I love all the fresh ideas that have come out of the modern quilt movement. But I need a change, all those bright graphic fabrics are giving me sensory overload. It’s time for a change.
So how about those small, dull, quiet Civil War Reproduction fabrics? What can be more modern than old-fashioned fabrics in a very modern setting. What can be more modern than Elizabeth Hartman’s animals?
At one of Craftsy’s many sales I bought this class, with the bear and the deer. I’m not sure how long these patterns will be exclusive to Craftsy. You can’t simply buy the pattern. As for this fabric, no it’s not Civil War, but that is the beauty of quilting, knowing how to combine different fabrics.
What really prompted the purchase was this guy, she calls him a deer, I call him an Elk. I’m hoping my son Elk will want this quilt.
I have no issue learning from a pattern or a book. I have to say that I always learn more from a teacher. Live is best, Craftsy is great. Elizabeth has some very good tips on how to make these blocks. These aren’t paper piecing, They are more similar to making snowballs – working with squares and triangles and only cutting the bias after the seam is sewn.
She also recommends ironing the seams open, see how clean and neat both the front and the back look.
The first owl I made was gigantic, it would overwhelm the rest of the animals. Elizabeth did well by me, yes it was Black Friday and her patterns were on sale, so I bought quite a few.
This is the smaller version, the bigger one may end up either on the back of the quilt or in a new quilt all together. I haven’t gotten that far.
I think the small fox was the original animal pattern Elizabeth put out. She later included a larger size and even a gigantic size that would go well with the big owl.
Small hedgehog. The background fabric is one I had on hand. It is something of a homespun. I like the quiet subtle effect it has on the blocks.
The large hedgehog allowed me to use a fabric that is like a home dec. fabric. Even when I chose a style of fabric, I am too much of a scrappy quilter not to combine other fabrics. I’d say that is my biggest strength, combining colors, values and scale of prints. That comes from working in the textile industry for a number of years.
Funny story about the rabbit. I posted the picture on Instagram and someone reacted that red-eyed eyed bunny is scary. My response was – do you know the killer rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Yes! that reference still works, even though that was a white rabbit.
Layout will be interesting. I want a lot of negative space between the blocks. I want people’s eyes to be able to rest on one image or another, too close together and you can’t see the animals for the busy prints. I’ll report back soon when I figure that out. I haven’t even though about the quilting! First things first.
Leah