Totally thrilled today to finally have a finished flimsy to share with you! This quilt top is made from blocks made by members of Modern Irish Bee 2014. Yes it has taken me a while to finish it!
This started as an idea prompted by the back of one of Elizabeth Hartmans's quilts. She makes gorgeous quilt tops but also spends the time to make interesting quilt backs too. My test blocks from December 2013 were made in any fat quarter I had to hand and didn't mind cutting! As I picked Kona Ash for the background for the Bee these have been lying in a box since then so I think they need a home on the back of the finished quilt, just to come full circle with this one!
My Hive mates did a fantastic job adding in little fussy cut critters to the 1" squares. I thought I was being a good Queen for the first month picking all squares and lots of open space but the 1" finished squares in the centres were not that easy, though really scrappy friendly! Modern Irish Bee is different from other bees I've been in, in that 2 blocks per month are made; maximum size is 12.5" unfinished. This means a little bit more work for the hive mates but you get very close to a finished quilt for the Queen bee.
I do get there eventually though and decided to make 3 more blocks for a 5 x5 layout, 25 blocks in total. To break up the squares a bit, I made 3 star blocks to add in here and there in the quilt top.
I'm thinking I might write up a pattern for this one!
I love how cute mini blocks look and I really like the scrappy colour combination with all that Kona Ash. It's such a lovely warm grey.
The weather has continued glorious today and hunting around the garden for a photo spot was a challenge!
Only thing is it needs a name. Help! I'm not great at naming quilts at the best of times and this quilt looks really happy to me even though I keep coming up with terrible names. Any ideas?
I'm hoping to keep the quilting simple enough and stitch in the ditch around the squares and fill in the background with free motion quilting.
I have a work trip this month and a swap deadline too for May 1st so a quick meander might be the way to go. Going to bind it in Kona Ash too to keep it seamless. Then add hanging sleeve etc. Bit of work to do yet!
Still, I'm happy just looking at it this morning in the beautiful sunlight. I hope my Bee mates will forgive my tardiness in getting this put together. They did a fabulous job in making quirky bright and fun blocks. Thank you ladies! Looking forward to sharing the finished quilt with you in June!
I love this quilt and have been looking forward to seeing it all put together ... I'm rubbish at names too!
ReplyDeleteGreat job. But 1 inch squares...yikes...... A pattern is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteVery lovely quilt top! For a name, I keep playing around with the thought that you took an idea from the backing of another quilt, so "back to front" or "flip it" (flip it also with the notion that the orientation of the blocks changes the way the 1" pieces "hang")... neither of those seem right to me, but maybe they give you an idea to play with?
ReplyDeleteI'd call it "Neither Flag nor Fail". They remind me of flags, and you did not fail to complete it, even though it took some time. Nice that it's scrap friendly too. I love it.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome quilt top!! I typically am not good with naming either. . . BUT, when I saw this top in my blog feed I thought Byways. Stick with me for a minute :) I think it looks like farms (the little color squares being one 'farm') and the white strips roads. I am not sure how farm parcels work in Ireland but where I grew up (on a farm) the farm land was basically set on a square grid. And yes, sometimes the roads just ended :) Just what I thought of when I saw it. And it does make me happy as it reminds me of my childhood. . . a LONG time ago LOL
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are kind of with Judy's but I saw it more as houses viewed from above with the lines being fences so I thought of suburbs or a village or town because there is a lot of space (i.e.yard) around the houses.
ReplyDeleteLooking good! Sorry I have no idea for the name :)
ReplyDeletelooking very very nice! I would quilt it with continuous squares, you know straight line turning at right angle with interval.
ReplyDeleteHanging on the line there, with the sunlight shining through, those blocks look like little stained glass windows. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors with the Kona too!!! I am terrible at naming quilts but they remind me of waving flags.
ReplyDeleteLovely modern quilt !
ReplyDeleteHmm something to do with boxes?
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun quilt! I love the design and the stars in some of the blocks are a great surprise! I'd probably call it disconnected or connect the lines or some direction like that because I'm so drawn to how the lines don't connect (in a good way!)
ReplyDeleteI love the little fussy-cut animals in the blocks and the unexpected stars. One name that comes to mind is Lines Drawn, since it looks (in an odd way) like in each block, the 'box' has 'drawn a line in the sand' and positioned itself next to or on that line..but then all the lines are going in different directions. A bit like society! Unfortunately I have a feeling the general reaction to that name would be "huh?". Lovely quilt and so much possibility for interesting quilting. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteRuth, this is great! what a wonderful way to frame up postage stamp blocks! Love the little star blocks you mixed in too! And all those fussy cut squares... what a great job your bee mates did.
ReplyDeleteThe look of this quilt reminds me of what you see when you fly over the Plains farmland in America. The patchwork looks like little fields. So the name that popped into my head is "Field Day" Those words now mostly mean to have a great time.
Great quilt! Love the design so much! Naming quilts is hard to do...I am awful at being creative in the name department! Can't wait to see it quilted!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun quilt! Love the wee star you added. The quilt reminds me a bit of a kaleidoscope--each rotation you see the same beads or whatever in a different configuration. Maybe that could be part of the name?
ReplyDeleteHaving just finished a project with 1 inch finished squares, I applaud your efforts and those of your bee mates! :) I love how all those little pops of colour are set off by one of my fav greys, Kona Ash. As for it taking a while to finish, that kind of fabulousness doesn't happen over night!
ReplyDeleteThose are such fun blocks with pretty punches of scrappy goodness. Congratulations at getting this all put together! I am reminded of Confetti or Sprinkles for a name.
ReplyDeleteSo cute! Your layout is lots of fun. The only name I can think of is "unexpected." The layout is random and the fussy cut shapes are a surprise.
ReplyDeleteOh this is fantastic!
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