I liked. I may just make several to go with the seasons...well, it's a dream any way!

This one I called "Love Came Down at Christmas." The egg shaped motifs reminded me of the famous Faberge Eggs. You can't see it here, but most of the red fabrics have shimmering gold in them. I tried it with a green background and red motifs and it was much more subtle, but a little busy for my taste. But I might use the idea in a purse. Of course, the eggs reminded me of Easter, so I did it in Easter colors.








I called this "He is Risen" and I really liked this one too, so I'll probably start collecting purple and lavender fabric once my "Quilt from my Stash" year is over.

This is a close-up of the block. It's a simple uneven log cabin, but it really packs a punch. The rounded appearance gives you a lot of latitude when designing. Using EQ6, I can print all the blocks out as foundation pieced patterns and then cut the strips to the right size. Piecing goes very rapidly. You just have to remember to change your needle frequently because the paper tends to dull them more quickly than the fabric.

I've also thought about taking the egg shaped design and making it into a tote bag, bag for wine, or a gift bag. I can see so many projects this would be perfect with, but who wants to do log cabins for ever? However, I have an idea that makes it painless. When I am finished with a project, I look at the scraps and often make blocks from them using the paper piece patterns. Then I throw the blocks into a box with similar blocks. I have some wild geese blocks in red, white and blue, that I have been making for a long time and I have almost enough to make a project with. I've also got some Christmas wild geese units that I plan to border the scrap Christmas Log Cabin blocks I already finished. I also have some blocks in Easter/springtime colors that I'll make into something sooner or later. It's all fun.