Ah! I’ve finally finished the second scrap-based quilt that I wanted to make! I’m calling this one “A Little Biased” for two reasons. 1) A lot of the strips I used were a little bit on the bias and 2) the whole thing reminds me of a graph, and so I think it’s funny to imply that the data for the graph is a little biased. I managed to sneak some geeky science into this quilt!

If you’ll remember, many moons ago, I made the Greek To Me quilt to sell on my web site.

I also made a throw-sized version for the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.

In the process of making these quilts, I ended up with little strips from trimming up the blocks. I thought these bits were really interesting so I saved them, and while cleaning out my stuff in November, I realized that now was the time to do something with them.

And this is what I came up with!

(Oh! The light around here this time of year is SO terrible for taking quilt pictures!!!)

I really liked the idea of lining them up with the blue bits all facing one way and the lighter green (olive, I think is the color) bits facing the other way. They reminded me of those graphs where zero is in the center and the negative values are represented by bars that extend to the left and the positive values are represented by bars in a different color that extend to the right.

So, I lined up the centers (sort of) and sewed them together. I had a bunch that were too narrow to use — after taking out the seam allowances there wasn’t anything left — or that weren’t wide enough. The center section is only about 9-10″ wide in the final version.

I pieced together the center section and then looked at it for a long time. I considered making it into pillows or a long table-runner sort of thing, but I wouldn’t use a table runner and I didn’t want to have another thing just to hang on the wall. And I’d been thinking about making another nap-sized quilt. They use this size in The Modern Quilt Workshop book, and it’s really a nice size. The Real McCoy quilt is a nap-sized quilt (though it’s only 77″ long).

I scrounged around in my stash and found enough fabrics to make this about 51″ wide by 90″ long. I was super excited to use that much stuff from my stash AND get the nap-sized quilt made!

I considered doing a narrow border around the center section, but I tried lots of colors I had and just couldn’t find anything that worked for me.

And since the center section was inspired by a graph, but is done in a wonky sort of style, I opted for quilting that is inspired by graph paper, but in a wonky sort of style as well.

The back is a bunch of pieces of Kona cotton aloe that I had, all stitched together (it’s a little greener than the bahama blue on the front, though it’s hard to tell in this photo).

I really love this quilt, but I think we are now pretty full up for quilts at my house. However, I’ve dug out some more IKEA fabrics that I’ve had forever and I’m planning to work up some charity quilts when I need something to do!

I hung the mini quilts I had lying around together on the walls in the spare room where I sew. The Zen’s Won’t Mind quilt was already hanging on the wall in there, as was that awesome Sound of Music album cover, but I shifted things around and made more room so I could add my new Bits and Pieces quilt, the Ducks in a Row quilt, and the A Little Lute quilt, all of which were hand quilted, as it turns out!

I’m so happy these all now have a home instead of being tossed from one surface to another all the time!

We decided to hang some of my small quilts on the wall. I was getting tired of shifting them from one surface to another!

I love this pair — The Alley, versions I (on the left) and II (on the right). We decided to hang them in the living room over the sofa.

You can read more about these quilts here.

And just so you don’t think my living room really looks this spare and cool…

I am showcasing the four throw quilts that I currently have for sale at significantly reduced prices. I thought you might be interested in knowing a little bit more about the designs and how they came to be. All four quilts can be viewed on the Quilts For Sale page.

The Greek To Me Quilt

The design of this quilt harkens back to the traditional Greek Cross pattern, but uses a modern and striking combination of colors that is one of Amy’s favorites. The light-hearted irregularity of the crosses and contrast of colors make for an eye-popping and unconventional quilt.

This throw quilt measures 57 inches x 57 inches.

Price: $390

Greek To Me Throw Quilt

The initial idea came to me in early September 2009 while I was flipping through an old book of my father’s that has pages and pages of quilt blocks. I was thinking about traditional quilt designs and how they could be adopted into my looser style of piecing. I was sketching out a bunch of possibilities when I came upon a design labeled “Greek Cross.” Basically, it was design #125 below (this is my 5,500 Quilt Block Designs book that I acquired later and LOVE!).

