Modern Maples - Happiness style

It is always very exciting to have a finished project to show. This time, it is a Modern Maples quilt made by the terrific sewists who make up the Happiness circle over at Do Good Stitches. My month as quilter was in August and I asked for Modern Maple blocks in shades of purple, grey, and cream and my group-mates did not disappoint. I wanted to make a larger lap-size quilt so I added in a couple of plain blocks (straight fabric, no piecing) but I needed a few more. I thought about outright copying Toni's absolutely gorgeous quilt here, but I came to my senses and realized I only had so much free time and making those blocks would probably take too long. So, I decided on square in square blocks and I really like how they look.

For quilting, I selected the wavy-line decorative stitch on my machine and set the width and length settings as high as they would go. I then drew lines 1" apart on the diagonal, traveling in the same direction as the leaf points; my idea is the wavy lines would add the concept of movement. I ran the walking foot dead centre down each line. I think it took longer to mark the lines than to sew it (in case you want to try it on your own project) but I am happy with the result. Then I bound it, washed it, and took it outside to get a photo. As you can see, there are plenty of leaves on the ground so it fit right in!

I do not have a design wall. We recently invited our daughters and their spouses to move back in so they could finish school/save for a house, so hubby and I have taken over the basement - a far cry from my grand plans to create a sewing room in one of their formerly vacated bedrooms! In the absence of a design wall, I found using painter's masking tape to adhere the blocks to the wall worked nicely. I played with them for quite some time before settling on the final arrangement, and in the end, I am happy with it. My daughters have commented it might be one of their favourite quilts I have ever made - but they don't like the modern maple block, nor do they care for purple. So I think my efforts to lay out the blocks and get it "just right" really worked, and that is what they are drawn to.

A friend picked it up from my office today and is transporting it to it's new home in High River - a small town recently devastated by terrible floods. So many people have lost their homes and I am glad to send someone a big hug in the form of this quilt.

I hope all the leaves at your house are fabric!

e.