Making a SPLASH

SPLASH is one of my favorite quilts! I love the story that inspired it and I love all three versions that I've made of it. I like teaching the technique and I like presenting it as a workshop.  I had the pleasure of visiting the Duluth Spirited Quilter's Guild last weekend and teaching this workshop. It was a fun day I really enjoyed these quilters. This was our third workshop together and they brought show and tells from the prior workshops. It's always a thrill to see finished quilts from my workshops. It's like they enjoyed it enough to see it through, and they were proud enough to share it with me. Kind of a 'Proud Mom' moment in a way. LOL

The Story of the Original Splash

The first version of this quilt was made from my dad's shirts along with a white background fabric. After my dad passed away, I wanted to make a remembrance quilt for my mom. I was looking through a book of block patterns and noticed that one of the names for this block was 'duck in the pond'. This block has multiple names but this was one version I wasn't familiar with but it reminded me of a fun story my dad like to tell about when my husband and I went away for the weekend and left the kids (3 toddlers at the time) at home with my parents.

While we were away, my parents took the kids to the duck pond to feed the ducks. My son David, who like to do everything with great enthusiasm, was hurling bread chunks into the pond when he spontaneously hurled himself into the pond as well. My dad, having quick reflexes, caught him by the ankle, but not before David's head went under water. David was fine, the ducks were fine, but my parents were pretty worried. They were so worried, that they took David to the Emergency Room to make sure he didn't have any harmful effects from the pond water.

My husband and I laughed so hard when my Dad told us the story. It was a tale that was often repeated and my Dad looked so remorseful every time he told it. Nevertheless, we loved the story and seeing the name of the block brought a smile to my face.

The Splash from the book STRIP QUILT SECRETS

Having given the original quilt to my mom, I wanted to make another version. I had a collection of batik fat quarters that I used. I also found a fun batik print for the background that looked like it had splash marks on it. What could be more perfect?

I enjoy adding pieced sashings to my quilts, I like the secondary block effect it gives. So the purple squares are part of the sashing, not the actual blocks. I also like to add portions of blocks as corners for the border. Repeating elements in a quilt creates consistency, and that's always a good thing when using scraps or lots of different fabrics.

The tiny version

I also made a four block version using solid fabrics. I liked this fun print fabric so much that I chose to use it for the background and let the blocks be solids. I have yet to see a combination that does NOT work for this quilt.

The technique

This quilt block is made entirely from squares and half square triangles. And since I use only make half square triangles from strips, the entire quilt is made from 2 1/2'' strips. Yep, you could make this quilt from a jelly roll!

The workshop

I love the combinations of colors and values that were being used in this workshop. I had been waiting for someone to make it with a black background and it is gorgeous! Also, another person was adding a gold square to the middle of her blocks for some holiday cheer! And the scrappy version that had a different background is each block really spoke to my scrappy heart. I could go on an on, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

I am usually too busy to take photos at workshops, but this was a small group and that meant we really had time to visit and chat (and take photos!) Thanks again to each of you who attended, I really enjoyed my day with you!

If you would like to book a trunk show or workshop for your group or guild, find all of the information HERE or email me HERE.

Now go make a Splash!

Diane