Design Wall Tuesday: All Kinds of Quilt Samplers

Welcome to Design Wall Tuesday!

Welcome to Tuesday! Everyone is busy around the office, ready to ramp up for fall: the end of summer vacations, finishing up outdoor projects and getting kids ready for school. Our editors worked on a couple of quilting projects last weekend to share with you. They are all about samplers.

From Acquisitions Editor, Lori Baker:

I’m working on a sampler type of quilt with assorted applique blocks from my stack of orphan blocks. Most of them are finished blocks but some of the applique has raw edges and is only fused in place. I spent my sewing time this weekend blanket stitching around some of those fused blocks.

A block from Lori’s Sampler

Another block in Lori’s Sampler Quilt

 

 

 

 

 

Applique on a photo background

One block is applique on top of a photo printed on fabric. The photo was the yellow flower on a background of grass. Another layer of yellow fabric was added and stitched in place to give added dimension. This block was a step-out given to me by a friend. I didn’t have the same color of yellow thread but I finished it anyway. There is no seam allowance left at the top of the block, I’ll have to get creative there.

Wedding Memory

The fourth block must have been from a lesson. It is a wedding remembrance with the name of the bride and groom and their wedding date handwritten in the center. I made the coordinating four-patch and appliqued it in place to cover up the writing.

From Managing Editor, Tricia Patterson:

I finally had a chance to work a little more on the sampler of window seat pillows I shared with you way back in May through a Design Wall Tuesday post, Quilt Block Pillows. (Wow! This summer has gone fast.)  I’m making the pillows with Osnaburg and my own hand-dyed fabrics. I used a block I designed for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, volume 15 as my starter inspiration.

My inspiration block, Refractions from Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, vol 15, is the one on the left.

I’m largely taking an improvisational approach to making the pillow covers. I add strips of  different colors, choosing placement at various angles as I go. I don’t have a preconceived plan in mind, or on paper; just a general concept. It’s been really fun to see how the design of the pillows come together, as I seem to just let the fabric create the design. I think they have a level of cohesiveness created by using the same fabric and shapes, but each of them is very unique.

Improvisational quilting: I just sliced off the edges of another inspiration block to come up with the version on the left.

I’m going to use this body pillow for the center back of the window seat. Still a work in progress.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a few samplers we have in the works. And, I hope they inspire you to create a unique sampler project. The great thing about samplers is that they can come together from all angles; no rules to hold you back. You can just have fun pulling together all your favorite fabrics, techniques and designs into one quilting project.

See you next Tuesday!

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