As I am revamping my website I decided to create one blog post for the Tractor Quilt Series that I created many years ago. Let’s get in the “way back machine” to remember how it all came to fruition… It all started with one quilt that I wanted to look like diamonds. Created on point. I played with how I could get that to work out. Racking my brain with what process would work best. Consulting with my sister and quilt guru. Thought about how I could eliminate all the left over cuts. I have many nephews who live on farms so the fabric decision was easy. Tractors!! Which became the name of my series and a deep dive into creating a 3 in 1 project.
To see different project that used one block to make three different quilts click here.
Tractor Quilt #1
The vision that started it all. This was my diamond quilt on point and it was so easy to make. That is after I went thought the process of trouble shooting the quilt block. The way I created the quilt was with strip sets. Something I use a lot. This streamlines the process and saves so much time BUT leaves you with left overs. A big conundrum because I was brought up by my mother a child of the 30s and my father a child of the 40s. That’s right y’all my mother is the real Ms. Robinson. LOL. I always smile when I hear that song. This means that I care about what goes in the landfill. I believe in using my scraps. That brings me to the other planned quilt.
Tractor Quilt #2
With the way that I cut my strip sets I was left with a large blue strip of fabric in the middle of the block with a corner of cream fabric on two of the corners of the block. Originally I wanted to do a XXO quilt but I decided not too. I could be because I found other quilts similar to the one I wanted to make or it could be because I really like the way the final design turned out. I worked on this quilt around 2013 so it has be a while. But here is Tractor Quilt #2. A actually used this quilt as the test quilt for the first time I ever free motion quilted and let me the quilting on it looked like a kindergartener had scribbled on it with thread.
Tractor Quilt #3
Although I call this quilt in the Tractor Quilt Series, number three, it was the second one that I made. The reason for the miss match is because it was the last quilt I planned in the journey. This one was a free for all. I used all the scraps from the initial cutting. Then I added in the scraps from the strip sets. Added in green for a pop of color with a plus sign. And I bought fabrics for the back of the quilt. These fabrics were also pulled into the front. Then I bought a red fabric that I alternated with the tractor fabric blocks. Creating a checkered board look.
My original plan was to hand quilt the whole quilt. As weeks turned into months, I found the courage to dust of my new and neglected Bernina. I fiddled with it, goggled it and to attempt to conquered the BSR feature. I only quilted the red blocks. As I freehanded loops and swirls I attempted to make it look like rope. I got better as I completed more blocks but it did not look great. In no time I was done and ready to bind this quilt. My Bernina 440 ROCKS!! Freehand quilting with BSR lets you control the speed of your machine with your hands because it reacts to the movement of your fabric. Thats right you don’t use your foot pedal.
All photos were taken at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum.
