Come rock with us!

One of the most inspiring parts of being in the fabric business is seeing how designers use our products. We love seeing what their creativity leads to, and "Rockin'," by Terry Albers, is no exception. Look at how she used Ro Gregg's Rock Around the Block prints combined with Marblehead Global Brights in this cool quilt!

"Rockin'" designed by Terry Albers and machine quilted by Sandy Schilawski;
featured in Quilt Trends fall 2013

Q. What attracted you to the Rock Around the Block fabric?

Terry: I think it was the rather wonky shapes that first appealed to me…along with Ro’s Marblehead Brights.

This fabric does all the "heavy lifting" to make Terry's quilt so neat!

Q. How did you come up with the design idea?

Terry: I designed this quilt from the outside in.  I started with Ro’s print as a wide border. I wanted blocks to repeat the feel of her design without taking away from it.  That is when I chose the layered bull’s eye block. I have always loved the raggy bull's-eye technique. The blocks are easy to make and quilt has double snuggle factor after it is washed and the edges of the circles fluff up.

Q. Tell us about the bull's-eye circles.

Terry: I started with a main print square, two different Marblehead circles and added the top circle with a centered motif. I was looking for an opposite of this for an alternate block, so I used a Marblehead square, print circle and then two Marblehead circles. Then I took it one step further; sewing sets of circles together, cutting them in fourths, mixing them up and sewing them back together. This worked best by anchoring the pieced circles to just one color for the squares. The trickiest part was organizing the cutting to write the pattern!

Q. What do you like best about this quilt?

Terry: Another easy question…I love Ro’s bright colors.  I like that it’s bright and busy but orderly; the sashing and Marblehead borders give your eyes a place to rest and contain the busy-ness of the blocks. 

Q. The cornerstones have such a neat look! Did you plan to use the print from the beginning, or did you try tonals for those squares first?

Terry:  Yes, I did audition the regular Marbleheads but they didn’t add anything to the quilt. I also tried fussy-cutting the cornerstones but, in the end, random cuts worked better.

Q. Can you talk about the machine quilting decisions?

Terry: I asked Sandy to quilt everything but the bull's eye circles.  Then I put on my free motion foot and quilted the circles, spiraling out from the center.  (I often plan to fine-tune the quilting to highlight certain areas or components of my quilts.)

Q. What do you envision this quilt being used for?

Terry: Wouldn’t it make a great tween or dorm quilt? This one is earmarked for my granddaughter who loves bright colors. I also think this quilt would be great fun made up in black and white prints with the Marblehead accents, especially reds, oranges & yellows with black.

Find Rock Around the Block here and Marblehead Global Brights here.

Learn more about Terry and her designs here. 

Find the kit for this quilt here.

Find Quilt Trends magazine here.