Party in the quilt back!
The brilliant Andrea @3rdstoryworkshop kicked off a hashtag party on IG this week to celebrate the beautiful quilt backs that just don’t seem to get as much love as the tops. I love a good print to coordinate (or boldly contrast!) with my top, but my favorite thing to do if I have time and suitable scraps is piece the backing. In fact, this whole hullaballoo inspired me to piece together the scraps leftover from the front of the Tailfeather quilt I tested for my buddy Rachel @wren.collective:
That particular design lent itself really well to a scrappy improv back because of all the snowballing, and I paired it with some leftover yardage and loved that I was able to use up the big block of AGF print!
I often end up liking the back as much as the front, and always wonder why I can’t seem to capture the improv-iness intentionally. I think often of Sherri Lynn Wood’s advice for improv, which is to pick some kind of parameter to avoid analysis paralysis- when I only have the scraps to work with, it forces me to come up with some pretty creative things that I never would have thought of had I not had those constraints. I also think there’s a lot to be said for there being much less pressure for “perfection” or “aesthetic” or even “matching corners and points” on the back, and its easier to go with the flow and come up with a more organic design.
With all that said, I wanted to give some love to some of the pieced backs I’ve done- there’s too many to post on IG so they’re going up here! I love how each back feels like a fingerprint for the top.
Spring is in the Air (test for @shannonfraserdesigns)
Bayside (test for @suzyquilts)
Cuatro Cicadas (test for @psbquilts)
Spruce Woods (test for @theblanketstatement)
Mod Mountains (test for @suzyquilts)
Monarch Flight (test for @ohsewbrooke)
That last one is definitely the most wild one, but I love them all! And I super love reducing the amount of awkward scraps and leftover HSTs that seem to multiply when I’m not looking.
