Blueberry Peel Top is Done!

Finally, I have finished work on the Blueberry Peel quilt top.

The top is for a Queen size bed - 96" x 108". The paper-pieced block pattern is from Karen Stone's Indian Orange Peel pattern that I purchased way back in 1993 when I took a class from Karen. (Marvelous class, marvelous teacher!)

This is an illustration of how much fun it is to play with colors! You can take a pattern like Karen's and create something that looks so different just by changing colors and layout.

Every once in a while I keep track of the time it takes to make a particular project and I did it with this quilt top.

This is how long it took to finish the various parts:

• Cut out the paper templates for 296 arcs = 4.35 hours


• Paper-piece the races = 51.8 hours


• Trim the edges of the arcs = 3.5 hours


• Remove paper from the arcs = 9.87 hours


• Remaining cutting and assembly = 20.18 hours

For a total of 89.7 hours! Multiply that by your basic minimum wage and you'll begin to understand why a hand made quilt should never be sold for anything under $1000. This total doesn't even include material costs, quilting services, or binding. I also wasn't absolutely meticulous in starting my timer the minute I started work.

Granted a less complicated quilt top would probably be completed faster or one that didn't use so many different fabrics. I'll have to time the next quilt I made, just for comparison. (I've got an app for this on my iPhone, so it is more fun than watching a clock!)

For a number of the border layers I used the leftover trimmings from the arc backgrounds. This "scrap" was large enough to cut pieces that were around 1.5" x 2", which I sewed into mini 4-patches or into strips.

It is always fun, and sometimes quite a surprise, to see what my finished quilt looks like when I finally spread out the finished quilt top to take a picture because while I'm working and designing in my tiny studio, my quilt project is generally in a big lumping fabric bunch. The borders and such are designed roughly on paper because my design "wall" is only 4' x 6'.

Next on my project agenda is a 12" x 12" art quilt to donate to the Studio Art Quilt Associates auction that is held every year, usually in the Fall, but I don't have the exact dates yet. I just know the deadline for submission is this month!

Scrap Storm

I'm currently working on a paper-pieced bed quilt using Karen Stone's pattern Indian Orange Peel. I started this in a class sometime in the early 1990's and am finally getting around to doing something towards finishing it!

Nothing orange about it though - I'm doing it in blues, grays, and blacks (Blueberry Peel??)

As I'm getting into it I'm reminded of the incredible fabric scrap storm created with this method!

I actually love the look of this pile of scraps (which is why I let it pile up in the first place). There is an even bigger pile on the other side of my chair! It has always seem like such a waste to throw it away. So this time I've teamed up with another fiber artist who works with tiny scraps and I'm going to package them all up and send them to her.

I'm also keeping track of the time it takes to do each part of the process, which is fun to do now and then. This is not for the faint of heart or those thinking of going into business selling quilts like this. For example, I've already timed how long it takes to piece 4 of the arcs, which is what each block takes - about 40 minutes - and I'm going to need about 196 just for the main part of the design! I'll post the complete breakdown when I'm done.