I am a member of the Southwest Valor Quilters who are working to cover our military veterans and service members with quilts - a Quilts Of Valor Foundation sub-group.
One of the quilts I have designed is a Inner City Quilt of Valor. Quilt measures approximately 60" x 82".
I had all my parts cut out and ready for me to sew together while I was away at a quilt retreat.
This pattern used a different size of Half Hexagon than the Inner City Sew Along. I wanted to show off the large flag print that I had.
The retreat was such a blast!!! And the quilt came together quickly, considering the space we had to play.
We had the honor of awarding this quilt to a local veteran and co-worker, Shane S.
While we were at the quilt retreat, the retreat owner fell in love with my quilt and has invited me to teach a class at her quilt shop. She wanted a sample of the quilt to hang in her shop to advertise the class. It took me 5 days to complete this quilt; from the cutting of the half hexagons to the last stitches of the binding. Class was a success!
Since the Inner City Quilt in this pattern is made with different sized units than the Inner City Sew Along, I have written a NEW pattern for it. The pattern is unique that it does not require you to lay out your fabrics on a design wall to piece the whole top together. It does include the directions for sewing my version of Easy Y Seams (not your traditional Y seam).
I was also entertaining the idea of making the Inner City QOV pattern with green fabric...
If I could only find the right light green... I love the 3 fabrics used in this photo. Unfortunately, I only had two fat quarters and I would have liked at least two yards. I have contacted Northcott and they say it is a discontinued fabric. I have searched, found and purchased three other fabrics I felt were similar. But they do not bring me the joy of the original fabric. **SIGH**
I still loved the light green so I made a wall hanging version with those fabrics and I have included the directions for making wall hanging sized Inner City Quilt in the pattern. I have used a black batik background with the three green fabrics. Wall Hanging measures approximately 45" x 52".
Since I was unable to find the light green I REALLY wanted, I found a green that was acceptable (because I like working with real wood). I chose to make another Inner City Quilt. I was wanting to move outside of my comfort zone so I chose to use a pearl-on-white background to go with the rest of my green fabric.
I couldn't make all these cool Inner City quilts by myself. I had to teach Tonie how to piece together the Easy Y Seams... Tonie started quilting in 2019 and she thought the technique was so easy! Of course, she didn't have the pre-fear of the Traditional Y seam stopping her from giving it a try.
Tonie's quilt was made with 28 ombre fat quarters out of the Gelato fabric collection from Maywood Studios.
We were selective and only chose those fat quarters containing the same color throughout (like the picture above). We did not use the fat quarters that transitioned from one color to another (pictured below). We tested one fat quarter that looked like those below and the results were not as appealing or as striking as the ombre fabrics of one color. Tonie did need to lay out her quilt on the design wall to make sure the placement of the half hexagons worked together in their color group.
Tonie's Inner City Quilt has to be one of my favorites. She used and dark navy blue/black blender batik for her background fabric.
We did have a tremendous amount of fabric leftover from fussy cutting pieces for Tonie's Inner City Quilt. When we cut strips from the fat quarter, there was still a slight transition from one side of the strip to the other. We chose to cut the half hexagons where the darker side of the strip was always on the smaller straight-of-grain side of the half hexagon and not the long straight-of-grain side. Our intension was to let the lighter side butt up against the other fabrics of the same color, giving it a 'sharper' difference.
But I wasn't sad that I had all those leftovers... I took the pieces and sewed them, Jelly Roll Race style into a nice sized lap quilt for charity.
I have very much enjoyed piecing the Inner City Quilt. I do see another one in my future...
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