» My First Quilt Pattern
April 11, 2017
My first pattern for Blue Underground Studios is/was called In and Out. This year, that pattern is eleven years old. Eleven. I have to say it multiple times to even believe it. Things have changed so much since I published the first copy of this pattern! I had two children. I went from having one nephew to having nine nieces and nephews with three on the way. I went back to teaching history. I started teaching art. I quit teaching history and kept teaching art. We’re on our third president since then, and the Cubs won the World Series!
Here is the original In and Out. I can still remember pulling the fabrics for this quilt. They were very inspired by the backing, which you can see in the picture.
When I saw this print and its Lake Superior stones, I just had to have it. That is, I had to have 8 yards of it. I found it in a small quilt shop in Ironwood Michigan while my husband and I were driving from Duluth to Door County. It was a long drive, and it’s pretty isolated territory compared to what we’re used to. So when we came to Ironwood and I saw there was a quilt shop there, it was like hitting an oasis in the desert. (Ok, that may sound a little dramatic but I was really excited!). Since I bought eight yards of it, the natural decision for me was to use it as a backing. I like to use prints that I love on the backs of quilts. You can look at the whole piece of fabric without cutting it, and you can love the back as much as the front! I paired it with a number of “writing fabrics” as my daughter calls them – those are prints with script on them, and some geometric and modern prints and batiks (I love mixing prints and batiks). Many of them are from Lonni Rossi’s earlier fabric collections for Andover.
Here’s a sample that my friend Kathy pieced in reproduction fabrics. I like the way it looks in this narrow color palette. I also like the way the polka dots look in here. I think polka dots make everything look better, don’t you?
I finished this sample with Westminster and Kaffe Fabrics a little over a year ago. These are still high on my list of favorite fabrics to work with. I really like the cheeriness of this quilt.
Last fall I finished this sample with shot cottons. I call it “Fall Blues.”
And this sample out of the Medusa line by Pam Goecke Dinndorf. These prints are sophisticated and fun at the same time.
This year, I am having a booth at spring quilt market for the first time in about three years! So, I decided to make a new cover quilt for In and Out. I’m using a color palette that I’ve never used for this quilt before and I’m excited to see it taking shape.
It’s a little bit modern, a little bit retro, a little bit artsy, and totally springy. Stay tuned for the final result!
