The AQS Quilt 2018 project for April is Traditional Bed Quilts!
At the beginning of the year, you made a list of all the quilt making techniques you’d like to try in 2018 and put them in a jar. Then, you chose your own personal color of the year. You are ready!
If you missed last month’s project, check it out. We created Medallion quilts.
Our style for this month is Traditional Bed Quilts.
Traditional quilts often reflect the quilts of the past, before the 1970 quilt revival. Typically a traditional quilt has blocks, often many of the same block, repeated in rows set apart with sashing. The quilt may be framed with a border. Two block quilts along with samplers and applique off-setting blocks add to the flavor of traditional quilts.
To help narrow our focus, we’ve added Bed Quilt to our Traditional style to help define the type of quilt to make for this challenge. A Bed Quilt is one that is used on a bed as a cover for warmth. It is often used daily and washed regularly so it may lack delicate details or fragile embellishments.
BARGAIN BASKET BOUQUETS by Barb Heetland , a semi-finalist at AQS QuiltWeek – Spring Paducah 2018
104″ x 104″
Barb’s quilt is a lovely example of an traditional quilt set on-point.
BELLE VENTESIMO by Christy Stephenson and quilted by Jo Kuchera, a semi-finalist at AQS QuiltWeek – Spring Paducah 2018
77″ x 80″
This quilt plays on the traditional Double Wedding Ring block. This pattern, Wedding Star by Judy Niemeyer sucessfully creates the traditional secondary design for which Wedding Ring quilts are famous.
So this gives you a couple ideas, but generally, traditional quilts are something we are all very familiar with and often curl up under our favorite one every night!
Draw your technique from your jar, think about clever ways to play with your color of the year, and start creating.
Next week we will offer you a project you can give a try or use as inspiration.
Give us a shout in the comments below letting us know your technique of choice or share with us on our Facebook group AQS Project Parade.
Let’s get started!
Like minds… Just yesterday I was inspired by a fabric I found to design and create a new quilt for my own bed. When I showed my husband the gorgeous fabrics I’d bought for this new quilt, he commented, “What’s wrong with our current bed quilt?” (also made by me a few years ago). I reminded him that nothing lasts forever and I’m just getting a jump start on a replacement when the time comes. 😉 But truthfully, I think it will be wonderful to be able to change these two quilts out seasonally when this next one is complete. It will be pieced using, in part, a technique I’ve been wanting to try for years… creating a braid. Like the ones above, it won’t have delicate details or fragile embellishments. Rather, it will be utilitarian… but beautiful, too.