MSQ’s Hum a Few Bars Quilt
This month, we’ve been sharing lots of fun photos of the process of making our Hum a Few Bars sample over on our Instagram feed. In this post, we’re going to dig into all the details of our sample quilt!
Mary’s pattern is only written for one size, but don’t let that deter you. It comes with three color-layout versions, and the size can easily be modified by adding or subtracting “rounds” of the quilt. We did our own spin on it by turning it scrappy — a version that’s not included in the original but is a simple modification that lets you take advantage of your stash. This would be a great option for a memory quilt as well, allowing you to use a variety of fabrics that hold special memories.
Somehow, despite all the sample quilts we’d made so far, none focused on just red, and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to embrace it. We sorted through all of our scrap bins to gather the biggest assortment of red scraps we could find and made the most of strips big to small. Jessica assembled the strip-pieced sections combining the reds with a scrappy low-volume background and then pulled it all together with a white solid for the background strips between the pieced sections.
That being said, one of the color versions in the pattern is for three colors. Just imagine how great a red, white, and blue quilt with a chambray or navy background would be. Oh, next time!
Lilo quilted our sample using the Chicken Wire pattern, a nice play on a classic figure 8. Its linear design plays well with the straight lines of the quilt design while adding in just enough curves to keep things interesting. For the backing, Lilo chose a gray Carolyn Friedlander crosshatch to provide a simple, neutral contrast to the front and then finished if off with a solid red binding in a red that was just a bit darker than the brighter reds in the piecing to set it apart and create a lovely frame.
If this bit of loveliness has you wanting to jump in and create your own version, then head on over to Mary’s store to grab your copy of the pattern. And don’t forget Mary is donating 50% of the proceeds from the pattern this month to Minority Veterans of America (MVA), so grab your pattern now to stretch your impact for some very worthy veterans. You can check out this post for lots more about Mary’s collaboration with MSQ. Happy quilting!
Photos of the finished MSQ quilt were taken by Angela Armstrong. Construction photos taken by Jessica Schunke.