Fragments #2 finished and more photos of Amish Quilts

Do you ever wake up in the morning with your creativity already flowing so much so that you just can't help but let it out?

This morning was one of those days for me. The rest of the family and our visiting guests were still fast asleep, I found myself in the studio, put some scraps together and finished Fragments #2

At first I had thought to wrap the back to the front for the binding. But that did not quite look right once the two sides were wrapped over. So I decided to make a scrappy binding for the quilt instead.

"Fragments" for AAQI 

The back

I got so excited to finish the quilt that I forgot about the fast finish triangles!!!
I guess this one will need rings or a sleeve on the back.

I like mini quilts that start out with a few scraps and a whole lot of satisfaction.

By the way, did you check out my previous post about the pictures of the Esprit Collection?

Here are few more photos from the collection for you to enjoy and get inspired.

A must see!

Click on the image to see it larger.

If you are a fan of vintage Amish quilts and live within driving distance to Lancaster Textile & Quilt Museum, you must go see this exhibit. It is open til Sunday.

I went to the AQS show and did not have time to visit the Textile Museum.. Had to make another trip out there and so glad I went!
I have lot more pictures but no time to post them all.

I hope this one picture is enough to convince anyone who can, should go see it!

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Well, I could not resist.. Here are few more pictures from the collection!

 

Fragments # 3 finished

Sometimes it's the little quilts that give you most pleasure when you take the last stitch. They come together quick and finish even faster.

Taking pictures is also enjoyable when they are only the size of a computer sheet..

Hand quilted with Perle cotton

Finished with fast finish triangles.

Ready to be shipped to AAQI 

All the hand quilting took care of the puckers and the wonky edges and added quite the texture.

Quilts that start out with little scraps end up being some of my favorite quilts.

This quilt and the ones in my previous post remind me of  "Confetti".  I love that quilt to pieces!

Two more to go!

And before I go, I want to share my friend's creative journey today. Go check it out!

Fragments

 New quilts for AAQI  "Fragments"

Made from some 55+ fragments of fabrics

This one is being made from the fragments of my previous quilt  "Sunday Paper"

8"x8" contains 60 fragments, in progress

I will be hand quilting these in next few days.

I am also happy to report that the quilt I donated last year was sold recently. 
I would like to thank the person who bought it to help a great cause. Your generosity is deeply appreciated. 

'Sunday Paper' released

Sunday Paper 62" x 72" 

Every once in a while you see something and get inspired, so much so that you drop everything and follow what comes naturally. . This quilt has been just that 'something' for me. I haven't been able to work on anything else since I started cutting into my scraps for this quilt.

The Block

  It is made of 27 of whole blocks,

Block for the left side with narrow end of one blade missing.

 Six of these 3/4 blocks for the left side of the quilt.

And three half blocks made of one diamond and one 60 degree triangle for the top and bottom of the quilt.

The right edge of the quilt was finished with six half vertical diamonds with wide end of the blade missing.

Add 1/4 " seam allowance from the center of the diamond before vertically cutting them for left side blocks and right edge half diamonds.

There were six deep breathing, going at a slow speed stop and go seams.

 Here is how the quilt was put together. This was my first time working with a hexagon quilt. A quilt that requires working with inset seams. Although I have worked with inset seams before, I was kind of nervous starting this quilt. But I must admit, once I got going and started understanding the way it works, it became easier and quicker.

And then there were four

and two...

I was reading back my comments earlier, I was going to eyeball the seam allowance? Really? I must be in a 'La-La' land when I said that. Those of you who are traditional quilters out there must have had a really good laugh too! Well, I must admit, 'eyeballing' seam allowance is not for this quilt. I learned that real fast.

The marking pencil, 60 degree ruler, pins all became my best friends. I marked stitch-lines on the back of each diamond. It also gave me the markings for all the starting and ending points on the diamonds which became very handy since the longest seam was only six inches long.

Check out the markings!

Back stitch feature became extra handy since I used it for every single seam. You pretty much have to back stitch at starting and ending of each seam.  I even used it while foundation piecing the scraps. It was my friend Barb's suggestion. That made ripping of the paper a breeze!
Thanks, Barb for all your wonderful tips.

I know there are couple of quilters down under at Material Obsession working on this quilt. They too got as excited as I did when they first saw Barbara Brackman's post. I can't wait to see their versions.
If you are working on this quilt or want to start one and have any questions, just send me an email. I will be happy to answer any and all of them.

In was an overall very exciting project to work on. It made me wonder a few times if I will ever make another hexagon quilt..The answer is YES! This quilt and foundation piecing has opened up a lot of possibilities for designing. As much as I hated 'wasting' fabric while foundation piecing, there are many ways I can make this technique work in future for all those odd shape scraps in my scrap bins.

Now that the hard part is done, I am wondering how to quilt this quilt.  Any ideas?

Oh and one more question.. To border or not? I would love to hear your opinion on that.