Vertically Challenged

A case for Strippy Quilts

When I mentioned I have been working on a lecture about vertical quilts, I had a request from Diann/Little Penguin for more information.

Our regular guild meeting was cancelled due to snow last Friday, so we rescheduled for the 4th Friday which is usually an open sew day at the same church where we have our monthly membership meetings.  The planned February program was already moved to March so I offered to step in and fill the gap this month.

Here I am in action:

Explaining "Can't cut it"

By my definition, a vertical quilt is actually a setting solution where pieced blocks are assembled in vertical columns which are separated by something else.  Most times that "something else" is a strip of whole cloth. Which is why this type of quilt has become known as a "strippy quilt."

After asking a few pertinent questions like, "Have you ever bought fabric you couldn't bring yourself to cut up?" Or, "Do you have orphan/swap/BOM blocks that you don't know what to do with?"  I then challenged them to think vertically and make a strippy quilt.

Block Swap

The benefits of a vertical quilt are:
     Easy - fewer seams
     Economical - saves time and money (less fabric lost in seams)
     Elegant - simple and balanced composition
     Everlasting - steeped in tradition back to the 18th century (and possibly earlier)

Someday soon I'll post a virtual trunk show of all the vertical quilts I've made.