Two More Confusion Quilts

I've received a LOT of comments, and E-Mail about the previous posting, "Out in Left Field," so I thought I would put up two similar projects. I was on a roll with these clever quilts.

This red/white/blue is one more of my "Confusion Quilts," a Maple Island pattern, designed by Debbie Bowles. If you are looking for this, ask for "Confusion Quilts" - that is the official name. This started with purchase of patriotic fabrics - I hadn't the foggiest idea of what it would look like, and I was amazed to see it ended up looking like a flag! I used many of the red leftovers, where the red ran over into the border, and I used the blue leftovers where blue ran in the border. The photo isn't great.

And, this was the first "Confusion Quilt" I tried .. the color choice was meant to 'go' with terra cotta floor tile. The setting ended up looking like floral rosettes. My mother was so pleased she entered it in the local art show. Thanks Mom!

All non-quilters are amazed at "how did you sew all those teeny pieces together in the border?" Quilters know the secret.

My favorite part of each quilt is the border. Each quilt finishes to a large nap size.

Out in Left Field, and Earthy Stars DONE!

Out in Left Field
This quilt is from a pattern where you make the blocks oversized, then chop them to size – this procedure definitely appealed to me - so much so, that I made 3 others within several months, and then gave a workshop for our quilt guild. For whatever reason, this one reminds me of a baseball field, hence the name.

The blocks are oversized, then trimmed wonky, with a 6 ½ inch square ruler. Everything that is trimmed off is later put back together on a separate border, which is machine quilted heavily, and THEN sewn back onto the quilt. I LOVE all the various shapes that show up in the border - there is no predicting what the quilt will look like, until it’s done! My kind of quilt! I LOVE the surprise aspect.

This is a “Confusion Quilt,” by Debbie Bowles, of Maple Island Quilts. The first time I saw her on Simply Quilts, I ordered the pattern the same day - her example electrified me with enthusiasm. When it came to choosing fabric, I had to trust her judgment with lights, mediums, and darks because I absolutely could NOT imagine the end product. While it was not technically a ‘mystery’ quilt, the end was going to be a mystery! What fun this was!


Earthy Stars DONE!
I showed this some time ago, as a WIP, and it doesn’t look a whole lot different, except that it’s done! Those double rows of HST were not easy, since they had to line up exactly across from each other. I had visions of hand quilting this project, but my time ran out, and it’s a gift for someone who will not know hand quilting from machine quilting, so... machine quilting it is! I might still make another one, hand quilted, for me ... oh yeah, I already have over 50 others in the house, for me ...

I am still having problems figuring out how to modify borders such as this (the plain light border), when the last row MUST be a definite size. Something about measuring the width of the quilt (finished or unfinished?), divide by 2, and then my eyes glaze over. I’ve only been quilting 25 years, you would think I could soak that solution into my brain. Note my ‘creative’ center in each HST on the 2 borders – another one of those ‘I shoulda planned better’ moments.