After exploring the exposed seams idea with a few test blocks and making an exposed seams mini mini quilt, I knew the idea had potential. I spent about a week thinking about quilt design options, and by the end of the week I had a handful of designs that I thought had potential with even more ideas rattling around as well. One of the ideas was for a pretty generously sized quilt, but I wasn’t sure how scalable an idea this would be: could I work with 60″ long seams with this technique? In order to build confidence before purchasing fabric and committing to a big project, I knew the right course of action would be to start by scaling up the idea just a bit more.
One Ninth
If you break a 60″ square quilt into nine equal sections, you effectively get (9) 20″ mini quilts. I felt confident that if I could make a one ninth section, which requires piecing (4) 20″ seams, that by the time I needed to tackle a full 60″ seam I would be ready.
One Ninth
Working from my stash, I pulled a variety of prints for the One Ninth mini quilt. I wanted to learn as much as I could from this sample:
- Is any one fabric manufacturer’s prints easier to work with than another?
- What is it like working with different manufacturer’s prints across longer seams?
- Since I normally work with solids, and I have never explored using right AND wrong sides of a print before, what could I learn about the wrong side of these prints?
One Ninth
I didn’t have a strong opinion about one manufacturer’s print over another, but I did find it harder to work with different hands across the longer seams. Some manufacturer’s fabrics are just thicker and heavier than others, and keeping the finished seams neat and consistent while pressing was more challenging when a seam included fabrics from different manufacturers.
I did originally choose a different dark blue (for the lower left hand corner) of the mini quilt than I ended up using. The right and wrong sides looked too similar, and I wanted the change between the right and wrong sides to be obvious for this design. I knew that meant picking fabrics for the larger quilt was going to be tricky and require purchasing iteration (and it turns out, help from a friend with a deep print stash who could advise me when I described what I was looking for).
One Ninth
One Ninth was also the perfect place to try out my quilting plan. For the mini quilt, I used 50wt Aurifil in 2600 (Dove) for the piecing, quilting, and binding.
One Ninth
So why *finished* exposed seams? There are a lot of techniques and quilts that have exposed seams on the outside of quilts, from raw edge applique to simply having the seams exposed on the quilt top like I explored in the Inside Out quilt. I consider a lot of those kinds of techniques to make a quilt lean a bit further into art quilt territory. Don’t get me wrong: those techniques are beautiful and absolutely perfect to obtain specific design goals, but I really wanted to find or come up with a method for having exposed seams on the top of a quilt that are finished in a way that I felt good about using and tossing into the washing machine over and over again. You know, something a bit more functional and perhaps… modern.
Now, that said, the one thing I have yet to test out about this idea is what happens when I wash one, so that is still TBD. :)
Yvonne with One Ninth
Thrilled with how the 20″ square One Ninth quilt came together, I started the month and a half long process of curating fabrics for 2718. Don’t worry, while I waited on those fabrics to come together, I made what might be my favorite quilt that I’ve made in this series to date. I’ll be back next week to share it with you!
Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant.
What an intriguing idea! I like how you quilted it.
I’m enjoying reading about your thoughts and process as you work through this idea. It looks so neat and tidy, the colors are soft and pretty, and the quilting is very cool. Curious how the washing will go!
This quilt looks good. I like the way when you use the reverse side of the fabric in the squares you get the two tone look.
This is such a cool project and technique. I love the extra embellishment just made with the seams. Using the front and back of the fabric as part of the design creates an interesting effect. Then, that quilting pattern is so perfect. Love the binding, too as a great finishing touch. I would think the washing would be just fine….but you do never know until you do it. Jean seams are nearly indestructible, these may work the same.
It’s a very thoughtful approach to planning a larger quilt. The mini turned out beautifully. Looking forward to seeing how you took the process into a larger project.
This is indeed an interesting experiment. I was impressed with the questions you asked about the different brands of prints. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
So interesting what you said about using the wrong side of the fabric because that’s what we learned to do in that colourwash glass that I took so many years ago in Edmonton. In fact, there are a couple of the fabrics in my Plaid-ish quilt that use the wrong side. Great binding fabric. Interested to read about the next make!
This is such an interesting idea. I like how you use the reverse side of the fabrics to add another element to the design.
That is gorgeous, Yvonne, and a really interesting technique to play with, too. I love the effect your color choices give, especially when looking at the photo from a distance. Then I had to zoom in and look closely to understand that you used both right and wrong sides of the fabric, too. Cool!
I cannot imagine that your work would ever have a loose thread. This piece is very Yvonne – a new technique and exemplary workmanship.
Love it!!! I like how the color cascades. Using both sides sort of gives it a frame too – thats a cool effect!
I love the way the back of this quilt looks! Using both sides of the fabric gives the top so much interest besides the seaming technique. This is inspiring! Thank you for sharing your work and your process.