Super Strips x 2

Two very different versions of my Super Strips quilt appeared on my Facebook news feed earlier today, within a few minutes of each other.  Carol Fieldhouse started hers in one of my workshops a few years ago - I'll have to dig through my workshop photos and see if I can spot which one!  It shouldn't be too difficult (I hope) as Carol has done the centre of her quilt with narrower strips, and there haven't been as many of those as the 21/2in strip centre versions. The batik fabrics make it look like a watercolour. She writes -

Howzat! A Susan Briscoe workshop, **#!!! years ago, finally quilted and bound.... it's almost all batik strips and I'm keeping it!

Margaret Cull posted a photo of her Super Strips on the UK Quilters United Facebook page a few minutes before.  This one uses all the same strip width and I'm guessing it was made from my pattern which appeared in Today's Quilter last year.  There is a small but subtle difference between the pattern and the workshop version, because the pattern has an uneven number of strips in the initial piecing, which results in a tiny quarter square triangle effect in the middle, whereas the workshop version has an even number, so there's no mini QST in the centre.  Margaret says -

Took me almost a year to get round to quilting it but I am very pleased with it. Going to be a gift for a friend.

The rich gold and blue colourscheme and the scrolling quilting designs give Margaret's quilt a rather heraldic look.

Thanks very much for permission to show your work here.

Super Strips can be made in so many different fabrics and shading variations, which I think is the mark of a versatile quilt pattern.

Super Strips in Spring Colours

Sue Jennings sent me some photos of her Super Strips quilt now it is quilted.   She showed me the top a couple of weeks ago, which she made from my pattern in Today's Quilter magazine.  She wrote -

Over the weekend I finished quilting my Spring Colours quilt. The pattern was in Issue 6 of Today's Quilter and was designed by Susan Briscoe. It was quick and great fun to make. My old Bernina 1008 deserves a rest for a few days. The quilting took a good 10 hours - mainly because every seam was stitched in the ditch. It is now hanging on my sitting room wall. It really cheers the room up. Happy quilting, all!

I did use my Westalee ruler foot and a straight ruler...it made the triangles very quick to do. I stitched every seam in the ditch - time consuming, but I think it was worth it.

Super Strips from Today's Quilter pattern

Sue Jennings, one of the UK Quilters United group on Facebook, sent me this photo of her narrow strip version of Super Strips today.  She contacted me a few days ago, asking if it would work to make Super Strips from half the jelly roll strip.  This is how Dot Sherlock made her Super Strips at the second workshop I taught at Gresford, so I knew it would work.

One thing you might want to alter if you try this - use an uneven number of strips in the first squares rather than an even number. That way you won't end up with miniscule triangles in the centre when you cut the two initial strip pieced squares. In fact, I think that's what Dot did in her version. I think if you used 27 halved jelly roll strips it would be a good number. The completed squares would measure 20 3/4in approx. inc. the seam allowances. Expect the squares to end up slightly smaller than you think they will be - with all those seams, you're bound to loose a bit across the patchwork. You will have to adjust every measurement as you go, to fit your patchwork of course.

Sue sent me the photo at the top today and wrote - 

I have finished the top - not a great photo as it is blowing a gale! I really enjoyed the process and many thanks for including all the measurements in the pattern, as it made it so much easier to make the adjustments for the three quarter inch finished strips. I had to add a little extra fabric from my stash and I made the outer pieced border only 4 inches finished wide, to fit the size of my wall space. I just need to get it quilted now, before Spring comes and goes. I will really have to fight the urge to create another in reproduction fabrics. These colours are SO out of my comfort zone, but I wanted Spring colours. 

Doesn't it look cheerful and colourful?  Of course, there is a lot more sewing, but it is worth it.

Super Strips quilt pattern in Today's Quilter

Super Strips, my jelly roll quilt loosely based on the Hearts and Crosses Coverlet, is in Today's Quilter issue 6, which will be in the shops shortly (the subscription copies should have arrived by now).  I've taught a slightly different version of this design as a workshop since about 2009, having made the original 11/2in strip version in 2008.  The one in the magazine has an uneven number of strips in the centre square, which makes the design slightly different to the workshop one, which has an even number, removing the tiny 'diamond' feature in the centre, which can be a bit tricky to line up if your jelly roll isn't accurately cut.

