Tuesday, February 01, 2022

Row by Row Blog Hop - Back Country and Colorado Memories

 I am so excited to share my quilt with you today!  As you could tell from my unboxing video, this collection really spoke to me from my first look at it.  One of the perks of being an Island Batik Ambassador is being provided with everything we need for the challenges - Island Batik, Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting and Schmetz Needles sent all the supplies I needed for this challenge!


Yes, I did go a little crazy and ended up making a quilt with twelve rows of ten 6 inch blocks!  But you know what I decided?  I really like piecing.  I love feeding strings of half square triangles and flying geese through the sewing machine while I enjoy a movie or Agatha Christie Mystery on my iPad.  So, if I make a quilt with a bazillion pieces, well that just gives me that much more time to do what I love doing, so it's all good!
First let me tell you about the fabric!  This line is Back Country and it was designed by Kari Nichols of Quilting Renditions.  As I had speculated in the video, she is from Colorado - and this line definitely has that feel to me!  It's a large line with 30 different pieces in a range of beautiful blues, plums, browns and golds.  The designs feature aspen leaves, aspen bark, pine trees and cones, animal tracks and flowers.  These should be shipping to your quilt shop any time now, so keep your eye out! Here is a look at all them:


I should explain my deep connection with this collection - I was born and grew up in Colorado, so the state is definitely dear to my heart, and my memories of the sights and smells of my childhood are definitely tied up in this line of fabric.  I had fun reminiscing and thinking about the mountains and woods of Colorado while I pieced.  Memories of hot summer days at camp, hiking and swimming and sleeping in a big tent. Autumn leaves, winter snow and spring flowers.  That's a lot of inspiration!



So - the challenge was to make a quilt featuring rows of blocks. I decided I wanted to make 12 rows, but wanted a lap quilt, so that meant 6 inches was my limit for block size.  Ten blocks in a row, makes the quilt 60 x 72.  Off I went to EQ to find the different blocks I wanted for my rows. 


Since I wanted 6 inch blocks, I tried to keep them fairly simple with basic piecing.  Aurifil 50 weight thread and a size 10 needle for nice tight seams, and I was on my way!


So much fun! I used the Porcelain (part of the Naturally Neutrals collection) that I was sent in my Ambassador box as the background, and it was the perfect color for this project!  10 more rows to go, and I was on my game - I would spend a couple hours a day making blocks, then prepping the next row.


It was so much fun seeing the rows all come together, each row used different fabrics, I think there are only a couple of fabrics that I used more than once.



One of my favorites was this block!  Those tracks in blue on deep navy is one of my favorite fabrics!


Ready to sew the rows all together!  I was super excited to see how they would look!


Yes, just as pretty as I hoped!  Full of color and movement and lots of piecing - perfection!


The next task?  Create a back, and what better way to enjoy all of these beautiful fabrics than to piece more of them into a backing.  This kind of piecing isn't quite as fun, but I love the results - now I can turn the quilt over and remember every piece of fabric in my quilt!


What better batting for a cozy lap quilt than Hobbs wool?  If you've never used it, it is absolutely the softest, lightest batting!  So warm and cozy, and the loft is wonderful!


I received some nice brown 40 wt thread from Aurifil in a Color Builder collection and decided it would be perfect for this quilt.  I thought a simple grid would make this quilt soft and cozy, so put on my walking foot and changed out my Schmetz needle for a size 12 and started quilting!  I did find out that when quilting the wool batting like this, I need to baste a little closer.  I started out with some puckering issues, but was able to adjust and got it under control!  I really love the texture of the stitching.


I found a pretty blue in my foundations bundle (Sapphire in the Brilliant Blues) for the binding - perfect finish!  

This is where my quilt will live - in my living room to keep me nice and cozy in the chilly evenings and mornings.  As a matter of fact I am snuggling under it right now while I write this post!  Everything about this quilt makes me smile - it's been a while since I made myself a lap quilt so I am going to enjoy this one for sure.


Twelve beautiful rows in my quilt, lightweight and warm Hobbs batting,  Hours of piecing pleasure, feeding triangles and squares through my sewing machine.  I am one happy quilter with the results!


