Jacob's Ladder Series-Drawing #4

     The next thing I wanted to try, was to add a third color. You can see that I just played around with putting a navy accent in a couple of places. The blocks in this drawing are the same size as the blocks in the last drawing. There are 12" A and B blocks, and 14" Bear Paw blocks.

To learn more about this series read this

Jacob's Ladder Series-Drawing #3

     When I see this drawing, I am reminded that when I was started on working with these drawing, I was asked for a custom quilt in 2 solid colors.Naturally, my mind immediately went to this Jacob's Ladder quilt. Again, I am using 12" A blocks and B blocks in the Jacob's Ladder sections, and 14" Bear Paw blocks. My customer was very interested in the Bear Paw block, so I did a bit of experimenting with combining the two blocks in a composition. 

To learn more about this series read this

     Jacob's Ladder is a nine patch, and Bear Paw is based on more of a seven patch layout, so they don't fit together very smoothly, mathematically, but you know I had to give it a try anyway.

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New Year. New Projects

     So What have I been doing with the first part of the year? The main thing I have been doing is not so photogenic I am afraid. I have been spending a lot of time on working and trying to learn how to do new things on the computer. 

     For instance, learning how to watermark and upload drawings for the Jacob's Ladder series I started earlier this week. I ordered some fabric for a quilt back, some sashing,  and a retreat door prize. Can't wait for retreat! I uploaded the new EQ version, and need to spend some time further familiarizing myself with it. There are a couple of things I want to arrange on the blog, social media buttons, etc. I have several patterns that need writing. It's enough to make me wonder if I will ever see my beloved sewing machine again!

     One thing I have been meaning to do for a long time is add photos of work from classes to the Class and My Designs Made by Others boards on my Pintrest site. I am always taking photos in classes I teach, and asking people to send me photos of their finished work, but I fear I am shamefully slow in getting them posted. Often, because I am not proficient at all when it comes to learning how to do these things, and once I learn, it changes! I hope I am not sounding whiny, and that I am not the only one who struggles with these things. The other bloggers make it all look so easy, don't they?

     The bottom line is that if you would like to see some class work, or finished quilts made with my Southern Winter Pattern, Let's Polka, and A Maze Zing patterns, there is plenty of new photos posted. Here are two of my favorites from the Let's Polka class I have been meaning to post for ages.

     This is Angie. She took my Let's Polka class at A Scarlet Thread in McDonough, GA. I thought she was so brave to use all hand dyed effect solids, but look how beautiful her quilt came out! She was so creative in the way she arranged the blocks to make bigger blocks! I see more cool relationships on this quilt every time I look at it.

     Speaking of creative block placement, look what Debbie did with her layout! It is so cool to see others take these blocks and do things I never thought of with them! Debbie took this class with The Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild in Franklin NC.

     When I do get near my sewing machine, I have been working on sewing these blocks together.

     This is the quilt that I bought the back fabric for.

     I couldn't resist playing around and doing some auditioning with a new quilt idea. This is the same block as the above quilt, just with sashing and the colors arranged differently. I wanted to decide which color I wanted to make my inner sashing before I made that online order, so I could get that on the same shipment. I decided on the red on the lower right hand block. I think this is going to be my next "project status" quilt.

     So that is what I have been up to. I hope you are starting out the new year with some fun and exciting projects too. 

     Stay tuned to this space. Tomorrow there will be another Jacob's Ladder Series drawing planned.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jacob's Ladder Series-Drawing #2

     So I will start out slowly, since that is the way I did in real life.

     The original motivation to embark on this journey came from a wedding quilt I needed to make. I had always loved the quilt I showed in the first post of this series, and I thought this wedding gift was a good opportunity give this block a try. That way, If I didn't manage to come up with something very original, it didn't really matter, I still had a wedding gift. Back then, I had no idea where this was going to lead me, because I had very few ideas of how to make this block my own. 

     The bride's mother told me that the bedroom was to be turquoise, brown, and beige. The first thing I wanted to try was adding third color to this 2 color composition. The most obvious way to try that was to choose a motif in the quilt, and make it a third color. Don' ask why I started working with red and blue. It must have been laziness, and the original quilt was red and white. So this is where I started.

      This quilt uses A and B 12" blocks alternating, like the original quilt did. The quilt measures 84" by 96". I think its fascinating how it kind of looks like this quilt is set on point, but it really isn't.

     I am planning to post drawing at least once or twice a week, and gather them under a tab under the blog header so they will be easy to reference.

     I hope this will inspire you to try and see what you can do with this block. I would love to see what you come up with!
       

Jacobs Ladder Series-Original Drawing

This is a series I have wanted to start for a long time. 

It all started when I saw a photo of this quilt.

Underground Railroad
c. 1870 USA 90x90
Museum Quilts Gallery, London, England

      Here is the cover of the book it came from.

