Modern Maples

It's finished! 

I'm pretty sure that I haven't been this excited about a quilt since I completed my Chicopee Herringbone one earlier this year. 

I know you've heard it before, but I absolutely adore Autumn. Far and away my favorite time of year, so when I saw a few of these Modern Maples quilts popping up last year I knew that I had to make one. I was a tiny bit busy last fall, what with a newborn and trying to move houses in the middle of harvest and all that, so it got pushed to the side. Then my friend Debbie had everyone in That Stash Bee make these blocks for her month. That was just the kick I needed to start my own version. 

 

I had so much fun choosing fabrics for this. I was a little worried at first that the reds would be too vibrant for the other prints, but I think it all worked out. I also went back and forth on the background, very indecisive on using a mixture of low-volumes or just one. Actually, you can't really even call this low-volume. It's quieter than that. Mixed neutrals would be more appropriate, I think. 

Honestly, the entire process of making this quilt was full of indecision. I spent so much time rearranging the blocks once they were made that I nearly went cross-eyed. I was fairly sure that I wanted to do random not-so-straight lines for the quilting, but even that was questioned after a few lines of stitching. After seeing some really cool projects with variegated thread, I thought that I might as well try it on here, too. I used a thread that was mostly creams, browns, and golds. When Wyatt saw it he thought it was pretty cool that I was using camouflage thread!

 

For the backing, I used these two Farmyard prints and another floral that was a nice rusty color. I'm so glad that I finally found a use for these prints. I really like them, but they aren't exactly ones that go well with much else! The binding was an easy choice, since I already had it made. I was going to use it for my Gathered Geese  quilt back in January, but it was too busy so I put it away. It was so nice to get to that point and already have the binding ready!

I think my favorite part of the quilt is the addition of little leaves. I really like all the negative space in the original version, but I knew I wanted a few of these little guys thrown in. I just made some 6" and 9" versions of the block and framed them with more neutrals to get them up to 12".

The Modern Maples tutorial by Amanda of hey porkchop can be found here. I absolutely love her version! And if you want to see more Modern Maple quilts, Deb has set up a Flickr gallery and even a Flickr group for a laid-back sew along. You should definitely check them out!