Teenager deserves grown-up quilt

My grandniece, Autumn, redecorated her room in turquoise and gray and upgraded to a double bed.

 My sister, her grandmother, and I decided to make her a quilt appropriate for a teenager's room.  

I saw this Zigzag pattern in a quilt store and decided it would be easy to duplicate. It turned out to be more complex than the simple block it is based on. The block is a 9 patch with each square a combo of 2 colors cut diagonally. (Basically a "stack & wack", cut at the same angle from 2 rectangles, accounting for the seam allowance.)  Each square is turned to create the continuous zigzag. There are two different block arrangements. It was difficult to keep track of the placement of the 2 blocks so the grays & turquoises matched up.

 We are pleased with the results and so was Autumn.

GAMES WITH FABRIC: "Tic-Tack-Doe" and "Musical Chairs"

I just found out how to post two pictures side-by-side. I chose to show these two baby blankets I made for JACK who will be 4 this month. I was helped by Carol, Funoldhag, who also wanted to find out how and posted the question. See her instructions. Both blankets were made with the same fabrics complementing each other.


The backing and blocks are made of flannel and stitched in the ditch without batting, the perfect weight for receiving blankets. Jack still sleeps with these. The patterns come from Quilters Playtime by Dianne S. Hire. Her instructions are easy to follow and she gives multiple variations for innovation.

"ONION PEEL", Another Stack and Wack

I have already posted a picture of Kathi (MS Challenge Walk) with her lap quilt. This is based on Karla Alexander's "Red Onion" also in Stack a New Deck. We had so much fun picking out the fabrics and colors together. She really is more a traditional gal so I was surprised that I was able to "steer" her towards this vibrant combination.

The"batik" flannel backing makes it warm and cozy.

"COLOR FUN", quirky brights

I continue to upload and showcase quilts that I made before I started this blog. This quilt was raffled off to support my grandneice's nursery school. Selling $1 tickets made $417. I love working with brights and abstract designs as well as more traditional patterns. The fabrics all came from my stash. (Too much stash?)

The pattern called "Bent Out of Square" came from Stack a New Deck, Karla Alexander. The technique for making the blocks is sometimes called "Stack and Wack" or "Stacking the Deck". Six layers of fabric are cut together and then shuffled to rearrange the colors. Ten "decks" are cut in variations and mixed in the layout.

I can machine quilt a twin or lap size quilt on my regular machine but I don't attempt larger sizes. The wonky design lent itself to free motion quilting that mimicked the pieced pattern (and of course didn't require me to be too precise). I like to back lap quilts with flannel because it makes them so cozy.