Dashing to the Fire Escape!

 

I've been wanting to make Fire Escape from Terry Atkinson since last Summer. I was so jealous that the other shop owners at Terry's retreat had made one. Finally ... with a new shipment of fabric in the door ... OZ by Moda ...  and some motivation, I made one!! I started it on Friday night about 5pm. I did have a little help ... Deb cut it out for me. I sewed for an hour and fifteen minutes on Friday, on and off throughout Saturday ... in between waiting on customers ... about three hours on Monday and a couple of hours today. And it's done ... just waiting to go to the quilter's. I'm giving a talk to a guild on Thursday night and am bringing it to show, even though it needs to be quilted.  That was my motivation ... I wanted something new for show and tell. I'm so happy at how it turned out ... I wanted to give you some tips that I picked up so that you can make your own. Think about it ... you could get it done in a weekend!

 
Tip #1 ... label everything! Terry said so. It helped me keep things straight as I worked my way through the pattern. She also said to put the darkest color in the second position and it worked great. I put the other dark one in the last place and that turned out to be a good spot for it as well.

 
The construction method was slick ... sewing strips together, repostitioning them, subcutting and sewing into four patch blocks ... it went so fast. The lime green is my fire escape ... I'm going to use it for the binding as well even though there was plenty left to make a scrappy binding. 

 
Tip #2 ... label some more. I wrote the position and rows each position was in on my slips of paper. And I used Terry's layout guide to help me ... I needed both in order to put the quilt together correctly.

  

A nice open floor or design board is a must for this. See how my fire escapes are going in different directions on each row? It's important to keep checking so you don't have them running the same way. How would the people get out of the burning building otherwise?

 
Tip #3 ... oh ya ... label some more. I did this after I sewed each row in order to keep them in the right order.

 
Look at that! I'm moving right along!! I put arrows on my row markers to indicate which side of the row I need to stitch to the next. I had to wind three bobbins and only used my seam ripper twice. Personal best on that one.

 
Ta-da! There it is ... lap size quilt finished. All my fire escapes are marching in the right direction. And yes the stripes are going in different directions because that's the way they want to go. I cut fabric for a customer who wanted the same combination but she chose red for the fire escapes and binding ... I want to see how hers looks compared to mine. So ... if I can make a quilt top in four days working part time at it, couldn't you make one in a weekend ... like at the retreat maybe? This is a great quilt with terrific directions. I think everyone needs one.

 

Comments

[badlands quilts]

I like this but nothing compares to the one you showed out of solids...

[Sheila]

Very cute! Love Terry's patterns & instructions--always thorough. Thanks for additional tips.

[Terri]

I love it Roseann! The fabrics make it so fun! And the fact that it went together so quick makes it even better.

[Roseann]

I do love that quilt made from Cherrywood. You'll have to come on the Twin Cities shop hop at the end of April to see it in person. The fabric is really soft. Pretty.

[Kathy]

I have made this quilt in twin size. It does go together with ease; especially like you say... be sure you label everything! My quilt is made in batiks of teals and blues. It too needs to be quilted. Maybe in the next week or two mine will get done.

[Busy Little Quilter]

I agree; Terry's patterns and instructions are great.

I love these fabrics. Your quilt is beautiful.

[Jan]

I really appreciate your blog as it shows your creative inspiration and process. And, then this one showing the "how-to". Thank you!

[Heidi Kaisand]

Very cool Roseann.

[Patty]

very nice, labeling can be a great help.