Many moons (okay about a year) ago I was a member of the A Piece of Work quilting bee. For my month I chose to do a quilt using the Map of the States block tutorial written by Elizabeth - who blogs over at Oh Fransson. (Cool blog. You should go and visit.)
![](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yLgFTvlPbqg/ThvfXXf42SI/AAAAAAAAGok/3RZjkIEs_MI/maps%252520detail%2525201%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800)
I loved the look of the greens and grays that she chose to use in the tutorial. I went a similar route, but also added a bit of orange just to keep things interesting. (Aren’t I edgy?)
![](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ASxBlgSOrGQ/ThvfXuvJr8I/AAAAAAAAGoo/NX3O5okNYCo/maps%252520binding%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800)
I asked the group members to make me any size of block, rectangle or square, and then frame them in a thin black strip. After I received the blocks I sashed them all with some Kona Ash.
For the backing I used this gorgeous green and gray print from Kate Spain. I believe it is from her Verna line.
![](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aRKgMndBo9I/ThvfYIn1MgI/AAAAAAAAGos/CdKb5Q5oJRk/maps%252520backing%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800)
The quilt is quilted in your basic meandering pattern. I thought about doing some straight line quilting, but I felt that all of the angular lines of the blocks needed some softening. I love the end result. You know, it never ceases to amaze me what the quilting step of quilt construction can do for the overall look of a quilt.
Binding can also have an impact and it does in this quilt. For some of my projects I prefer to have the binding visually melt into the quilt top. For this one, I wanted a nice black frame for my quilt – to compete with the frames that are around each block. The fabric I used for the binding is from the Haunted Mansion line by Sanae.
![](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UUHIzJ5vaHI/ThvfYfANTHI/AAAAAAAAGow/Fe2DyHnZSWI/maps%252520full%252520quilt%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800)
The finished quilt measures 58” x 67” and it is currently folded over the back of my favorite reading chair. A big thank you goes out to all of the women of the APOWA Bee that helped create one of my favorite quilts!
I love the randomness of the design. I agree, Elizabeth has some great ideas.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris :)
ReplyDeleteIt turned out really pretty! I like the oranges and the black framing the blocks. Nice!
ReplyDelete