I love to collect colorful prints on white backgrounds but they tend to languish in my stash. I challenged myself to use them together in a quilt, experimenting with the various scales and densities of the patterns to see if I could create contrast despite the shared background. As I chopped and rearranged the fabrics, the resulting shapes reminded me of the bright and joyful paintings of Kindah Khalidy, one of my favorite artists. So I’ve named this one after her. The wool ties move in a quarter arc rainbow across the entire surface, adding another fun layer of color and shapes.

Measures approximately 73” square. Photos by Mitch Hopper.

In the spring of 2020, shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to do some pure comfort sewing in the form of a quick project. It so happened that Suzy Quilts was having a sale to benefit, New Moms Chicago a great organization local to both of us. I also had a little stack of fabrics from The Economy Shop, an iconic resale shop nearby that exists to support even more local charities. It seemed like a perfect fit. I bought several patterns in the sale but reached first for Triangle Jitters. I had seen and loved Suzy’s neutral striped version and wanted to try stripes in mine too.

I ran out of the skinny blue and red striped fabric, and since it was secondhand there was no way to buy more. I thought about bringing in a third fabric but instead decided to make some of my own stripes. See if you can find them. :) These colors don’t feel like what I’d normally be drawn to but I love these for some reason. I love how soft and worn-in they look.

I quilted this with a simple grid, and then added ties. This was the first time I had ever tied a quit and it cured me of the notion that tying is an “easier” way to quilt. My fingers begged to differ. But I do love the look and feel of ties. So it was worth it. I made the throw size of this pattern, and it measures 54”x60”. Mitch Hopper took final photos for me.

Ode to Kindah Khalidy

Secondhand Triangle Jitters