I Love This Quilt! Waterfall

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Mary Kate Karr-Petras

Mary Kate’s pick for the I Love This Quilt! page, Waterfall by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes, appears in the September/October 2016 issue of McCall’s Quilting.

Download the Waterfall free lap quilt pattern here, and read on about Mary Kate’s plans to make her version of this lovely quilt!

I’ll be honest: it was name
recognition that initially drew me to this quilt. Waterfall was originally designed by Diana McClun & Laura Nownes, the authors behind the authoritative book Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! When I first expressed an interest in learning to quilt 20 years ago (how can it have been that long?), a family friend lent me her copy and then gave me one for my own. Because of that, I think fondly of Diana and Laura (we’re on a first-name basis, naturally) as my first quilt teachers and am interested in anything they design.

Now for my second admission: I chose this quilt because it looks fast. Those chevrons are made by strip piecing 2 1/2″ strips, meaning it’s a precut-friendly pattern. I have a special person in my life for whom I’ve been meaning to make a quilt for a while, and this is something I’m confident I can finish in time for Christmas.

There’s one more reason I love this quilt and want to make it: I’ve never used this particular technique of piecing strips and cutting them into sections on the bias before joining them into rows. So I’m looking forward to trying something new and adding to my quilting bag of tricks.

As for my version, the intended recipient of this quilt loves color. Actually, loves might be an understatement. She lives in and for color, particularly during the gloomy winters in her part of the country. With Waterfall, I decided to work within one fabric collection rather than go scrappy to keep a handle on the profusion of hues I wanted to include.

When I saw the Latitude collection of batiks designed by Kate Spain for Moda, I knew it was something the intended recipient would love. I’ll use the jelly roll of 2 1/2″ strips for the chevrons, the indigo batik and light blue handpaint for the vertical strips, and the two orchid batiks for the borders and binding; the turquoise and coral batiks are for the backing.

This season has been a busy one for my family <not too many lazy, hazy
days so far> so I haven’t gotten a start on sewing yet. I have to clear a
few things off my schedule before I can bust open that jelly roll and just
start stitching, but I can’t wait to do so. I know it’s going to be a fun
quilt to make, and those bright batiks will be wonderful to work with during the dog days of summer. (Maybe I should mix myself a nice tropical drink to sip while I sew? I’m open to suggestions