April’s No Girls Allowed Quilt Bee blocks were terribly late, but they’re done now, and shipped off to their new home. This month’s blocks were for John Q. Adams (yes, that John Adams). His request was to make the Anna Marie Horner Feather Bed blocks. Honestly, I think that we were all intimidated by these blocks, but as I worked my way through them, I really fell in love with the design. Some of us used the paper-piecing method, some of us used the strip piece method. I put mine together using strip-piecing. After I got used to the cuts (and the waste of fabric), it went together really easily.
These blocks, at a glance, look small, but they’re actually 18 inches tall finished. It takes about 60 feathers to make a king size quilt. I love this design so much, this has made it’s way on a short list for a future project with me. I love the look, and I love the flexibility of the pattern through your own fabric choices.
If you’ve not been introduced to John Adams, a.k.a. QuiltDad, here’s a great introduction, in his own words:
I am a father of three, originally from Brooklyn NYC but now living in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. I live with my 9 year-old twin girls, my 8 year-old son, and a crazy German Shorthaired Pointer named Bristol. Though I often wish it could be, quilting and pattern-writing is not my full-time job; by day, I lead branding and brand marketing efforts for a global software company. I am a completely self-taught quilter (thanks, blogs and internet!) and have been sewing for about 7 years now. I earned my undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of North Carolina and, when I’m not sewing, enjoy cheering for the UNC Tar Heels.
I was originally inspired by the blossoming worlds both of craft blogging and modern fabrics back in 2004. I was living in Charlotte NC at the time and began mixing and matching fabrics and buying fat quarters in my local quilt shop even before I knew how to sew a stitch. I was really drawn to the creative process of mixing and matching colors and prints. That was when Amy Butler’s Lotus line had just come out, and the options for bright modern fabrics was growing like crazy. Before long, I decided I was going to make a quilt and read free tutorials online until I felt comfortable with the basics.
I started my blog, QuiltDad.com, in 2008 on a whim, mainly to be eligible to join a swap at the time but ultimately to share my love of patchwork with others.
Since then, I’ve remained very active in online quilting communities through swaps, virtual quilting bees, and guilds. Today, I try to apply my own quilting aesthetic to designing original quilt patterns for both fabric designers and companies and frequently contribute to creative blogs, books, and other collaborative endeavors. I’ve contributed to several collaborative quilt books, have two book titles of my own (Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays and the soon to be released Beyond Neutral: Quilts Inspired by Nature’s Elements) and was a co-founder of the popular e-magazine and book series for modern quilters, Fat Quarterly.
Having said all that, the NGAQB is one of the most unique, exciting projects I’ve been a part of and I can’t wait to see the beautiful things that emerge from it.