New Quilt: Tumbling Blocks

 I have previously made a couple of 3D quilts using quilted triangles (for example here and here) and I really enjoyed those as a way to use up quilted scraps and do some sculptural things.  Last year I was looking for a way to expand that general idea. The idea of doing actual tumbling blocks jumped out at me,  not the appearance of tumbling blocks but 3D ones made from squares.

I started with the same quilted cast-offs as for the prior projects.  Some of these are tes quilt sandwiches, some are projects I didn't care for that got cut up, but most come from the edges of quilts I cut off during the squaring up process.  I pieced them together by abutting and zig zagging the edges if they weren't quite big enough.

After getting together a bunch of squares, I started assembling them into these three square units, trying to have a light, medium, and dark in each unit.  Of course it's 100% scrappy, so some units had more contrast than others.

I sewed them all together into an overall diamond shape, but the whole thing was extremely soft and floppy so I knew it needed some support.  My sister and her husband purchased a new mattress and I'd saved the old one (it was foam) because I figured it would come in useful for something.  Apart from making a few dog beds, most of it was just sitting in my garage.  Using an electric carving knife I hacked it into cube shapes as best I could and used fabric glue to attach them to the back of the quilt.  That provided plenty of support but was pretty ugly, so I stitched pink fabric over the whole thing and then mounted it on the hanging frame.

Unfortunately, the edges were still really floppy, so I stiffened them using GAC400 Fabric stiffener.  The cardboard and clamps below are to help the edges hold their shape while they dry.

Here's the final piece a little from the side and then square on below.  It's fairly large, 70" x 44' x 6".  I'd originally made it for the 2024 NM State Capitol Mixed Media show, but decided to pull it at the last minute to enter into Quilt National.  I'm not surprised it didn't get in though,  this is an idea that I was and am really excited about, but I think the execution on this one could be improved going forward.  I do really love the scrappiness and using up all those bits that were leftover, it's just not quite even enough for my tastes.

Tumbling Blocks, c. 2024 Shannon Conley

Tumbling Blocks, c. 2024 Shannon Conley