Lynn Carson Harris

Sewing with Nancy

Remember back in October when I went to Wisconsin to film an episode of Sewing with Nancy?

That episode went live last week. 

Read more on the Nancy Zieman blog.

You can currently watch the show on the Wisconsin Public Television site.

Every Last Piece - Stardust

I just realized that I never shared my quilt, Stardust, with you. That's a little funny because it is the quilt on the cover of Every Last Piece!

I started making the little two inch stars in this quilt back in 2011. The first little star was so cute, I had to make another, and another, and another.

I was still having fun making little stars all through 2012. I cut the star point pieces in groups of eight and cut stacks of the background pieces. The star centers were cut from fabrics in my scrap basket. My daughter enjoyed matching the solid star point fabrics with the center squares. I had a featherweight set up in the sewing room that was always ready for sewing stars. I could easily work on them in small batches whenever I had a few minutes. 

In the spring of 2013, I started building the nine patch blocks. I continued working on this quilt at the same time I was making other quilts.

The quilt was finished in April of 2014. 

The quilting is an all over freeform flower and swirl design.

I would never have made this quilt if I had read the directions first. "Cut 3,742 one inch squares from solid scraps." Nope, that never would have happened. By cutting a few at a time and working in small batches, I kept the process fun.

 

Finished quilt - 87'' by 99''

 

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - Off the Chart

Off the Chart is another quilt from my book, Every Last Piece.

This design was inspired by colorwork knitting charts. I love this design idea because there are so many different ways to interpret it. Here, the different size circles represent different colors of yarn that would be used when knitting from the chart. 


The the pattern is made of three kinds of blocks; blank, small circles, and large circles. 
The scraps used in this quilt are all "light" fabrics. The background is a rich teal print from Carolyn Friedlander's botanics line.

It is quilted in a design that mimics the look of the knit stitch at a size equal to the applique "stitches".  

Finished Size 58'' by 81''.

 

In addition to being published in the book, this quilt hand in the QuiltCon 2015 show. 

The pattern and directions for Off the Chart can be found in chapter three of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Troubles with Scraps

The design for Troubles with Scraps came from playing with the parts for the traditional Kansas Troubles block. 

The basic pieced unit for Kansas Troubles reads as a half square triangle. I tried many different settings and layouts for the hst unit and finally settled on this bullseye look.

This was one of the first quilts I quilted on my longarm and I really had fun with the feathers and bubbles. 

Finished size: 42'' by 55''

The pattern and directions for Troubles with Scraps can be found in chapter two of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Square Dance

The design for Square Dance came about while playing around with the four patch and nine patch parts for Square Root. 

I saw that I could piece the design I wanted for this quilt more easily by piecing ninepatch and ninepatch variation blocks.

I carefully chose a selection of pale or light fabrics that contrasted with the dark cerise I wanted for the background. I love the little surprised found in some of these fabrics, like this little goldfish.

When you save all your scraps it is easier to have enough variety to make a quilt like this.

The design for this quilt is fairly simple but it is still one of my favorites.

Sometimes an unexpected fabric choice for a background or "neutral" is all it takes to make a simple design sing.

Finished size: 44'' by 55''

The pattern and directions for Square Dance can be found in chapter two of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

 

Every Last Piece - featured quilt - Solar Flare

Solar Flare is another of the string quilts featured in chapter one of Every Last Piece. In this quilt I built the string pieced units to fit the 45 degree triangle rotary cutter ruler.

I played with the pieces for a long time trying to decide on a layout. I had them in various settings on the design wall as I was working on other projects. I tried vertical zig/zag strips, horizontal rows, random placement, circular blobs, small stars, and several others. 

My son was home from school one weekend while the parts were on the design wall. He asked if he could play around with them and I assured him that would be fine. I came into the sewing room later to find a huge starburst filling the design wall. That yellow ring really sparkles. I tweaked it a bit and added some coordinating fabrics and ended up with this quilt. I love it!

I had a bit of fun with the quilting too. The yellow/golden star ring is quilted in a flame design. 

The string pieced sections are quilted with an overall serpentine design. There are a few random strings that break the pattern. I love the added interest in the quilting. 

The main background is quilted with a turbulent swirl reminiscent of Van Gogh's Starry Night. 

I am grateful that my son spent a little time playing in my studio that day.

Finished size: 67'' by 67''

The pattern and directions for Solar Flare can be found in chapter one of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

 

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Circular Reasoning

This quilt, Circular Reasoning, uses the same idea for varied value placement as Bow Ties that I shared earlier. I chose to use a solid red for the circular pieces and solid black for the "crossing" segments. The other parts of the block vary in light medium or dark fabrics. 

The variation in value placement results in a high energy quilt and keeps your eye moving.

When building the blocks I first tried a more scrappy look with a different fabric in each area of the block. I tried fabrics that read the same from a distance instead of repeating the same fabrics as I did in the finished quilt. Even with the consistent black and red there was a bit too much going on. 

I like that here, with the same fabric repeated symmetrically in the block, you can see each block as its own unit.

I'd like to try this design again but keep the diagonal cross lines as a constant fabric instead of the circles. 

Finished size: 60'' x 75''

The pattern and directions for Circular Reasoning can be found in chapter two of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Bow Ties

Bow Ties is a quilt I finished in 1993. It is a true scrap quilt and is made with the scraps from many of my old 4-H sewing projects. 

I was inspired by an antique bow ties quilt I had seen in a magazine. I love the way the placement of light and dark fabrics varied in each block and wanted to create the same energy in my own quilt.

I am glad that I took the time to make the block the traditional way with the set in seams. The square set on an angle in the center of the block really looks like a knot in the bow, especially with stripe, plaid, or checked fabrics.

This quilt is a real trip down memory lane for me. I'm having a bit of a 1970s flashback here.

My grandmother hand quilted this quilt and I gave it to my oldest son for Christmas back in 1993. I'm secretly glad that he hasn't taken it to his apartment. 

Finished size 71'' by 100''.

Bow Ties can be found in the gallery section of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - featured quilt - Bar Scene

Bar Scene, a quilt in chapter three of Every Last Piece, features a strip of hourglass blocks made from some of my favorite scraps. The column of color is set of by the surrounding solid paprika fabric. 

I had fun with the wavy, loopy quilting.

Finished size 51'' by 68''.

The directions for Bar Scene along with some suggestions for other variations of this design are in chapter 3 of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices,  but if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.

Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Beach Balls

On this cold, dark, and rainy day, I'm sharing the colorful and sunny quilt, Beach Balls.

The background is string pieced with sandy colored neutrals. 

The beach balls are string pieced using color coordinating scraps.

I had fun digging through my scraps and building the color wedges.

The binding is pieced from a variety of the background fabrics.

This quilt is the perfect size for a child's play quilt. 

Fun fact - this was the first quilt I quilted on my longarm.

Finished size: 42'' by 48''.

 

The directions for Beach Ball are in Chapter 1 of my book.

You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.

I can't compete with Amazon's low prices. But if you want to save a little and purchase from Amazon, please click here. This is an affiliate link and clicking through to purchase will allow me to earn a few extra pennies.

You can also ask your local quilt shop or book store to get the book for you.