I'd like to make another quilter happy with my leftovers!  There are some strips and pieces, plus some extra pieces and mis-cuts that could be put to good use.  Sorry, I can only ship this to the US because of shipping, but I would be happy to send an international winner their choice of a pdf pattern.  Enter via the rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One more shoutout to the wonderful companies that made this quilt possible!  Oh, and make sure you visit Andi Stanfield at True Blue Quilts to see what she did with these wonderful fabrics!  Go have some fun and do something you love today!








47 comments:

Pamela Arbour said...

Oooooh, that looks so cozy! Love the colors.

Miss Jean said...

A favorite childhood place was our family ‘camp’ on the Mississippi River

Joyce Carter said...

Your quilt is beautiful, Pamela. I am not a big fan of row quilts, but I really love how yours turned out. The Star rows are my favorite.
I don't really have a favorite childhood place. I am an elderly woman and I don't have a lot of memories of my childhood. Thank you for the giveaway.

VA said...

Another beautiful quilt! We didn’t go often, but when we were kids, our parents would take us down to the harbor to watch the ships.

Pam Dempsey said...

Hands down, my favorite place to go was Six Flags Over Texas - 60s-80 era, before it got to be almost all coasters. SO much fun :)

kupton52 said...

My favorite "go-to" place in my memory is my Grandmother Emma's house. She was a prolific quilter and when I was a child I thought quilting was something only old ladies did....lol!!! Little did I know how addictive it was until I was a young married woman and Grandma passed away. I started quilting to honor her and quickly understood why she spent so many hours at her treadle machine. My youngest of 3 daughters is named after her. Your row quilt is gorgeous, Pamela. I've never made one but if I get your bag of scraps I'll make a mini row quilt. Blessings....

Brenda said...

My favorite place to go as a child was Ky Lake. My family would go there to fish.

For the love of geese said...

Beautiful finish, I love this fabric.

Susan said...

One of my favorite childhood go to memories was to Lake Michigan.
Your quilt is beautiful.

Sewgirl said...

Wow! That's a lot of piecing! What a beautiful quilt and beautiful memories. I mostly have fond memories of family Time, either on vacations or just hanging around our childhood home.

Emily said...

Pamela, WOW! This is absolutely amazing! I can't believe you did 12 rows!!!! That's incredible! I love that you used different fabrics in each row. I'm so glad you got this collection and that you are keeping it for you! I'm so impressed that you got all this done for the first of the month!

Lori Smanski said...

Your quilt is lovely. I love how the front and back are rows. Thank you for sharing and inspiring. I grew up in the Mohave desert on a farm. So I have many fond memories of the desert and the farm in Apple Valley CA
quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

Kathleen said...

You outdid yourself on this one! The quilt really shows how much this fabric spoke to your of your childhood. My favorite childhood spot was going to my Grandmother's - her love, attention and food were the best.

Quilting Tangent said...

I like that the quilt is reversible. Favorite place is a park. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Julie said...

I grew up on a dairy farm so didn't really have any places we went. Maybe my favorite place was the Dairy Queen for a root beer float.

Sharon said...

I love row quilts, and yours is beautiful.

Diantha said...

My favorite childhood place was not really a location - but my maternal grandparents house. I loved visiting them.

GranChris said...

This is a beautiful quilt. I don't have a favorite place but I loved taking my children to Ocean City, MD back in the day. Times were different. They could roam and be safe, just play and have fun. Jmikebalou (at) aol (dot) com

Jennifer Schifano Thomas said...

What a cozy quilt! I can feel how much you enjoyed making this by reading your post. It's beautiful, and fun to see all the different rows. Have a great day!

Cindy Shelley said...

My favorite childhood place was any where we went camping. So many great places.

ShirleyC said...

Your quilt is so amazing!

We didn't really go anywhere much when I was a kid. Mama and Daddy worked hard just to keep us clothes and food on the table.
My favorite place was when I was in high school. Every other Sunday I'd go home with my best friend from church, and stay until the evening. She would come to my house some Sundays, but her parents were adventurous, and they'd go riding or to a singing at a country church. I miss those days!

