Saturday, March 9, 2019

Unconventional and Unexpected - an Octagon quilt finally finished!

I received the amazing book "Unconventional and Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar" by Roderick Kiracofe  for Christmas and soon thereafter came the UAUQAL challenge led by Sujata Shah. Could events have converged more perfectly?!

This book just knocked my socks off....so much quirky beauty and so many wild and unusual quilts! Inspiration to last a looong time!

Anyhow, I pulled out some of my older blue fabrics and began strip piecing. I changed the proportions of my block a bit because I wanted more of the stripped piecing to show - the center square is 4 inches and the pieced sides are 3 inches. Also, this top went through quite a few iterations until I finally just wanted to be done! And here is the FINAL version....

 



At first I was a bit lazy and didn't want to piece the quarter-square triangles for the corners....deciding to use 3-inch muslin squares instead.....so this was the first version.....

 
But after looking at this top on the wall for awhile, I decided it was
too stark and didn't really fit the idea of the octagons that was in our inspiration quilt on page 51 of  "Unconventional and Unexpected".....so I decided to go ahead and make quarter-square triangles and remove the muslin squares....hello seam ripper....


And then I started fiddling with the main center squares.....so many possibilities.....



No....no....and NO!

I finally settled on this final version and machine-quilted it fast so I couldn't change my mind!


Love the octagons that show up now!


I'm looking forward to seeing other versions of this quilt inspired by the work of an unknown quilter......what if this unknown quilter were somehow to find out that she was inspiring so many other quilters by her humble quilt.....wouldn't she be surprised! Wouldn't you all just love to meet her and compliment her on the complexity of her quilt that ended up being published in a much touted book inspiring so many other quilters!!!

~Edith
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29 comments:

  1. ShelinaMarch 9, 2019 at 5:45 PM

    This is gorgeous! I did mine in a 3x4 setting, but after looking at yours, I think I need to add more blocks to be able to see those octagons going around the squares.

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 13, 2019 at 6:18 AM

      Thank you! Yes, a little bigger and you will definitely see the octagons...finished size in this one is 46.5 x 40 inches. Looking forward to seeing yours!

      Delete
  2. audreyMarch 9, 2019 at 10:50 PM

    This is gorgeous! Perfect with the hourglass cornerstones and I love the bits of red in the border! Great job.:)

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 13, 2019 at 6:21 AM

      Thank you, Audrey! A dash of red here and there is often just the spice that is needed in a scrap quilt!

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  3. MargaretMarch 9, 2019 at 10:56 PM

    Ooh yes, you've got those octagons emerging now!

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 10, 2019 at 8:34 PM

      Yes...and I tried to make some of them lighter and some of them darker here and there.

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  4. KrisRMarch 9, 2019 at 11:06 PM

    Love it, Edith! And really enjoyed seeing the different versions.

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 10, 2019 at 8:35 PM

      Thank you....there was a lot of shifting around of those center squares.

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  5. christineMarch 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM

    Wonderful! I have almost cleared my decks and am ready to start this project. Can’t wait.

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  6. JackieMarch 10, 2019 at 8:00 AM

    I love your quilt and the colors and dimensions. When you said you used 4 x 4 squares, is that the cut size or the finished size?

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 13, 2019 at 6:15 AM

      Thanks Jackie! The squares were CUT 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches for a FINISHED measurement of 4 x 4. The final size of the quilt is 46.5 x 40.....big enough to have dipped my toe into this 'octagon' process but not so big that it would wear me out!

      Delete
  7. QuiltdivajulieMarch 10, 2019 at 8:26 AM

    JUST FABULOUS -- congratulations!!

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  8. O'QuiltsMarch 10, 2019 at 10:33 AM

    You did a wonderful job. I like all the versions...but he last and final is spectacular

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  9. AnnMarch 10, 2019 at 2:37 PM

    Thanks for sharing all your iterations. I like the way you arranged the strip piecing around your center “solids”. Changing out the muslin really made a difference, too.

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 10, 2019 at 8:39 PM

      Thank you for your kind words. On the one hand, I did like the muslin corner squares because they made the quilt look crisper....but they clearly did not create the octagon idea that we were trying to model.

      Delete
  10. SandyMarch 10, 2019 at 8:07 PM

    Excellent, Edith! Your variery of quirky fabrics really makes this work. And... its finished and quilted! Good job!

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 12, 2019 at 9:32 AM

      Thank you! A few of the fabrics in this quilt were from scraps left over from sewing my dresses in the 1980s and on....and seeing some of those familiar fabrics makes this small quilt just a little bit dearer!

      Delete
  11. Sujata ShahMarch 12, 2019 at 7:09 AM

    I loved reading about your process. Yes, I always wonder about old quilts too about this women who made quilts inspiring us all.
    I laughed when I read you machine quilted it fast enough not to change your mind. It looks stunning!

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 12, 2019 at 9:38 AM

      Thank you! I find that some tops are clear about when they are finished...and others seem like maybe they could be made better if only I took the time to tweak some more....and more...until finally (because I don't want another unfinished top needling my conscience, I say "Enough" and call it DONE! Because also, by the time that a top is nearly finished, I am headlong into excitedly thinking about my next pieced project and cant' wait to get started!

      Delete
  12. Linda @ kokaquiltsMarch 12, 2019 at 12:20 PM

    A great quilt, love your colours! And I enjoyed reading about your process. It's fun how some octagons stand out more than others.

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 12, 2019 at 1:44 PM

      Thanks, Linda! It was fun making some of the octagons stand out a bit stronger!

      Delete
  13. June DMarch 14, 2019 at 8:11 PM

    Great quilt! Like the way you shared your process too!

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  14. EYSchmittMarch 15, 2019 at 6:43 AM

    Thank you!

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  15. MarlyMarch 16, 2019 at 4:24 AM

    Great finish. I tried doing hourglass blocks in the corners too, but only the traditional way with opposing triangles matching in value, and it just didn't work. Now I'm making the octagons completely and will join the corners by hand. I wish I'd thought of your way; it would have saved me a lot of time!

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    1. EYSchmittMarch 16, 2019 at 4:33 PM

      Thanks. Looking forward to seeing your finish with complete octagons....the same way that Sujata is doing it! I like that there are different ways to approach this project but you can see that they are all related.

      Delete
  16. EYSchmittMarch 16, 2019 at 6:00 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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