Follow Your Arrow: A Visit with Rachel M. Hayes

We’re so happy to welcome designer Rachel M. Hayes today as a guest blogger on Quilty Pleasures! Rachel is going to tell us all about the design process for her bright and fun Follow Your Arrow quilt.

Hello!  Rachel M. Hayes here to talk a bit about my quilt, Follow Your Arrow, published in Quiltmaker’s Quilts from 100 Blocks magazine, Spring ’17. First a little about myself.

I am basically a self-taught quilter, and because I’m self-taught, I’ve made every mistake imaginable! So, mistakes don’t scare me. Read on, and you’ll see an example.  🙂 I started quilting in 2007 and have made over 170 quilts to date, most as gifts or charity quilts, but I must admit, our home is decorated heavily with my quilts.  I am now semi-retired, working about 25 hours a week, and in addition to quilting, I also run, paddleboad, read (researching is “my thing”), cook, and I get a kick out of learning new things.  I had my first quilt design published in 2015 and have been blessed enough to have nine more published in 2016 and 2017 so far.

A while back I was playing around trying to create an image to be representative of my website called Around the Blocks (found at www.rachelmhayes.com).  I came up with this simple design. I decided to submit a 12” block using this bright design, to Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine.

Quiltmaker had suggested that we submit a quilt design from the block in addition to the block itself.  I came up with several possibilities using my EQ7 software. Not this one, too busy.

Nope, not this one either.  I liked it OK, but wanted something a little simpler.

I wanted something that would go together really quick, and shout “HAPPY!” This is the design I settled on.

I like to chain piece and this design allowed for lots and lots of chain piecing.

I think I got my money’s worth from my Gypsy Quilter Cutting Gizmo thread cutter, which by the way, can be found on Amazon.

I made the big center square, then the 12″ squares.  It went together very fast.

I had a little trouble, as I underestimated my black yardage (umm, one of those mistakes I alluded to).  I ended up piecing lots of tiny sections together to have enough.  Have you done that before?  Surely I am not the only one!

I am happy to report, with the fabric being a black background, the piecing is practically invisible.

A few more pictures of this vibrant, happy quilt.

I am hooked on using a stripe binding, especially for children/baby quilts.  In this one, I used a simple black and white stripe.  It gives the quilt a bit more whimsy.

I thought this would be a great toddler quilt for a little boy.  Can’t you just see a little one running his toy cars along the arrows?  I actually had my first grandson in mind, when I created this quilt.

Head on over to the website at rachelmhayes.com and see my other projects.  If you make a quilt using this block, I’d love you to send me a picture!

Rachel

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Thank you for joining us today, Rachel!

If you’d like to make Follow Your Arrow and don’t have a copy of our Quilts From Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Spring ’17 issue, print and digital copies are available in our online store. 

A digital pattern is also available for Follow Your Arrow.