Southwest Beadwork and NTT

Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I'm delighted to say that between watching Olympic events, I managed to finish up my latest stash quilt.  I used my Tinkering pattern (you can find it HERE), and it's amazing how a different color way gives the quilt an entirely different feel.  

When I look at this quilt, all I can see are the rich, earthy colors of southwestern bead jewelry.  When we traveled the Southwestern US a few years ago on vacation, I took note of the rich terracotta, tan, and dark yellow color palette that was seemingly everywhere, and quite often, navy and/or turquoise are added to the mix.  And the pattern itself reminds me a lot of woven beads, which are such a distinct style of that region.

I used up all of the leftovers on the back, of course!  For this one, I had several pieces that were already a certain width, so I just cut all of my leftover strips to that consistent width for this easy back.  This quilt back is called Cool Columns in my book (Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs).

Y'all know that pieced quilt backs are my jam, and I've gotten pretty good at estimating the total amount of fabric I'll need for BOTH the front and back when I'm pulling fabric for a new quilt.  If you're wondering how I do that, here's my rule of thumb-  

Take a look at the amount of fabric needed for the front of the quilt and double it!  It's that simple.  In this case, the Tinkering pattern requires 25 fat quarters for the top, or 6.25 yards.  So, I know that I need about that same amount of fabric for the back, which is a total of 12.5 yards for the whole quilt (plus binding).  

There are a few ways to accomplish this-

Double the number of prints for the front.  In this case I could have used 50 total fat quarters, and then, instead of cutting four blocks from each print, just cut two, leaving a chunk of each print for the back.

Use the same number of fabrics for the front, but use larger cuts.  Instead of 25 fat quarters, I could have used 25 half yards.  That would have allowed a fat quarter for the front, and another fat quarter for the back.

Use a mix of cuts and make it work!  Since I am pulling from stash, this is what I do most of the time.  For this quilt, I used 33 different prints (it's what I had!), and they were a mix of fat quarters, half yards, 1/3 yards, etc., and I just estimated my total yardage to get it right.  The pattern uses 100 blocks, so with this number of prints, I cut three total blocks from each fabric for a total of 99 blocks, and then one extra block from one of my larger cuts.

If you have a large cut of a certain fabric, you may even want to set it aside and plan to use it for your binding.

For me, it's much easier to think of the back of the quilt from the very beginning.  And, it's not too difficult!  This way, I hardly ever have to buy lots of yardage to finish a quilt, nor do I have to worry that I might not find the perfect fabric for the back.

Since I make quilts this way all the time, I rarely ever purchase more than a half yard of a single fabric, unless it's a neutral background I know I will use regularly, like solid white.  I like to be able to use a fabric on the front and back of the quilt, add a few small pieces to my scrap jars, and then it's gone.

This method is how I have accomplished all the stash busting I showed off in my last post.  But don't you worry, my friends.  When I have quilted through as much of my fabric as I can, I'll have lots of fun shopping for more.

A quick finish was in order for this quilt, so I got it done with an easy stipple.  

And I had plenty of solid Kona Navy for the binding.  I think the navy binding sets off the pattern so nicely, and even if I were purchasing binding fabric especially for this quilt, it's what I would have chosen anyway.  Love it when things work out like that.

Okay friends!  It's time to check out all the eye-candy from last week!  These sweet hexies are from Gretchen's Little Corner-

Kat at Scrapbook Quilts shared this sunny study in yellow-

This beauty is from Sew Preeti Quilts-

And finally, Sally at Crafts, Cavies, and Cooking linked up this gorgeous quilt. So much amazing texture!

Okay friends!  You know what to do!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)