Fabric of the Year 2011

Finished: FOTY 2011
Finished: FOTY 2011

Story

This is the 4th quilt in my series of Fabric of the Year quilts.

The series started in 2008 with a comment by a friend about using fabric right away so as to know whether to buy more before it was discontinued. The idea was to find out before needing more fabric and not being able to find it. I envisioned this series as happening in tandem with my friend, but I have moved into another direction, which involves cutting the pieces throughout the year, sewing the piece together in January of the following year and, in an ideal world, finishing before the end of the following year.

This series has turned into a series that I really enjoy making. I have found it to be a really good exercise in the interplay of colors and geometric shapes.

I found this quilt to be a little fussier than I was prepared to sew this year.  I had thoughts about discontinuing this series, but decided to do one more year.

The fabrics in this quilt come primarily from fabrics I purchased during 2011. However, I did find a new  variation that has turned out to be of great interest to me. I cut smaller triangles of fabrics that were already in my fabric closet, and that I used throughout the year. I made up triangles of three of these fabrics plus the background fabric to add interest. I like this variation and will continue it next year.

started cutting in January or February of 2011 and started piecing it in 2012. I started the piecing at the CQFA Retreat in Half Moon Bay in January of 2012. I value the input I get on this project from the members of the group who attend.

I was inspired to use the Fons & Porter Pyramid ruler after seeing one of their episodes. It is actually a great ruler and makes it really easy to put the triangle pieces together. This ruler also inspired me to include fabrics that I used during the year as well as fabrics that I bought. The ruler has markings for all different sizes of triangles, so I picked a size that, when four were joined, would equal the size of the larger triangle. I found this quilt to be a little fussier than I was prepared to sew this year.  I had thoughts about discontinuing this series, but decided to do one more year.

It turns out that I had to take apart several of the smaller triangle units and re-cut and sew them. The triangles weren’t bad to put together, but the whole concept was a bit more difficult than other quilts I have done. I am not sure why this one was so much more of a problem; it shouldn’t have been.

I had a lot of trouble with the border. I thought I was done and then I ripped it out. Eventually it all worked out.

Colleen Granger did the quilt at the end of the 2012/beginning of 2013. I wasn’t sure I would like this quilt, but now that I have it back, it is one of my favorites.

Blog Posts About this Quilt:

Materials:

  • 100% cotton fabric
  • 100% cotton thread

Techniques

  • Machine quilted
  • Machine Pieced

Details:

  • Year: 2013
  • Size: 56″x61.5″

Quilted By:

  • Colleen Granger