Quilt Showcase: Using up the Orphans

Once a month, we will try to showcase a quilt from one of our MPS members.  Whether we’ve been quilting for decades or are just beginning our quilting journey, we are a talented bunch; and we inspire each other regularly with the many wonderful quilts that are created.  So it seems fitting that we showcase a quilt in hopes it will inspire others.  (You can click on any of the images to see a larger view.)

The Bride of Frankenstein

Every quilter knows this scenario.

You take a class, make a block, learn a new technique, and head home feeling accomplished. Then reality sets in: you’re probably never going to make an entire quilt from that one class block. But after all the effort that went into it, tossing it into the scrap bin feels downright wrong.

So what happens to those orphan blocks?

For Judy, the answer eventually became The Bride of Frankenstein.

Judy is a longtime fan of The Quilter’s Affair in Sisters, Oregon. Held during the week leading up to the famous Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show each July, The Quilter’s Affair attracts quilters from all over who come to learn from some of the biggest names in quilting. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in creativity, pick up new techniques, and maybe even spend time with a few quilty celebrities.

Over the years, Judy has taken several classes from Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. Karla is known for designing interesting, imaginative blocks and creating striking quilts from them. While Judy knew she wasn’t likely to make an entire quilt from the class projects, she was eager to learn the techniques behind the designs.

By the end of those classes, Judy had accumulated quite a collection: a playful circle, a slightly wonky box, a winding pathway block, and even a swoop of flying geese that she improvised and drafted herself during class. Each block represented a lesson learned, but together they posed a question:

“What on earth am I going to do with these?”

As often happens in quilting, the answer arrived when those forgotten blocks resurfaced from a pile and demanded attention.

Using her improvisational skills, Judy found a way to bring all the seemingly unrelated pieces together into a delightful wall hanging measuring 28″ x 32″. She even used leftover class scraps to piece the backing, making this a true “nothing wasted” project. To finish it off, she added her own free-motion quilting.

And then came the perfect name.

The Bride of Frankenstein.

Really, what else could you call a quilt assembled from unrelated parts that somehow come together into a cohesive and charming creation? Just like the famous movie character, this quilt is a collection of mismatched pieces brought to life in a whole new way. The result is uniquely Judy, and a wonderful reminder that those class blocks tucked away in drawers and bins may just be waiting for their own second chance.

Well done, Judy!