In my sketches I basically removed the corner triangles and stretched the center cross so that it reached to the edges. For my initial design testing I went straight to some cheap fabrics that I had a bunch of that were in two different values. I started by making up a few blocks in this general style. Here are four of these blocks, set right next to each other.

And here they are spread apart to simulate sashing.

I definitely favored the sashing from an early stage. Then I worked up several more blocks, testing out the details for the block making as I went and refining just exactly what sizes and shapes the strips of fabric would be and what orientations worked best. And when I had nine of these blocks I sewed them together with sashing to see what they were really going to look like.

While a number of these blocks didn’t fit my final specifications, I declared the overall effect good and moved on to choosing the exact colors of fabric I wanted to use. I selected some colors I thought were interesting and threw them up on my design wall for a look. As usual, I stepped back to have a look and shot some photos to get even more distance on my subject.

Two of the three final colors I chose are in this photo. And I did a value comparison as well. Look how the blue pops off that dark green!

In the end, I chose the dark green color (the larger piece to the left of the orange) and the blue, as well as a second green in a medium value.

Then I moved on to testing the blocks with the actual fabrics. I initially considered both the dark green (on the left) and lighter green (on the right) for the backgrounds, and used the blue for the cross on each of them. Then I added in the third color on one arm of the cross to see how that would look. This, of course, is how it looked in black and white.

Eventually I decided that I liked the dark green background with a combination of the light green and blue for the crosses. I now had some design guidelines and a color plan, and finished up sewing the queen-sized version. The throw quilt was then created using the same design plan as for the larger quilt.

I opted for a dark green thread for the quilting that would blend with the background color, and I decided the only good choice for the binding was the dark green, because it would tie in the quilting thread color on the back of the quilt, which is Kona Cotton candy green, a color not found elsewhere on the quilt.

Here is the throw quilt, hanging at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.

General Info

Amy a la Mode Quilts

Groovy yet classy, Amy a la Mode quilts are the antidote to the same old mass-produced quilts and blankets you’ve been buying for years. Each Amy a la Mode quilt is based on a particular design, but because of the free-form, improvisational manner in which I work, each quilt is a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art. Amy a la Mode couture quilts are hand made, one at a time. We put the same quality care and craftsmanship into making quilts for you that we put into making quilts for our families.

All Amy a la Mode couture quilts are constructed from high-quality pre-washed fabrics and pieced by machine. Amy a la Mode quilts are professionally machine quilted with a modern long-arm quilting machine, a durable and high-quality alternative to hand quilting. The quilting design of stacked ovals was created by Amy for her custom use. Amy believes no quilt is properly finished until the binding has been stitched into place by hand.

How to Purchase

If you would like to purchase a quilt or are interested in additional photos of any of these quilts, please contact me at the e-mail address listed near the top of this page. If the quilt will be shipped to a location within the state of California, you will be charged California state sales tax on the purchase. Payments can be made via Paypal, after which arrangements for shipping your quilt will be made. There is no extra charge for shipping via standard methods (insurance or expedited shipping are extra).

Returns

Amy a la Mode couture quilts are not returnable. All purchases are final.

Quilt Care

Amy a la Mode quilts are made by hand and designed to be used on your beds. However, like any textile, they are susceptible to wear and fading if not treated kindly. Treat your Amy a la Mode quilt as you would any treasured textile. Please avoid direct sunlight, as this may fade colors over time. Do not store quilts in plastic bags.

Air out quilts to freshen them up between cleanings. For light cleaning of surface dirt, vacuuming may be sufficient. Washing should be kept to a minimum, as it has the potential to increase wear of the fibers. If your quilt requires washing, we recommend that you wash it in cold water with a gentle fragrance-free and dye-free quilt soap, either by hand or in the gentle cycle of a washing machine. Only gentle agitation should be used. Be sure the quilt is rinsed well. Handle wet quilts carefully when lifting from tub or washer, since wet fibers are more vulnerable to stress.

Dry briefly on a low setting in your dryer, and then lie flat on towels to complete drying. A fan may be helpful for circulating air and speeding drying. Do not hang or wring wet quilts. Amy a la Mode quilts are constructed with pre-washed fabrics, but fading or bleeding could still occur during washing.

Dry cleaning is not recommended.