Cut It Up

It was nearly two years ago that I announced the Cut It Up Quilt Along. The premise was that we should all be encouraged and unafraid to use our most favourite fabrics. They’re doing no one no good just sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. So I gathered all of my Tula Pink collections around me and started making blocks. The QAL was a no pressure, no destination affair. You could make the same blocks as me, or not! I mean, it’s your quilt, who am I to tell you what to do. Think of it more as a little inspirational soiree to cut it up!

So many of you joined me for a little, for a lot, for a bit of both! Ultimately there were nine blocks that I chose to make for my quilt. You can find all of them here on my blog, with links to the tutorials on each blog post. All of the blocks are easy to moderate makes, utilising both traditional and foundation paper piecing techniques. I will say, more than a few people had challenges with the Super Card Trick Block (the two cornerstones in my quilt), but I think everyone made it through in the end!

As I was designing this quilt on the fly, I wasn’t so worried about everything lining up perfectly. Like, we’re cutting up fabric and piecing it back together into odd-ball shapes for fun. Let’s not sweat the small stuff! You’ll see as I used the Wonky Pinwheel blocks as a border that they didn’t quite mathematically come together in the corner for the size of the overall quilt. (If I wanted that to happen, I should have done the border first and then figured out how big the internal part of the quilt should be. C’est la vie!) But really, I knew this quilt wasn’t being sent to a quilt show to be judged on its potential perfection. So I just shmooshed those Wonky Pinwheel blocks together and called it a red letter day!

Instead, my focus was on keeping the candy colourway consistent, and then making individual blocks that made me happy. Shouldn’t that be the goal? Because if you’re not having a good time, why are you even quilting? You can still find pleasure in challenging tasks, but I ain’t about to spend time making a quilt out of fabrics that leave me lacklustre. Auditioning fabrics for each block became part of the joyful process, as so many of these Tula Pink delights had languished in my cupboard of love for years.

I even found opportunities to include a bit of fussy cutting where I could. All of my Crystal Star Blocks include a fussy cut centre, which invite a bit more investigation into the quilt. This particular block showcases Spirt Animal, but I also used De La Luna, Zuma, and others. Also, if you’re a long time follower, you may have noticed I rarely use stripes in my quilts. I hate when they don’t line up, match, or sit at odd angles. Drives me absolutely bonkers! (We all have our things, don’t we!?) Anywho, I finally found a way to use Tula’s All Stars Stripes by placing the Scrappy Cross Patchwork Block on point and giving it an Economy Block Remix. Werk!

As for the final layout of the blocks in my quilt — whew, that was a doozy floozy! I could not have made this quilt (as easily as I did) without the use of my design wall! I preach the design wall gospel all of the time, and I’ll preach it again and again. I used it to shift these blocks around each other in many permutations. What I started to notice is that the Autumn Leaf Block was providing a lot of directional movement with its diagonal pointed tip. So I leaned into that compositionally, and decided to create a diagonal swoosh across the quilt. Because there is oppositional symmetry in the layout, there is a sense of balance and calmness. Meanwhile, the varying block sizes and strong linework in each, create movement and dynamics across the quilt. It was a bit of a challenge to piece it all together (math!), but the end result made it worth it!

My recount of this quilt would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful longarm quilting by Leanne Harvey of Mt Vincent Quilts. She always takes my thoughts and lays them down through thread. For my Cut It Up quilt I requested Karlee Porter’s Orange Peel Medallion – Plain digital edge-to-edge design in cream thread to match the background colour. Karlee is a talented artist in her own right, and she produces the most beautiful quilting motifs! Also, if you’re not familiar with her graffiti quilting technique, it’s worth having a look!

When it came time to bind this quilt, no one colour seemed to give me all the feels. So I decided I needed all of the colours! I dug into my solid fabrics I had set aside while making this quilt and made a pieced binding that suited the cacophony of colours found throughout the quilt. Don’t be afraid to lend your creativity to your binding treatments as well!

You might recognise this backing, as I used the cream colour way in my Striped Irish Chain quilt I posted about a few days ago. This is Big Buds wideback from Curiouser & Curiouser by Tula Pink in the Daydream colourway. It’s a cotton sateen, and heavens to Betsi is it a delicious feel! It also has a lovely, light drape, so makes the perfect snuggle quilt backing. You’ll also spot my quilt label from Dutch Label Shop which goes on every quilt I make. It has washing instructions on the back, which is great for when your quilts wind up living with someone else.

Speaking of! This quilt decided it wanted to be international! Long story short, Cut It Up now lives in Brooklyn, NY in a private collection. I couldn’t be more honoured to see my creations fulfilling their destiny all around the world. A final thank you to all of those who participated in the Cut It Up QAL! If you feel so inclined, please join us in the Molli Sparkles & The Glitterati Facebook group to see how others have Cut It Up!

Title: Cut It Up
Size: 59″ x 69″
Pattern: Blocks by various designers, layout by Molli Sparkles
Fabric: A variety of Tula Pink collections
Piecing: Machine stitched on Juki TL-98P with Aurifil 50wt, White 2024
Quilting: Long arm quilting by Mount Vincent Quilts, with Karlee Porter’s Orange Peel Medallion – Plain edge-to-edge digital design
Binding: Hand stitched with Aurifil 40wt, Light Jade 1148
Backing: Big Buds wideback from Curiouser & Curiouser by Tula Pink in Daydream
Timing: January 2022 – September 2023
Favourite Part: It inspired a group of quilters to use their favourite fabrics! Cut It Up!