Kaffe Fassett squares: How it started – and how it’s going.

This latest project of mine began with a tempting charm pack and no real plan, but a lot of hope! Here’s how my Kaffe Fassett squares quilt project started – and where it is now.

Fabric bundles have always tempted me because they save me a lot of selecting and buying time. When I go to a fabric shop, it is easier to pick up a bundle of fat quarters, for example, than it is to pull the fabric I would like, then have the salesperson make the cuts.

A bundle will also relieve me of the decision on how much to buy. Bundles are great that way, too!

I’ve rarely bought charm packs or layer cakes though, and when I have, I’ve struggled to use them. I haven’t wanted to cut them up, nor have I figured how to use them whole. Until the recent purchase of a Kaffe Fassett charm pack.

I came up with an idea of sorts for using the squares as they are, in scrappy blocks. And because all my fabrics and scraps are prewashed (because the not prewashed fabrics irritate my skin), I gave the squares a bath, rinsed them and pressed them dry.

After their bath, they were no longer squares though! This was a surprise, but it did not hold me back. Scraps tend to be of different sizes anyway.

Here’s how I have designed this quilt so far – and if you want to know more about my design processes, I’ve described them in an earlier post.

My block idea was based on complementing the charm squares with some of these relatively solid-coloured fabrics (another recent purchase from the lovely Tilkkunen shop in Helsinki):

Test block: always a good idea

This was my test block.

For the test block, I used

• a Kaffe Fassett fabric square cut from my stash
• strips in one of the solid fabrics, cut 3/4" wide
• scrappy 1,5” squares. 

The test block made me decide that I would use

• scraps of various sizes instead of 1,5” squares
• strips cut 7/8” wide instead (a weird measurement, but worked better)

Building the blocks

Next, I auditioned the best matching strip fabrics for the colourful squares (which were no longer quite square, but I’ll call them squares from now on because it’s easier).

These were the first squares with scrappy strips added on two sides.

And this image makes it clearer why the strips are attached only on two sides at this point.

While I was sewing my blocks, I noticed one thing: I’m running out of fun, usable scraps! (This is not visible to the untrained eye, but I’ve rummaged through my scrap boxes so many times that I do know.)

I’ve made many scrappy quilts lately without cutting into other yardage than neutrals, and this means very few fresh additions to my scrap supply. I will need to start using more yardage to generate new, fun scraps my projects!

Trimming and piecing

I trimmed the final blocks into different sizes – and not all squares because:

• the Kaffe Fassett fabric squares weren’t squares
• I did not watch which sides the scrappy strips were on
• the scrappy strips were of various widths
• I’m thrifty and wanted to trim each block into as large a size as I possibly could.

The 7,5” tall blocks were in majority, so I created a squarish design out of them. Here the blocks wait to be sewn into rows. (The leftover blocks are wondering what will happen to them.)

This was the design before attaching the rows and completing this piece. This will be a part of the finished quilt.

Ta-dah! Here’s the completed scrappy piece. It makes me think of Modest Mussorgsky’s piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition,” which Emerson, Lake and Palmer adapted and recorded as well.

What's next?

My vague idea is to surround this piece with an ombré “background” which starts very dark in the lower left corner and becomes gradually lighter towards the upper right. And for some reason, the surrounding colour is blue.

I was wondering if I could find enough suitable blues in my stash – or if I would “have to” visit the lovely fabric store Tilkkunen again. I quite believed that this would have to happen, but I was wrong. This is a black-and-white depiction of the upcoming ombré:

And here’s proof that the fabrics are indeed of various shades of blue.

No fabric shopping required — how disappointing!

Instead, I’ll start sewing the surroundings for the centerpiece. It will be interesting to see whether this idea works in real life and not only in my imagination. More soon!