Well February definitely flew by and I was just finishing up a project for this week's Friday link-ups and I realized that today was Sandra's mmm!quilts Throwback Thursday link-up so I thought I better post since I missed last month's. I do like participating in Throwback Thursday (TBT) since it gives me an opportunity to show and explain some quilts which were made many moons ago and may explain why I sew things the way I sew. Sandra, in her last month's post mentioned that when she and her friend first started quilting around the mid 1990's and went to buy fabric for their first quilt class, her friend said "Well, apparently in quilting you can mix prints, no problem...." which is the same thought I embraced wholeheartedly when I started quilting right around the same time, so something must have been in the water back then. And for me, there were no better fabric mix than Kaffe Fassett and Feedsack fabrics which at the time the above quilt was made I was accumulating a nice stash of both.
I made my Flower Bed quilt in 2003 after seeing this quilt in Pamela Mostek and Jean Van Bockel's Quilts from Larkspur Farm book and absolutely fell in love with it and as you can see I pretty much duplicated it without a benefit of a kit but a lot of fabric searches on foot before online days. Fortunately, I worked at a quilt shop at the time and was able to buy the Piece of Cake's stripe and some of the floral prints along with some greens and found the Kaffe Fassett lattice print through one of my many quilting jaunts which is what you did before buying online.
I was needing some more floral prints and I found some in my Feedsack stash which I have accumulated through the generosity of my quilting peeps, Mary and Linda, yes, the same friends from the Aunt Amy's Bullseye QAL which I posted about in January's TBT. I am pretty sure that the original quilt did not have any Feedsack prints and I always chuckle to myself when I think about the fabrics I used in my quilt "Feedsack and Fassett together, who would have thunk." Another takeaway from this quilt is that I discovered Pat Mostek and after the Quilts from Larkspur Farm book, she published Just Can't Cut It!, Quilts From Fabulous Fabrics, which validated my feeling of not wanting to cut up my large focus prints and started my love of making quilts with big blocks.
I'm still keeping my tradition of Feedsack and Fassett (F&F) fabrics, although separate now. For the past few weeks, I have been working on the Fassett version of Darlene Zimmerman quilt which I made in Feedsack fabrics and finally finished in 2015 during Country Thread's UFO Challenge. When I first saw the pattern over ten years ago in American Patchwork and Quilting, I decided that I wanted to make two versions of it and after finishing the feedsack version, I wasn't in a hurry to finish the Fassett version. I just need to add the borders to this quilt and will post about the latest F&F quilts later.
And now for some stats for my Flower Bed Quilt:
Size: 68" x 82" (approx.), Ninety-nine 7.5" Square in the Square Blocks, funny I just mentioned the other day that Square in the Square Blocks were not my favorite and now I may know why. Also, the original quilt was 84" x 98" and I probably made it smaller because I didn't have enough of the Kaffe Fassett Lattice fabric but bought more after the quilt was finished.
Pattern: Flower Bed by Pam Mostek and Jean Van Bockel, 2001
I've been going a little bit modern in my quilts for the past few years but after pulling out the Quilts from Larkspur Farm, there really are some lovely quilts using floral prints in this book, and I could easily make another quilt from this book--after all I still have lots of floral prints from the 1990s in my stash. And finally, for a few days this week after the announcement of Free Spirit Fabrics closing and the uncertain future of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I thought my stash was going to be a real treasure chest but am glad they found a new home with Jaftex. Yay. More Kaffe Fassett fabrics to buy!
I'm linking up with: mmm! quilts Throwback Thursday
Even back then you were a rowdy, mixing all those fabrics! Haha! You'll see by my post that I was a bit more reserved. I've since come out of my shell a bit more, I think. Love the quilt, Rose! I think Kaffe would approve!
ReplyDeleteI like that the flowers are in the centers of those squares. I've been meaning to participate too, but was too busy this time!
ReplyDeleteI don’t even know what to say. No, wait. I do. Feedsacks and Fassett—how wonderfully creative!! I can see that I need to go look at this on my computer instead of squinting at it on my phone. I love how you wilded up the humble square in a square block.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great combination - Fassett and Feedsacks. I would like to think he would approve but then again, his opinions are not always what one expects. It is just an awesome quilt!
ReplyDeleteAny quilt with fussy cut ginormous flowers is an automatic winner in my book, and your F&F quilt is top of the line!! Are you still using it? Or did it get gifted to a really, really lucky person?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever seen a feedsack quilt I didn't like. Yours is truly sensational and I like the Kaffe version as well.
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are beautiful! I LOVE your fusion style!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful quilt! I love how you have used your stripe as a border, and the square-in-a-square blocks are a great way to showcase those florals.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful quilt Rose! Who'd have thunk it indeed, feedbacks with Fassett, but you have and you are quite a wizard at the magical combination! So many things I find myself nod-nodding away as I read----if, no WHEN, you and I get together, it will be all kinds of won/fun-derful! I, too, love floral fabrics and accumulated a lot when I was into colourwash, also hate to cut up large prints, and HEY! PING! You made me realize I could cut into my beloved Diane Phalen fabric by making LARGE blocks, like maybe four humongous ones? I, too, am so glad that the Free Spirit designers have found a new home. Thank you for linking with TBT.
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