The Missing Brick

I love how subjective this quilt is.

I’ve had people tell me that it looks like the brick flew out of its place. I’ve heard that the brick is falling into place. That it was falling into place and swept away by the wind. I love that.

The design of the piecing and the quilting in the negative space were all done kind of by the seat of my pants. I had an idea of where I wanted it to go, but then reality took things in an unexpected and very satisfying direction. I really love this quilt.

I started with some scraps of Bark and Branch by Eloise Renouf for Cloud 9. I had the warm color way in mind for a Christmas gift, and so I pulled some other golds and pinks from my stash– the bright Anna Maria Horner on the bottom row, Smile and Wave from Rashida Coleman-Hale in light pink. There was the geometric blue-gray that both blended and contrasted from Dear Stella.

The “mortar” is actually different from the main fabric– it’s a tiny taupe herringbone shirting fabric, and it’s super soft. I only had about a yard of it, so I got the main fabric, which is Alexander Henry and has a little stipple print to it. Just enough detail to be interesting up close, but simple enough that it looks solid from a distance. You can see it in this pre-quilting close-up.

I quilted with a taupe thread so that it would give the negative space texture but not take away from the piecing. It was also very forgiving to any imperfections. The clouds and details were free motion quilted, but the bigger wavy lines were done with my walking foot.

Inside the bricks, I just did simple organic straight lines about 5/8″ apart.

The binding is Smile and Wave from the Koi collection. I did it by machine, for my sanity, as time is not on my side.

The back is Autumn Wonderland from Bark & Branch. I love how it contrasts with the front, so that it will give a peek of more color when it’s in use.

And I got to play with the embroidery features on my machine to make the label.

Posting might be light for the rest of 2013, but let me tell you, I have big plans for the new year on this site. So please stick around (I’m sure I’ll be hanging out on Instagram), and I hope you have lovely holidays and a joyous New Year.