The Updated Zebra

 

I love taking an idea and pushing it around, seeing where I can go with it. 

When I made my son a chessboard out of fabric way back in 2000 (can it really be 24 years ago?) I never expected to make a quilt out of the leftovers, or that I'd be selling a tutorial about making them 20 years later.

At any rate, I have made nine of the so-called "Zebra" quilts, and since I published the tutorial in 2020 I have made three more quilts, which have taught me things I didn't know when I wrote the tutorial.

I have been working on updating the Zebra tute with those things, and have added ten pages of information. I've figured out how to fix a triangle if you have cut the wrong one (there are four different triangles and they aren't easily interchangeable); a more efficient way of cutting them out, and I've included instructions on how to make the Fourth of July quilt.

The new Zebra tutorial is live!

You can get all my tutorials here, at my Etsy shop.

She Likes It!

 

This is J, who's been cutting my hair for over 32 years. I've told her about my cat Millie, my blog, my quilts, my tutorials... everything. After all this time I consider her a good friend. Good friends deserve quilts.

When I went in last night she saw my big bag. "Did you bring a quilt to show me?" she asked. 

"No, I brought a quilt to GIVE you."

"YOU'RE KIDDING."

Nope. We unfolded the quilt, careful not to let it touch the floor and pick up any stray hairs (If you don't know, you can get a sliver from a piece of hair. It's worse than a wood sliver, and harder to find to remove.) "OMIGOD, It's GORGEOUS. I LOVE IT."

Naturally I had to ask a zillion times if she really did, if the colors were OK. J was thrilled, and said repeatedly that she would USE the quilt.

I had created a PDF file of the story of the quilt, and copied it along with all the photos of the quilt I took while I was making it and a copy of the Zebra tutorial to a flash drive for her so she could study them all when she had time. "All quilts have a story," I told her, "and now you will know the story of this one." I also included a box of Color Catchers, which I give whenever I gift a quilt.

What was really funny (to me) was I had decided to gift the quilt to J several weeks ago, but didn't have enough time to complete the binding before my monthly appointment. So I sat there while she cut my hair, holding in the secret that NEXT TIME...

It shouldn't, but every time I gift a quilt it always surprises me how good I feel afterward.

Aquamarine Goes Home

Later today the Aquamarine quilt will be going to it's new home. The recipient doesn't know about it, so it will be a surprise. I've created a document that tells the story about the quilt.

Fingers crossed! I hope to have pictures tomorrow!

 

This is a Zebra quilt. You can get my tutorial about how to make it here, at my Etsy shop.

 

 

As for the Lady Snaps quilt I'm calling Flower Garden, I have chosen the backing, and the quilt has my Dad's "seal of approval." After I pay my property taxes, I'll bring the quilt to Janet-Lee for quilting.
 

Aquamarine Out of Doors

 

I stayed up late the other night finishing the binding on the Aquamarine quilt. I had twelve inches left when it was time to go to bed, and I decided to just keep going. The next morning I brought it outside to take some beauty shots. 

I wasn't really feeling it. I knew I'd have to try again, but it was OK, because I have time before I give the quilt away.

Just as I went into the house I decided to throw the quilt over the railing. As I stepped back to take the picture I knew it was the best shot of the morning.

You never know.

I have a definitive date for re-entry at the office. My new workspace will be set up essentially where my old one was. It will be built specifically for my needs and consideration has been given so I won't be in a high traffic area and will have some privacy. All but one person (who has her own office) in the "front office" where I will work is fully vaccinated. This one person refuses. (Don't ask, I could go on for days...) I will be able to work mask-free for most of the day, I can mask up if I need to move around or go out into the factory. 70% of my coworkers have had at least one shot or are fully vaccinated and another 20% have appointments scheduled. That makes me feel very good. (Except for that one person, of course, but that person has been giving me grief since I started WFH so I just open my ears wide and let the invective in one ear and go straight out the other. I don't report to this person, so it makes things much easier.)

Working Along

 

I wasn't quite sure about this fabric for the binding of Aquamarine, but as I pinned it to the front of the quilt my qualms disappeared.

Now it is simply a matter of sewing it down.

In this picture you can see that it really does fit right in!

Binding Aquamarine

 

This is Aquamarine, a Zebra quilt I made a year ago. It has been quilted, and is ready for the binding. I wanted to use what I had, and I didn't seem to have enough of the blue green like the border.

But I did have enough of this multicolored swirl. All the colors are in the quilt itself, including small pops of that red violet.

Setting it beside the quilt confirmed it.

 

So I made the binding and am attaching it to the quilt. I'll hand sew it over the next few days. This is another quilt that is going to live somewhere else. It will be a surprise and I hope to deliver it soon.

 

 

This is a "Zebra" Quilt. If you'd like to make one you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Back, Back, Back

 I know. Backings are boring. But I like having the decisions about them all done so I don't have them taking up space in my head. William James said "Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

I went shopping at Quilted Threads on Saturday. If felt so nice to get out and shop at my favorite quilt shop. I bought a variety of WOW fabrics and a few yards of this fabric. 

