Detail from "Rain Dance," an original quilt by Sherrie Spangler

Monday, December 30, 2013

Last quilt of the year

Graduation quilt by Sherrie Spangler, copyright 2013

Here's my last quilt of the year, which I made for my daughter's college graduation.


It's a takeoff on the traditional Log Cabin block, with the center wonky orange block representing the heart of the home. The strips around the center represent -- via color -- each place she's lived. I printed the city and the years she lived there on ExtravOrganza.


This block from Kansas shows the bright blue summer skies, yellow of the sunflowers, white for winter snow, and tan and green for the prairie grasses. The little bunny is the first pet rabbit to come into her life.


The center block represents her wide open future!


I pieced the blocks improvisationally, starting with a pile of strips and sewing them down at different angles. It was quick and fun.




Then I quilted in a spiral, radiating out from the center sun. Besides loving the completeness of circles, I decided this could also represent her life spiraling out into the larger world. 


Now I'm working on a second quilt as the basis for a class I'm going to teach Feb. 13 and 20 at Quilt Revolution in Gig Harbor. It'll focus on the improvisational log cabin construction and also how to personalize your quilt. It should be fun! I hope some of you can take it!


Here are some of the fabrics I'm using in the second quilt. They're from Moda's "Grunge" line by Basic Grey. You can't go wrong with any combination of colors in the line.

Hop over to  Off the Wall Friday http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/2014/01/things-i-learned-from-candy-crush-off.html to see what other fabric artists are up to.

Have a colorful New Year!



19 comments:

Terri Stegmiller said...

The quilt is so lovely. Great colors!!!

Judy Sall Fiber Art said...

I love the quilt, and I love that you are teaching a quilt class! Will look for posts about it in Feb. Happy New Year!

sonja said...

the quilt you made for your daughter is radiant! and so modern and wonky lovely!
your class will love its liberation! Happy 2014!

A.Sproule said...

What a wonderful quilt. I love the colors that you chose. The center block and its representation are my favorite. Great job, and thank you for sharing.

Judy Ferguson said...

This is one of my favorite ways to work when I do piecing. I love to use the brights. I like that each piece is symbolic of a milestone in her life.

Martha Ginn said...

What a great quilt to end the year on--beautiful and so chock-full of meaning. Your daughter will enjoy it and feel the love you put into it!
Martha Ginn

Living to work - working to live said...

Rather fabulous! Love the wonky blocks and the colours. Happy new year and may it bring you more colour! Hilary xxx

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite of all the quilts I've seen through the autumn - really, really wonderful!

Sherrie Spangler said...

Thank you all so much! Elizabeth -- you're a "no reply" blogger so I couldn't thank you personally. This was a VERY fun quilt to work on and now I'm doing another one focusing on the seasons.

Anonymous said...

Lovely piece!

Anonymous said...

Such a special gift for your daughter, too!

Marilyn Wall said...

Color does and says it all, doesn't it? Beautiful

quiltedfabricart said...

I love this! When I first saw the quilt I thought, well pretty good, then the circle quilting drew me in to read further and once I read the meaning behind everything. Well now it's a WOW! quilt. Well done.

Linda M said...

Love the colors and the symbolism in the quilting.

Lisa Chin said...

Just gorgeous! I love bright colors and this quilt speaks to me!

Julia said...

I can't wait to have my own dining room to hang this in!

Diane said...

Wow! Sherrie - I noticed these are the same colors I previously used on my blog entry 'On and On about Modern Quilting' Nice work, I really loved them too!

Unknown said...

I really like this quilt as well! I love the colors and the symbolism of places that your daughter has been. I think she will treasure this gift from her Mom.

Unknown said...

I really like this quilt as well! I love the colors and the symbolism of places that your daughter has been. I think she will treasure this gift from her Mom.