Cross Country

The story of this quilt began in January when I took a Seattle MQG-hosted class with Anna Maria Horner. It was a fun day, and I went home with a small amount of my quilt pieced, but thanks to Anna Maria, a good idea of where I was headed. So happily, a couple of weeks later, I had a quilt top to share.



Still deep in quilting my Summer Sampler, quilting another large quilt just wasn't sounding fun. So I treated myself and asked my guild-mate Pam Cole of Keeping it Simple Quilts to help me out. We settled on a quilt design and I'm so pleased with what we chose. Quilted with medium gray thread, Pam used 80/20 Hobbs batting, which resulted in a very cozy quilt.

You might remember I pieced a big ole quilt back for this one, and I'm glad I did. Love seeing the variety of Anna's fabric. And those Canvas Corners really proved themselves.

This time I did machine baste them on using thread coordinating with the front, and things felt much sturdier than when I pinned them on. Hubby says he just needs some sturdier dowels and  then we'll be set. Oh, and here you get a peek at the binding I chose - one of the prints used in the quilt front - from Indie Boheme by Pat Bravo. It 'reads' like a stripe but obviously isn't really



So this was a really fun one.... on one hand, not my typical style, but I really kinda love it. Just having the experience of meeting and planning with Anna 'sewn' into it, as well as using pretty much all of the AMH fabrics from my stash make this one's story a unique one.... one I know I will keep enjoying.

Cross Country Update

After sharing about the recent class I took with Anna Maria Horner, I thought it was only fair to share the finished quilt top before it goes into hiding for a bit. Long story short, I'm having it long-arm quilted, so it'll be sometime next month before it's back and I'm able to finish it.

But meanwhile, I'm super pleased with the finish! By the time I left Anna's class, 'we' had already settled on what fabrics I was going to use for the bars and setting triangles; it was just a matter of doing the sewing. But those center squares (each measuring 8" finished, just for reference) were undecided. And boy did I rearrange them lots, using pretty much every fabric I had as an option. I posted many on Instagram one night, and of course everyone had a favorite! Mulling over all the advice given there, my own likes and dislikes of course, and finally my daughter Rachel's thoughts when she was over for sew day, and I finally came to a decision that I liked well enough and still had a bit of the feel of the original Cross Country pattern. Whew! That was certainly a process!

Then of course it was time for a quilt back, and I had a good amount of fabric left from what I'd pulled for class. See all those squares? Most were what I mixed and matched as options for the center, and didn't make it. No reason not to include them in the backing, right?

So HUGE sigh of relief as I folded the top and backing up to take to the quilter this next week. Of course it's not done yet, but it feels pretty close now.

Cross Country with Anna Maria

So I spent yesterday with Anna Maria Horner and the Seattle MQG. It was an enjoyable and inspiring day, with I admit, a few moments of quandary. But Anna Maria was there to both help and stir things up, and she stood the test. (grin) Here's where I was after our first little consult.

If you're not familiar with the pattern, it "features a bold and simplistic patchwork layout to show off some of your favorite fabrics, but has a special element of applique." So I'll see about the applique, but I was definitely up for the patchwork, and chose one of the pattern variations to recreate. It includes a quarter log cabin block in each quadrant, so that's where I started.

I did get a little further, starting on piecing some squares for one of the bars and cut some setting triangles and accent strips as well. I was stuck on one other element, and after considering several, Anna Maria and I settled on one we both liked. So that felt good to go home with that figured out.

So I've got some sewing to do, obviously, and then need to figure out the center block. So stay tuned, and we'll see what happens.

Anna Maria Horner Trunk Show

So last night, I had the pleasure of attending a trunk show with Anna Maria Horner. It was sponsored by the Seattle MQG and held at the local shop Quilting Mayhem, and it was such a treat.

photo by Susan Pray/@sushi.farmer; used by permission

Honestly, I haven't sewn alot with AMH fabrics, but I definitely appreciate them for their beauty, and was quite smitten with Craft South both times I visited when I was in Nashville. AND, since Anna Maria is in town, I'm signed up to take a class with her next weekend making the Cross Country Quilt.

photo by Susan Pray/@sushi.farmer

photo by Susan Pray/@sushi.farmer

Seeing three variations of the quilt last night (two shown above) definitely has me thinking where I want to take it. It's big! (80" x 80") And per the pattern, an excellent vehicle for some applique, so we'll see if I go there or not.

Of course it was great to hear Anna Maria's creative story, and she shared some interesting thoughts on color and fabric etc. One very compelling takeaway was the quote from I believe her art teacher back when she was in school, "What risks did you take?" Oooh. That's a good one to ask ourselves, isn't it? Another was (paraphrased), "If you get too bogged down in the details, go bigger!" That definitely spoke to me, as I often, especially in my improv work, tend to go tiny rather than larger. Something to consider going forward.

photo by Susan Pray/@sushi.farmer

Anyway, it was a very good time, and even though they were SO different from my body of work, I loved seeing Anna Maria's quilts. I'd say she was brave from the get-go as a quilter, going colorful, bright, and big! Her use of value and scale is a sight to behold.

photo by Susan Pray/@sushi.farmer