It's an unconventional choice, but I selected it for the back of the Yellow Ribbons quilt. It might even use it as the binding, but I'll have to see after it is quilted.

I picked this fabric for the back of Aquamarine.

I liked the yellow/green and the blue and I thought it looked good with this quilt that, while predominantly blue, has a lot of green in it.

Yeah, I think this is going to be a fun combination.

Can't Stop...

After work I went into the studio and looked at what I had on the wall and wondered "What if..."
I kept going where it took me and I ended up here...

I wrestled with some other possible color ideas, but these are still the blocks I used when I played yesterday, so after I while I dug out the leftover strip sets and cut blocks that fit, and arranged the fabrics a bit better and ....

you can tell where I improved the fabrics in some of the long lozenge shapes and the two big diamonds. Not done yet, but I really like the strong hot and cold contrast, and I think THIS layout has a lot of possibilities.

Do you recognize it? It is the same as Jealousy and Aquamarine, shifted over a bit and the big V and diamond shapes split down the middle...

I can see this in Red, White and Blue.

Have I said lately how much I like the possibilities of these big Zebra triangles?

The Six

I wanted to see the Zebra quilts all lined up, but I don't own them all. So I did my best in making a virtual show.

Top row, from left: Parade of Zebras; Golden Zebras; Tutti Frutti. All these are made from the same layout.

Second row, from left: Jealousy, Aquamarine, Firebird. The first two are made with the same layout. The Firebird quilt is a slight variation.

It's interesting to see them all together.

Aquamarine, Top Done!

There are 28 different fabrics in this quilt. Here you can see most of them.

Here is a closeup of some of them. The fabric on the left is the border. It's feathers.

Here is the finished flimsy. I really like this.

Make it Yours

I got up yesterday morning, very excited about playing with this. I moved a few things around. I did not like the bland blenderinsh light blues in the blue diamonds on either side of the center one.

I really liked the center diamond, and it is BUSY, so I decided to make the other two blue diamonds busy too. I cut strips of these fabrics...

So here are the big diamonds. Now I have to shuffle around the lights.

Some of the light creamy fabrics were just too bland and too light. They looked like holes.

So I had to replace them. That means I made new ones.

So this is the almost final version, and I am pretty happy with it. The middle section is all sewn up, otherwise I would swap one of the white lozenges with another one. I have to decide how important it is to do that. Ripping out a long bias edge doesn't always end well. But you know me. If it annoys me, it's got to go. And if it annoys me now and I leave it in, I'm going to be even more annoyed with it every time I look at it in the future. (And, by the way, that is how you know something has to change. If it fits that definition, fix it.)

Wanda (you know, the closest thing we have to a Quilt Goddess), pointed out that my original layout was striking, and the changes I made were all about what was singing for me in my own head. She's spot on right. Very often, there are no bad options, and many good ones. There is never only ONE way to do it. Like I tell every single class I teach, and every single group I speak to, "Don't copy my quilts. MAKE YOUR OWN."

It's Never Too Late...

Way back when I was drawing, my son who was about 12 at the time, made this comment: "It's never too late, Mom. That's what erasers are for."

How the hell he got to be so damn smart I'll never know. However.

After work yesterday I sewed the middle third of this together while my dinner cooked in the oven. When I went back into the studio to sew together the blocks that filled the empty space above, I had a thought. "I wonder..." Then I started tinkering...

About forty-five minutes later I had this, and while I knew it wasn't perfect, I knew I was onto something. I had been so damn determined to make a blue version of Jealousy, it never occurred to me to try SOMETHING ELSE!

Now, I can hear you all laughing, and please, be my guest. I never claimed to be perfect. I don't have all the answers, but I do know enough to ask a lot of questions. And you all know me enough to know I never SETTLE!

So I called my pal Julie and asked her if she thought I had lost my mind. Was this new iteration at least as good as the other one. I thought it was, and it was reassuring to hear her agree. (Oh, by the way, artists are well known to have insecurities. I am an artist, therefore I have insecurities. Go ahead and laugh some more, but I will tell you that because I also Never Give Up, I have made some pretty cool quilts.)

After another hour and a half of tinkering and cutting, I had this, and while it isn't perfect, it was time for bed, and I can always will tinker more later.

It's the Little Things

This where the Sapphire quilt was a week or so ago when I took it off the design wall because there was something about it that bugged me, even though I wasn't sure what it was.

After resolving all the other open projects, I figured I should put this back up on the wall so I could look at it. It took longer than I thought, because these blocks were so particular. When I put them back up I deliberately left off the things that bugged me so I could look at them with a fresh eye.

I made a few changes, nothing really big, but I like this best.

 In the bottom photo I have added fabric I will use as a border for this.

I've changed the title though. It's no longer Sapphire. Now it is Aquamarine.


Happy Mother's Day to all Moms out there.