     Ljiljanna Baird writes that: 
     The resonance of the bitter debate on slavery is felt in the naming of this quilt. The "Underground Railroad" was an organization of individuals who helped spirit black fugitives to the safety of the North. It's pre-Civil War name was Jacob's Ladder, and in other parts of America it is variously known as Stepping Stones, The Tale of Benjamin's Kite, Trail of the Covered Wagon, and Wagon Tracks. 

     This two-color quilt is a rather simple nine-patch construction of thirty-six blocks. However, the finished appearance is one of considerable complexity.The overwhelmingly strong diagonal thrust dominates it's square construction and requires the viewers concentration to "see" the nine-patch block.

     I was fascinated with the simple graphic beauty of this quilt, but anyone who has seem my quilts would never believe that I would have the self control to make a quilt a  with only 2 solid colors. I began to play with what I could do with this block in EQ. I ended up with over 200 drawings, more quilts that I will ever be able to make, given of course that not only is that an awful lot of quilts, but I do have interests in other design ideas as well. So I thought it would be fun to share some of the drawings with you. I hope this will inspire you to see what you can do with this block and with other basic traditional blocks. I hope you will share with me, and the rest of us, what you come up with.

     This is the first drawing, of the original quilt.  

     Notice, this layout has an A block and a B block and that they are oriented in different directions. These are elements that we can play with to make different designs.

     This quilt measures 84" by 96" and is made from 12" blocks. 

I plan to post 2 of these drawings each week. I hope this will inspire you to see what you can do with this very versatile block. I would love to see what you come up with! You can send photos to candacequilter@hotmail.com



     Let me know what you think! 

A Block

B Block

Happy New Year!!!

      I hope you all are ready to start a bright, shiny new year! I know I am looking forward to new challenges and lots of new quilts!

      When I look back on 2017, it looks like I didn't finish many large quilts, but I have a few that I spent a bunch of time on last year that are are nearly finished.

     Here is one I did finish completely in 2017 for an Etsy customer.

      I got all of the blocks for this remake done and ready to sew together:

     I did get this one all pieced and sent to Regina, my quilter.

      I am very excited about a new thing I am planning to add to this blog this week. I have been wanting to do it for ages. When I designed another Jacobs Ladder quilt a few years back, I became obsessed with all the different ways you could change the color, and twist the blocks around. So Much so that I ended up with well over 200 EQ drawings! You and I both know I will never, ever make all of those quilts, so I thought it might be fun to start posting some of those drawings up on this blog. Hopefully, it will inspire some of you to play with and share what can be done with this traditional, and extremely versatile block. 

     I love that the units are so simple! Just 4 patches, and half square triangles. Many steps are easily portable, for those times when you are sewing at a friends house, and some you can even do without bringing your sewing machine! 

     So that is how my 2018 is starting out. Hope yours is off to a lovely start. All the best to you in 2018!

Whew! It's Been a Busy Summer!

     Goodness me! I feel so very fortunate. I have had such a fun and busy summer that I don't even know where to start!

     This past month I have been working on a custom quilt order that I got through Etsy. My client wanted the pattern of this quilt:

Galapagos

     With the palette from this quilt:

Sand and Sea Glass

 
      It sounded easy, but when I went to buy fabrics, I realized that there are places for 17 fabrics in the Galapagos quilt and, I don't know how many colors in the Sand and Sea Glass quilt, so it was a bit of a challenge to get all of the colors represented.

     This is the gradation that I ended up with----> 








     So, now the quilt top is pieced and ready to go to Regina to be quilted.

     I have this quilt hanging in landscape orientation, because that is how it will hang on the wall of her new home.

     In addition to that I had a wonderful time at my booth at The Yellow River Jam, which is a festival that happens every October in my lovely town of Porterdale. It involves kayak paddling on the river in the morning, followed by an afternoon of live music, food, and artists booths in the park beside the river. So Much fun! My dear friends Mary Beth and Eleanor joined me for the weekend with Mary Beth's pottery,  and we had so much fun!

     In September, I went to spend some time with Baltimore Heritage Quilters Guild. I did a trunk show there, plus I taught an A Maze Zing class. It is so much fun to see all of the color variations they came up with! 

       I had such a lovely time with this group of ladies!


     BTW: I will freely admit that I am not the most tech savvy blogger around. When it comes to technology, it seems like I am always struggling and bungling. I just started an Instagram account. I am excited about this because it means that in future I can post class photos to that account directly from my phone on the same day as the class, instead of waiting until I get around to uploading photos to my computer. Maybe now it will not take me a month and a half or more to post photos from my classes. Hope springs eternal anyway! Now, if only I can get my Instagram account to add my posts to my Quilt Designs by Candace page, instead of my personal Candace Hassen page.... one day.....


     So that is what I have been up to lately, I hope your summer has been fun filled and productive. Thanks for stopping by! Linking to Oh Scrap! and Main Crush Monday