The fabric range I used for this, 'Katy Jump Rope' by Denise Schmidt for Free Spirit, has been reprinted, with some extra prints in the range, so you can get almost the same fabrics once again.   But, if you have a look at some of the workshop versions of Super Strips that have been made over the years, you will see that this is a pattern that works in just about any fabrics you like.

Have fun with the pattern - and I would love to see any more Super Strips quilts that are made from the magazine instructions.

Blackpool Quilters and Tebay Services

On my way back to Kettins I stopped at Blackpool on Monday evening, for a talk at Blackpool Quilters (who meet, rather appropriately, at the Molyneux Community Centre).  I saw this leafy green Super Strips quilt, started at the workshop with Garstang Quilters in October 2011.  The red borders and binding set off the greens beautifully - they are very natural greens, so the quilt makes me think of the Green Man just a bit.

More greens on the drive back yesterday.  I stopped at Tebay services (Westmorland services) on the M6, the one with the farm shop.  Beautiful blue sky crisscrossed by vapour trails, perfect for a panorama.  Click the photo to see it full size.

North Somerset Quilters' Super Strips workshop

Today's workshop was Super Strips with North Somerset Quilters at Nailsea near Bristol.  Here's some of the patchwork they started.  We had a somewhat unexpected power cut at lunchtime, which meant we didn't get quite as far as usual, but everyone is well on their way - we could at least get some of the corner triangle strips cut out and ready :-) while we waited for the power to come back on.

There seemed to be several themes to the fabrics this time - really bold batiks -

 

Blocks of colour with lovely shading effects -

 

 

'Shabby chic' Moda Jelly Rolls were popular -

 

There were two Christmas fabric versions, the first one witha 2 1/2in strip roll and the one below that with 1 1/2in strips.  The first has quite a lot of metallic gold prints that aren't Christmas themed mixed in, but it works very well together - a good way to eke out Christmas fabrics in a project too, if you were cutting your own pieces from yardage.

 

This scrap strip version also uses 1 1/2in strips.  A big assortment of scraps definitely works best with the narrower strip width, like my original version of Super Strips.

 

This very stylish black, white & red combination is going to look great finished - very modern and fresh.

  

The workshop was combined with 'My Japanese Quilt Inspirations' talk last night.  Thanks for a fun day, and I look foward to seeing photos of the finished patchworks - and showing them off here of course!

Bridlington workshop roundup - Time & Time Again etc.

After a fairly long trip home last night, dodging the snowier roads, and a busy day at Quiltfest at Llangollen, here are the photos from yesterday's workshop at the Royal, Bridlington - Time and Time Again. It's another jelly roll workshop and some really interesting rolls were used, including a rather jolly new print selection with jungle motifs and brightly coloured camouflage patterns (above).


Tonga Treats 'Sugarplum' colourway (with a few extra fabrics), one I'm planning to use for a workshop sample too -


Lovely blues (not a jelly roll) - the effect of the wide stripe (on the right) is really interesting and shows another possibility for fabric use in these blocks.


It also looks gorgeous with Oakshott's fabrics -


A few more pieces were completed from the earlier workshops this week.


This Super Strips top was started at the workshop last April - almost finished now.

Super Strips at the Royal

This is the second time I've taught Super Strips at the Royal Hotel and we had a busy class today. Here are some of the results.

We had a couple of 'twins', where quilters used the same roll, but the results are always quite different. Here's Moda's 'Always and Forever' -


This Moda roll was used twice (sorry, didn't get the name of this one or a photo of the second quilt).

Pastels - rather French country style -


Very, very pastel jelly roll -


Two Bali Batik Pop patchworks were made (including the one at the top of this post) - different colourways -


Two Robert Kaufman batik rolls were combined for this strip collection. The outer borders will use the purples while the centre used all the brighter jewel colours.-


Two more Moda rolls -


A one and a half inch strip version -


More photos to follow, plus pix of the bags finished since last night.