Framily
It’s tough to think about back to school at the beginning of August but here I am…thinking about it. My youngest headed back to high school yesterday and we drop our oldest in Cleveland in 14 days – not that I’m counting. Or crying about it.
Apropos of school, if you’ve followed along with me on Instagram or FaceBook you may have seen that I’m making a quilt for the daughter of my oldest friend in the world to take to college. Hope and I have known one another since we were infants. We lived next door to each other, started Kindergarten together, and then I moved after 1st grade. That we managed to keep in touch until my family moved back to metro Atlanta in the late 80s is incredible given that technology wasn’t what it is today. It took actual work to keep in touch with friends!
Once we were 20 minutes apart instead of 4 hours apart, our friendship continued to flourish. We were college roommates. We lived together after college. She and I were Maid and Matron of Honor at one another’s weddings. Baby showers and so much more. You get the idea. A friend who truly is family. Framily. 🩷
Anyhow, her youngest is headed to college this fall (see a trend here?) and asked for a quilt for graduation. ASG grew up surrounded by my quilts and wanted to one of her own. Obviously I couldn’t say no.
After a consultation about color and design via text (because, of course, right?), I decided to make a Love Shack Fancy version of my All Squared Up quilt.
It’s All In The Fabric
This quilt was made using a variety of fabrics – batiks, Asian, an old Kaffe ikat! (ohmygosh, so old), and other old and new yardage.
I’ve said it a million times and it seems to work for me: the more the merrier! I found some perfect fabrics for this quilt in my stash and I supplemented with a few more new pieces of fabric to round out the selection. For this quilt, more fabrics equal better. However, I’m generally on team more fabrics in a quilt mean each piece matters a little less so you should use them all anyhow. If you have enough variety, the fabrics will all blend and mix together so they don’t have to match perfectly. The overall effect will feel and read beautifully if the fabrics are given the opportunity to play together nicely in the sandbox.
The quilt I made for ASG was created with 81 blocks and no outer borders.
This quilt is so soft and serene. It finished just shy of 70” square so ASG can really bury herself in it on a cold night. I’m in love with this quilt, and so is Hope. She’s threatening to keep it! Guess I need to send it directly to the college student, right?
To Add a Border or Not?
While fabric choices will make each quilt feel different from the next, so can borders. This pattern originally called for borders, and I’ve made it with borders, without borders, and I used the small pieces I cut while trimming the blocks for a piano key border! Smart, huh?
Going Back in Time (but not the beginning in the mid-70’s)
I made the first version of All Squared Up waaaaay back in 2006 and in 2007 it was on the cover of Quilt Sampler magazine. It’s a quick and easy quilt to make and has become one of my tried and true favorites over the years.
The quilt was originally made using 10 1/2” squares – the original Zero Waste courtesy of my friend, Taffy – but it’s such a versatile pattern that it’s great for yardage and scraps. I’ve done that, too! In fact, this Love Shack Fancy version I made for ASG used 10 1/2” squares, yardage and scraps! And yes, a pack of 10” squares will work if you adjust the sizes you cut the pieces. This quilt uses so many different fabrics you can really do some stash and scrap busting and just have fun!
This pattern is available as a pdf download here.
Before Zero Waste Was My Thing
All Squared Up was a Zero Waste design before Zero Waste designs were even on my radar. In my lecture about Zero Waste I share that ideas begin and percolate for a long time before coming together. This was definitely the case with taking a Zero Waste approach. I knew it was possible to cut and use all the fabric for a quilt but using that idea as a larger concept that shapes how I work was another beast entirely.
I recognize I got lucky with this particular pattern but next steps include re-creating all my patterns into Zero Waste designs. Stay tuned for that.
What’s Up Next?
First things first: this quilt needs a name. I’m struggling with that. I really want to figure out how to tie in Athens, Atlanta, friends, family, favorite musicians and more. Does a name even exist for that? gah! Suggestions are welcomed!
And, I have a few more Zero Waste ideas headed your way. Here’s a sneak peak of some more Persephone leftovers. The blue and white version I made at the beginning of the year (you can read about it here) was larger until I pieced it horizontally and I had to trim it down so it became square. All that to say, I had different pieces to play with so here’s where I’m headed.
