House Arrest Quilts Day Five

It's Friday. That means that Part 3 of the Kaffe Fassett Field Notes is here. But I also want to share a quilt I designed and finally finished this last Saturday. My Card Trick blocks are simplified from the vintage/traditional version. I've shared about this before. I also wanted to use two different background prints. It is a real scrap buster!

No Tricky Card Trick

There are 4 fabrics in each of the 9 blocks (plus the background solids). It was fun to select all sorts of prints and my only criteria was that there be strong contrast. Check it out in my Etsy shop.

Now here is the designer himself. This first appeared in February 2009!

An Upscale Quilt

An Upscale Quilt

Field Notes: Kaffe Fassett

Having made a name of sorts in many different mediums, I’m often asked by audience members around the world what I’d like to try next. “Scale” is always my answer: I envision covering a large building in tiles, mosaic, or fabric.

Last November I found myself in Friesland, Holland, at a launching ceremony of what must rank among the world’s biggest patchwork quilts. This project was initiated by Henk and Marja Schenk, owners of the Quilt Kabinet fabric shop outside the charming old city of Leeuwarden. Marja had the inspired idea to create a four-story-tall patchwork to cover the front of a handsome 450-year-old leaning tower. My assistant Brandon and I were invited to attend the launch, teach workshops, and give lectures to celebrate a comprehensive exhibition of quilting at the Fries Museum (www.friesmuseum.nl).

A Vision Unveiled

A crowd gathered on the damp grey morning to watch the mammoth quilt (made by 350 sewers) unroll and glide gently up the tower, lifted by a giant crane.

I’d heard about the project for over a year and envisioned a communal project that made up in spirit what it would surely lack in taste and style.

Imagine my profound delight as a very handsome, very together arrangement of squares appeared in a palette that toned beautifully with the old brickwork of the tower. Then it really hit me. Not only was it made entirely of my fabrics, but also was the layout of my first quilt, Rosy. Suddenly it was the most spectacular celebration of all the years I’ve been designing patchwork and fabrics. Tears sprang to my eyes and I hugged the women who inspired and brought about this wondrous happening to encourage sewers throughout the world. My dream of scale was before my eyes.