Sarah's Tumbling Block Quilt is an Example of Precise Hand Piecing
Tumbling blocks is a quilt pattern that many people are familiar with, even if they don’t immediately recognize the name. It is sometimes referred to as a rhombus cube. Sarah could have made this quilt with triangles, but that would have been too easy. There are no triangles, only rhombus parallelograms. This was pieced by hand with a lot of y seams.
For those unfamiliar with the y seam, this means that she had to sew to a specific point and then turn to sew in a different direction. Typically, when a quilter pieces a top, he or she will sew a straight line right off the edge of the fabric. With Y seams, you have to stop before the edge. Too short or too far and the resulting angle that you need to turn to keep the quilt flat changes. Therefore each of these intersections is an opportunity to stitch the wrong angle resulting in the quilt not laying flat or puckering.
This was not an easy task, and Sarah did it beautifully. Add to this fact that Sarah is legally blind, and you’ve added a whole other layer of difficulty and respect for this woman's skills. We have to give kudos to her husband as well as he is the one who picks out her fabrics. The mix of blue batiks is lovely on the white background. For her backing fabric, Sarah and her husband found this white on white fabric called Vintage scroll. It has a delicate leafy pattern that paired nicely with the batiks in the top.
I am looking forward to seeing what Sarah does next. She is an example of how we should never let our perceived limitations limit us. If you want to do it, you can do it. It may take a little longer, and it may take a little help from our loved ones, but anything is possible if you are willing to put forth the effort.
Tumbling Block Quilts have Y-Seams
For those unfamiliar with the y seam, this means that she had to sew to a specific point and then turn to sew in a different direction. Typically, when a quilter pieces a top, he or she will sew a straight line right off the edge of the fabric. With Y seams, you have to stop before the edge. Too short or too far and the resulting angle that you need to turn to keep the quilt flat changes. Therefore each of these intersections is an opportunity to stitch the wrong angle resulting in the quilt not laying flat or puckering.
Sarah's Tumbling Block Quilt
This was not an easy task, and Sarah did it beautifully. Add to this fact that Sarah is legally blind, and you’ve added a whole other layer of difficulty and respect for this woman's skills. We have to give kudos to her husband as well as he is the one who picks out her fabrics. The mix of blue batiks is lovely on the white background. For her backing fabric, Sarah and her husband found this white on white fabric called Vintage scroll. It has a delicate leafy pattern that paired nicely with the batiks in the top.
Quilting of her Tumbling Block Quilt
She asked me to quilt this for her. Sarah and her husband chose a pattern called Textured Swirls. I think it reflects the pattern in the fabric prints quite nicely and adds some movement that can be easily seen in the open space of the stars very nicely. And as the design's title suggests, it adds some great texture to the surface of the quilt.
I am looking forward to seeing what Sarah does next. She is an example of how we should never let our perceived limitations limit us. If you want to do it, you can do it. It may take a little longer, and it may take a little help from our loved ones, but anything is possible if you are willing to put forth the effort.
I’m Angela- Co-host of the Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting PBS show. APQS Long arm Dealer and Educator. Triplet Momma. Designer. Thread Bimbo.
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