Thursday, April 13, 2017

Plaids with Pepper

I tried before to get into a class taught by Pepper Cory, but failed. So when the class schedule arrived for Quilt Festival 2016 & there was another Pepper class, quick like a bunny, I signed up. If she were teaching lawn mower repair, I would try to enroll, but very luckily, this class was about using plaids & solids in quilts.

Pepper Cory is a lovely person. She knows her fabric & quilt history; she is a talented & creative needlewoman; she is a gracious & giving teacher. I had a great day in her class. Her handouts for the class would make us a sampler quilt using our plaids. In the morning, we all made her Florida House block. It is a block she drafted from a vintage quilt she owns that has Florida provenance (hence the name). I did not care much for my block (middle row, far left), but really liked the look of all the houses together -- I filed this away in my Quilt Ideas folder.


Early this year, I was rooting through my stash, looking for something -- I don't remember what it was or whether I found it -- when I found this stack of about 40 pastel plaid fat quarters. The colors reminded me of the beach houses we saw when Shug & I drove down Galveston Island.
In my mind, Pepper's Florida house block connected with the beach houses which connected to these pretty plaids


It isn't a hard block to make, but there are 13 pieces in each block, & except for the sky pieces on either side of the chimney & those on either side of the roof, no 2 are the same size. They sew together pretty quickly, but cutting requires focus & attention. My first house was a tear-down -- kind of boring & drab. I needed to add some something to keep my houses interesting. I found a batik, some dots, some calicos (besides the kitten above) & a long-hoarded large-scale tropical.
This is a neighborhood I would like to live in!


6 comments:

Quiltdivajulie said...

Especially like the houses with the HSTs along the eaves - your neighborhood looks like a fun place to live.

Nifty Quilts said...

These look great!! I love the mix of plaids with florals, solids and other surprises. That sashing takes it to a whole new level. Good weekend to you. Hope you get to work on it.

Sharon said...

This is wonderful! I like the additions to your plaids - they really make it sparkle! And that large floral is so fun and just adds the perfect zing!

By the way, I have some of those very same pastel plaids!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Loving your plaid houses! The plaids & florals look great all mixed up together.

Rachaeldaisy said...

Yay, Great to see a blog post from you!! I love your neighbourhood of colourful houses!! They look fun to make.

O'Quilts said...

Oh...YES!!!! The lady is back...and back in style...So happy here to see this.
love the houses...love more to see your post!!