The Notes to Self pattern is available in my shop and at Quilt Pattern Mart.
I made the original Notes to Self quilt last fall for the QuiltCon Together fabric challenge. I always planned to turn it into a pattern, but it sat on my back burner all through the beginning of this year. But no more! I’m so happy to share this larger version and release the full pattern on Monday, August 30.
I will be back on Monday sharing all the details about the pattern, but today I wanted to share this specific version of the quilt for this month’s Aurifil Artisan challenge. I’m happy to be participating in the Artisan program for a second year, and this month’s theme — foundation paper piecing — was the perfect fit for Notes to Self!
For this version of the quilt, I used a selection of Century Solids by Andover Fabrics. This is the first time I’ve worked with these solids, and they definitely have their own personality. The fabric is tightly woven and noticeably lighter weight than the popular Kona Cotton I often use. The thinner material and crisp hand worked very well for foundation paper piecing! It pressed well, and felt less bulky than other materials.
I have done quite a bit of paper piecing over the years, and nearly always use Aurifil’s 50 wt thread. 80 wt seems to be growing in popularity for FPP, and I can see how it might be a better option if there are very tiny pieces. But for these relatively simple blocks, I prefer the comfort and strength of the 50 wt!
Since I used a light color — Cream — for the background, I was concerned about being able to see the seams and colored fabrics through the top. Because of that, I took the time to grade any FPP seam where the color + cream fabric met. I also used 80/20 cotton/poly blend from Hobbs Batting, which is similar in color to the cream fabric. Happily, there were no see-through issues!
I quilted this on on my longarm with the same Aurifil 50 wt that I used for piecing. I am still working on my longarming skills, and learned a few lessons about how to keep the quilt top straight and keep my stitching lines evenly spaced each time I advanced the quilt on the frame. I’m happy with the result!
The stats:
- Quilt measures 56″ x 64″.
- Top fabrics are Century Solids from Andover Fabrics in Peach, Coral Sunset, Guava Punch, Strawberry, Sunshine, Saffron, Chambray Blue, Denim, and Cream.
- Backing is Widescreen by Carolyn Friedlander.
- Binding is Century Solids in Denim.
- Quilted on my longarm with Aurifil 50 wt thread in #2310 (Light Beige).
I can see so many fun possibilities for this design. Quilting in special “notes” for recipients is high on my mental list. 🙂
I am always curious about different solids and how they behave. I do love Kona (because all the colors) but don’t love how they can fray and be really thick. I never nailed advancing to the same width for horizontal lines with my longarm and opted for organic (and tight) spacing when I used it. And I always love a good behind the scenes photo – love the magnets holding up the backdrop but is that batting because now I’m curious how the quilt was attached!!
The magnets are holding up a flannel sheet, and believe it or not the quilt stuck to the sheet! I was expecting to need tape or pins, but somehow it stuck. Interestingly, I have another quilt that I also took photos of this same day, and even though it was smaller and lighter weight, it would NOT stick to the flannel sheet and I had to tape it. So backing fabric seems to make a difference! Notes to Self has a Kaufman/Carolyn Friedlander print on the back, and the other quilt had a more “slippery”-feeling fabric.
I love “Notes to self”, how can i get the pattern?
It is in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/sarahruizquilts/