Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Modern Heart Quilt & Bluprint


Piece & Love Solids Day Dream Quilt

I was saddened by the recent news that Bluprint would be closing in the near future. I was pleased with, and well served by the Craftsy company that later became Bluprint. In the past years, they offered a way for indie, or independent designers, to get their foot in the door by selling patterns through the platform. I watched some of these quilters rise up to greater renown within the community, and it was exciting. Retail stores compete with online quilting supply websites, and some are happy to see Bluprint go. But I worry that with our unstable economy in the light of COVID-19, and the number of companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is this a sign of things to come for our smaller stores? Many have been in decline, and the number of closures over the past decade is alarming. I'm not sure I want to foresee that future.

Surely thinking about all this spurred me to dig out a kit I'd purchased this winter from Bluprint. The Piece & Love Solids Day Dream kit by Cloth Parcel was bought with the notion it would be a quick make. It was, but I will be very honest with you--I was not happy with the pattern. 

The cutting and piecing directions are all set on bias because it is based on using charm packs. In other words, the pattern was written to sell the fabric. It sets my teeth on edge to use precuts as they're not accurately cut, and therefore don't accurately piece, but adding bias cutting was awful. I moaned and growled throughout the entire piecing of the heart--note mine doesn't match the pattern exactly as the shades of fabric didn't match the color swatches well. In the end, I winged it to save my sanity. The piecing, the colors, arg...and wouldn't you know the stretchiness made it fairly easy to pull those points to where they needed to be with a lot of pinning? Huh? Yeah, it came together fine, and even looked pretty good. 



A caveat is warranted here, but the end result was fine. Take of it what you will.



This is a quilt for one of our daughters, and I knew there would be 3 furry canines eyeing up their turn to sneak onto it. Little did I know it would be 4 by the time it was finished. I love every one of those wet noses, and dirty paws! Yes, it's white. That's why they make washers.



We agreed a more modern quilting motif would be best, but I wanted drama with all the negative space. Feathers anyone? This digital design was a great compromise, I thought.



As a quilter, it's terribly hard to imagine how a pattern will look repeated across a quilt. The first run is so exciting, and I typically watch the first pass to see how it runs. 



The design is Audrey III by Wasatch, and is a delightful stitch out. The batting is Pellon 80/20. 




There was a little worry about the stretchiness of the heart area, but nothing spray starch couldn't manage.





Tagged, bagged, and delivered!
Soon to be well-loved, paws and all.

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.



4 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Does the quilt just have one layer of 80/20? I use Hobbs 80/20, and I never get the look like your stitching is showing (the texture). I heard you can buy some software and be able to download the classes. I own about 20, all FMQ. I am trying to decide if the learning curve is worth the software and download time. Great job on the quilting!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

It looks great! The news about Bluprint is sad. I suspect there will be a lot of companies going under in the coming months. :(

Meta Van Nostran said...

The quilting design makes this quilt! Dogs on the bed are so cuddly. This quilt may take on a new design from paws as time goes by. Love the solids.

O'Quilts said...

Wow...brave you...won in the end and it was worth the work..xo