Arkansas Crossroads Quilt - A Favorite

Choose your battles means to be selective of the problems and issues you get involved in.  Instead of fighting every problem, save your time for the things that matter - letting go of the rest. This is my motto for quilting.  I quilt for fun in my garage, not for profit or competition - which means I can choose my battle of what is important to me. 

Over the years what matters to me is a consistent size of a square or block ... even if it distorts the perfection of the pattern.  While not all quilt patterns allow for this type of manipulation, those that do are my favorites.  I want the overall look to be good and ease of assembly for overall enjoyment of my hobby. 

The block for this quilt is supposed to be 8.5" x 8.5" square.  I find it frustrating to have uneven edges, to tug and maybe have wavy rows when I assemble.  I like starched flat and square units to sew together. (I don't know if this wonkiness is the result of bad sewing or if I am just neurotic!) For this Arkansas Crossroads quilt pattern I trim everything to 8" x 8".  

I trim the edge units to 8" wide and also square up some inside bits for good measure. (pix below)

Now, all this trimming will alter the final design.  As you can see from the 'dreaded' red arrows below - my little triangle cap units do NOT extend to the edges of the squares below them. 

And I have no idea what I did a few years ago when I made some of these snowballed units - but they don't line up either. 

However ... this quilt is absolutely beautiful in it's entirety. 

A fun pattern that has only 2 blocks and can be made with charm packs or scraps if desired.

A soft shade of lilac minky and matching binding from Hawthorne Supply Co.  makes it 'meditation' ready for my friend's daughter.  

For more details, diagrams and links to other sources on how to make this quilt - my post from 2016 HERE is helpful. Remember though, I trim down everything which distorts perfection, and is NOT the correct/proper way according to official patterns. 

Artwork: xunantunich

Take my blog posts not as ultimate guidance but one point of view on how to make something.  Choose which battle you will fight when you quilt.  Move on from the aspects that tweak you - and enjoy the rest. 

Materials:

Good Fortune by Kate Spain

White Kona

Warm & White batting

Lilac minky and Lilac Candy Stripe from Hawthorne Supply Co.

Aurifil 50wt. thread #2024 (white) #2560 (lilac)

Size: 54" x 69"

November 2020

Diagonal 9 Patch Quilt in Good Fortune (#71)

Even on a cloudy day Good Fortune by Kate Spain is bright and brilliant. A simple pattern that works every time with all types of fabrics.

Here is how you make the blocks:

 Sew together 9 squares - mine were 5".  Cut on the diagonal from corner to corner. Mix up your 'triangles' so you have a variety of colors and then pick two.  Put them together with the large squares across from each other - (image 4.) Sew together and trim all the same size. 

If you like a particular fabric - place it where it will NOT be cut on the diagonal -   Image 3 above shows this the best. Each 'triangle' will always have a 'focus' square - use your prettiest fabric there.

Here are 4 blocks.  By being mindful when you do the layout - you can make a little diamond in the middle and larger diamonds (see BIG arrows!)

  

White dimple dot minky with Aurifil 50wt. thread Muslin (#2311) on the front and white (#2024) on the back. Quilted on the seams with a wavy stitch and new #14 needle.

For more about Kate Spain and her 2012 collection Good Fortune - here is a Designer Tidbits courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop.

Materials:

Good Fortune by Kate Spain / Moda

Binding:  Terrain by Kate Spain / Moda

Warm & White batting

Kona White

Dimple Dot minky - white 

Aurifil 50wt. thread

Size: 59" x 73"

February 2017

Good Fortune - Happy Weekender Quilt (#17)

Using Kate Spain's Good Fortune charm packs, this pattern is called Happy Weekender from the Moda Bake Shop.  The only change I made was to add 13 charms to the top & bottom rows for added color, instead of a solid white strip as the 'recipe' states. Total charm packs used: 3

Thanks go to Kim who created this easy & fun pattern - check out more of her beautiful creations at My Go Go Life.

Robert Kaufman's cozy cotton toile flannel for the back, (hard to find so I pieced every inch I could find) with a layer of muslin in the middle.

  Quilted with a larger stitch (#3) using Isacord #40 white thread.  Binding is Amy Butler's periwinkle solid. Accents are Kona white. 

Quilt size:  58" wide by 66" long.
January 2014

Good Fortune by Kate Spain (#15)

Using a 9 patch pattern from the Moda Bakeshop courtesy of Jera at Quilting in the Rain - I used Kate Spain's Good Fortune charm packs, Kona Ash and a dimple dot minky (some post it as silver - but it's light grey).

    14 blocks, trimmed to 12" square.  Sashing between blocks was cut either 4.5" or 1.5".  I used the center row as the longest row and cut everything else to fit (my years doing magazine paste up finally paid off!).

    I bought 2.5 yards of minky for the back to be sure and had a little left over.  Gutterman #102 sew all thread quilted the cotton top, muslin middle and minky back. Spray basting and pinning, the hardest part was straight line stitching since my walking foot only has a guide for the right - so the entire quilt had to go into the throat of the sewing machine - it was slippery and tight - but the end result was worth it.
October 2013    54" wide by 66" long.