Rozz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rozz said...

OMG, all that piecing gets you an A+ and it is awesome. As a kid I liked to go to camp where we learned how to paddle a canoe.

Sharon Aurora said...

There was a special spot I went to in the woods near home that was next to a small pond. I went there often just to be by myself and dream about stuff and to pray. I loved the ways the sun made the water sparkle like diamonds.

Sue Lerch said...

Beautiful quilt!

teachpany said...

This truly is the perfect collection for you, and I'm so glad you can snuggle with it. I loved going to the beach, pool, and especially visiting my grandmother in her summer home. Often there were multitudes of cousins, beach or pool days, flashlight tag games, cook outs and card games in the bungalow, plus canoe rides on the lake.

Lace Faerie said...

I love row quilts. They have such great variety of blocks, unified by a fabric collection or completely scrappy!

Jayne said...

Anywhere out in the countryside

Anonymous said...

When I was small we lived in the Canal Zone. My dad, who was in the Air Force, would take us to the beach every day. I loved it. Love your row quilt. Dortha

Claudia Porter said...

Pamela - this turned out beautifully. It has so much movement in it.

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

looks great!

Nancy J said...

As my Dad had a dairy farm and milked cows every day of the year, holidays were seldom., so my favourite place would be with my calf, practising walking on a lead, polishing the hooves, plaiting the tail the night before, combing it out in the morning ready for Calf Club Day.Your rows are amazing, but my pick os with the deepest blue and cream.No matter what combination, Island Batiks always go so well together, you proved this with this one, your very own quilt.

Sumac said...

What a nice quilt! I love the variety of blocks and the lovely colors!

Dawn F said...

Any place that we went camping as a family!

I love your row quilt. It's a spectacular use of the fabric line.

Kathy E. said...

Piecing is my favorite part of quilting too, and it's especially fun when there's such a great variety of blocks like in your row quilt. It's a beautiful piece and perfect for snuggling on your lap!
As a child, I spent a lot of summer days in the city park across the street. It had a large swimming pool and plenty of swings, merry-go-rounds and room to run. So many great memories with the neighborhood kids were made there.

Julie in GA said...

I remember many summer afternoons when I would take a book and climb up a big plum tree in our back yard to read it.
Your row quilt is fantastic!

T Holzer said...

I can't put my finger on exactly what it is that makes me love this quilt so much, but it is so, so gorgeous! I'd love to make it one day.

Deb B. said...

I Love your quilt! I have not made blocks out of six inch squares before, nor have I ever made a row quilt. Your quilt may be the inspiration I need to give it a whirl.

Deb B. said...

Oops! I forgot to mention a favorite memory of a place I remember from my childhood. We used to go sledding on a hill across the street from our apartment. I remember trudging up the hill and sledding down and trudging up again. I have never found another hill quite like that one. And on top of that, there just isn't as much snow each year to have as many sledding days. However, I am always excited to see pictures of my grandchildren making the most of snow days and sledding opportunities...it certainly brings back fun memories for me.

Pamela said...

I love your beautiful quilt! My favorite childhood place was mny grandmothers house.

Jittina said...

I love your quilt, it's beautiful.
I can't really recall a favourite childhood place. I loved to read books in my room, so I guess my bedroom was my favourite place.

cookie said...

My favorite place was with my grandparents. It was a safe, non-judgmental zone. My time with them prepared me for the challenges of adulthood.

tac73 said...

My favorite memories of places are of the beach. It was always exciting when we got to walk on the sand and look for treasures.

CyndyL said...

My favorite childhood place was a campground on a small river were we would swim, fish and just play in the sand.

dungeonquilter said...

My favourite place as a child was Waterton Park in southern Alberta. We used to go camping there when we lived near Medicine Hat.

Patti said...

Beautiful quilt!
When I was a child a favorite place to play was a neighbor's pond. We would try and catch frogs and pretend to fish. They sold that property many years ago and built houses there but I still remember the fun times!

Anonymous said...

My favorite place as a child was home with my family. I just love your quilt and really love the half square triangle quilts. Even old traditional patterns are now in some cases changed to triangle quilts. They're my favorite!