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All right, I have a confession to start with... I really love this quilt. So I'll try not to gush and just give you the facts. But I have to say this Little Three Creeks quilt is my new favorite and the worst part is I didn't even get to keep it.
You see I made this Little Three Creeks quilt for a good old fashion barter with a friend. She took some beautiful family pictures for us and I paid her by making her this quilt. The problem is I wasn't expecting to like it so much. I shouldn't be too surprised though since the Little Three Creeks quilt pattern is one of my favorites.
This modern quilt pattern was inspired by one of our family's favorite places in Central Oregon. It's a great pattern for working on half square triangles as well has half rectangle triangles. If you have never done either of these blocks before then it's a great skill builder.You can find a copy of the Little Three Creeks modern quilt pattern in my store.
About the Pattern
The Little Three Creeks modern quilt pattern was inspired by my family's favorite hike in Central Oregon. Every summer we are in Oregon we make sure to do this hike as a family. There really isn't anything hard or amazing about this hike. It's more that it's an easy hike for the whole family and every one loves it. We love the creeks we cross and the lake at the end of the hike. The three mountains in this quilt represent the Three Sisters Mountains in Central Oregon. I gave the mountains a modern look and made sure to make them shadowed on the bottom half of the quilt. I pictured how often I love looking at mountains and the reflections of mountains in lakes. This also makes it so there really isn't a top or bottom to the quilt.
The center of the quilt represents the three creeks of the hike we go on. But it also breaks up the quilt. When I designed it, I pictured the water's edge and the reflection of the mountains in the water as the bottom half of the quilt.
The Little Three Creeks quilt pattern comes in a large throw size (measuring 55 in. x 72 1/2 in.). Because of the construction of the quilt It's hard to change the size of the quilt and still get the same look. The pattern uses half square triangles and half rectangle triangles to create the mountains and creek. For this reason I wouldn't suggest this pattern for a beginner quilter. But I do think it is a good skill builder since it works on both of these blocks. When I wrote the pattern I made the half square triangles larger than normal so the quilter would have extra trimming space. I know when you are just learning sometimes half square triangles can come out a bit wonky.
Trimming Half Square Triangles
When I knew I was remaking this pattern I was not super enthused about making all those half square triangles. I had recently seen on Instagram a new ruler for trimming HST's. I'm not one for buying all the rulers and gadgets when quilting. I try to design my patterns around basic tools most quilters would have. But I really don't love the time it takes to trim HST's. So I bought the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers. I was quite skeptical at first. I wasn't sure if it would accurately trim the half square triangles. To be honest at first I didn't like using the ruler. It took a minute to get used to and how to hold it. But after a bit I had it down. I loved it so much I have used the Clearly Perfect Slotted Timmers in another project. It's nice not to have to worry about turning the block half way through the trimming process. I also think it cuts down on time. Two rulers come in the pack. One with the inch measurements and the other with the 1/2 inch increments. Because of this I think it's a good value.
About this Quilt
Even though I was giving this quilt away, I got to choose all the fabrics for the quilt. I wanted to make a version of Little Three Creeks with a higher contrast between the background and the mountains. The last version I had made of this quilt pattern didn't have much contrast and it was hard to see the mountains. I originally bought a tan color for the background. But it just seemed too predictable and boring for this quilt. So I grabbed my Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids color card and started looking for a different option. I quickly chose Miami Sunset as the background fabric. The color was perfect and had the sunset vibe I was going for.
I chose Decostitch Elements for the mountains and the creeks. These are great modern blenders and come in a variety of colors. Because of this it was easy for me to choose four that I thought would go well together in this quilt. Write these down:
Since my friend lives in the mountains and the winters are quite cold she asked for flannel on the backing. I took her to the local quilt shop and she chose a soft plaid flannel. I never would have thought of using the one she chose. But it turned out perfect. I used a 1/2 in. seam allowance when sewing the backing together which is usually suggested because flannel can fray easier.
I used the extra "Shadow" Decostitch Art Gallery Fabric to bind the quilt with. It outlines the quilt well without taking away from the mountains. My friend says she loves it. It is just the pop of color her gray living room needed and they love the soft feel of the fabrics. The mountain design was what she really fell in love with when she first saw my Little Three Creeks modern quilt pattern. I'm so glad I was able to make her this version before we moved.
