January Quilt for Sarah: Blogger's Quilt Festival

Sunday, May 17, 2015

January Quilt made by Rebekah at dontcallmebecky.com

As soon as I saw Liz Harvatine’s January Quilt block pattern, I knew I had to make my own version. Her designs are always so interesting and her piecing skills leave me in awe and wondering how exactly she puts everything together.

I made this quilt at the beginning of April for Sarah's birthday. Both she and Liz have been such an inspiration to me over the years and I knew I wanted to use a special pattern for Sarah's quilt. This quilt probably has over 100 different fabrics in it; I used all of Sarah's favorite colors--blue, green, orange, and red. One common bond we share is our love for cute fabric and, of course, shopping for said fabric. One bond we don't share is my love of purple!

January Quilt on the Gracie Frame



January Quilt made by Rebekah at dontcallmebecky.com

For the back of the quilt, I pieced random strips of fabrics together to form a colorful mosaic. I'm on a fabric fast until the beginning of August and didn't have matching yardage for the backing.

January Quilt on the Gracie Frame

I quilted this on my new Gracie Queen frame that's set up with my Brother Nouvelle 1500s. It was so much fun to quilt and a lot easier to maneuver everything around on the frame. I have a queue of quilts that are ready to be quilted and just need to find some time to tackle my unfinished projects!

January Quilt on the Gracie Frame

In the past couple of years, I've become obsessed with curved piecing. Curves break up the monotony of chain piecing for me and allow me to try out lots of fun new patterns. Some curved quilts I’ve made so far are: 

If you’re looking to sew with curves, I highly recommend Angela Pingell’s book, A Quilter's Mixology. It’s filled with beautiful patterns and helpful techniques. One new tool I found at Quilt Con is the Bloc Loc Drunkard’s Path ruler set. This is a three piece set with two acrylic cutting templates and one acrylic piece to use to square up your block. The square-up piece has a curved groove the size of your seam allowance, so it locks your block in place for cutting (hence the name!). One of my next quilts will definitely be a drunkard’s path design!


The biggest tip I can share for piecing curves is to place the convex piece face up on the bottom and then concave piece face down on the top. Then slowly stretch and curve the concave piece to fit the convex piece as you sew the quarter inch seam. Having a ¼” foot with a right side guide is helpful to make sure that you’re maintaining a ¼” seam  throughout and it gives something for the curved seam to line up against as you sew.





20 comments

  1. Such a gorgeous quilt! I love how it is two sided after adding that beautiful pieced backing. Your friend (and you!) have great taste in color choice! :)

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  2. Oh Rebekah, you have made so many drool-worthy quilts! This one is really, really fantastic and I'm looking forward to the day I have a bit more time back in my sewing room. Such an inspiration!

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  3. well this quilt turned out completely stunning! i love it!
    i also love the juxtaposition of the front and back - you really know your stuff!
    -melissa

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  4. This is gorgeous and I love the back just as much as the front!!! Well done :)

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  5. Awesome quilt, and I love the backing! You have a real eye for color.

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  6. This is a fabulous quilt! Love those curves with the great fabrics!

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  7. Lovely pattern and such great colours! I love a good curve, too.

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  8. Thank you for sharing this beauty and for the tips. I used curved seams for fabric baskets only and never made a block using curved seams. But seeing your beautiful quilt, I think I will tackle them soon!

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  9. Thank you for sharing this beauty and for the tips. I used curved seams for fabric baskets only and never made a block using curved seams. But seeing your beautiful quilt, I think I will tackle them soon!

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  10. This is a beautiful quilt, I just love it! The back is wonderful too.

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  11. This is gorgeous. Your colors and low volumes play together so perfectly, and the loopy quilting goes with it wonderfully. Amazing craftsmanship.

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  12. LOVE this quilt - even the back is scrappy! Awesome job. This pattern is very appealing...

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  13. What a fantastic quilt and an amazing gift! Love it!

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  14. Great palette. You got my vote.

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  15. Congratulations! You work is awesome! True winner!!!
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo com
    ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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  16. Congratulations on your win! This quilt is just so cheerful, and I love the variety of colors and patterns.

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  17. Your quilt just glows, congrats on a beautiful design!

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  18. Gorgeous! I love the colors, the rings of color, and the low volume background! It all works so beautifully together!! Hugs, H in Healdsburg

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