I just finished another triptych art quilt. There are lots of reasons I like making triptychs but it all begins with how much easier it is to sew three reasonably sized art quilts than one large quilt. I sew on a Bernina 750….a great machine….but since it isn’t a long arm, the larger the quilt the crazier it is to quilt. This becomes more pronounced the more
creative free motion quilting I want to do, where easy movement of the quilt is needed.
Here is my newest triptych: Old English Garden 2. This triptych has a short story…..I had made Old English Garden triptych about a year ago. I listed the quilts as a triptych OR to buy individually. Someone bought the middle quilt and after about 6 months with just the smaller quilts in my shop, I decided to make another middle quilt and return these three quilts to a triptych. I believe the colors and design really glow in the triptych arrangement though I know the larger middle quilt is a beauty by itself also. This new “quilt” will only be sold as a triptych. Thankfully I still had all the fabrics from the original three quilts so making the middle quilt again wasn’t too difficult. It is similar to the original but since I don’t use patterns, there is some variability.
One of the fun challenges of triptychs is that I like to make the pattern and colors carry over from one quilt to the next. I’ve attached two
close ups of the transition sides of this triptych so you can see how the curves and colors transition. This is a bit tricky when I’m piecing…especially without any patterns. I like the effect of drawing your eyes across the quilts as you enjoy the colors and curves.
I’ve attached a picture of one of my other triptychs to see how art quilts can be created in this design style in a landscape art quilt.
I am making my first triptych landscape quilt! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. Mine is like the quilt you show at the bottom; my question is whether to piece it and quilt it as a whole piece and then cut it into thirds or from the beginning to make three separate quilts?
I have done both and they each have challenges. Sometimes it is hard to piece the full width of a triptych to make it all in one piece and then cut. But then too it is more complex to piece the connecting sides carefully so they look as though they are passing from one panel to the other. Once I decided to make a triptych after making one panel which ended up being the middle panel but I felt the design had good options to be three quilts with design connections. Probably the easiest is to make one large quilt. One of the factors to consider is how the binding is going to work with the flow of fabrics from one panel to the next. When you make the panels separately you can give yourself 1/2″ – 3/4″ on each side where the fabric is fairly straight and easy to match with the next panel before the fabric flows up or down. I’m not sure I’m helping any but giving you some pros and cons. Have fun and send a photo when you are finished.
Thanks so much! I am a huge fan and I’m honored to receive a personal answer. Due to the size of the quilt (8 ft long; 5 ft wide), I’ve decided to do it in panels. We will see how it turns out!
I am 69 so doing separate panels would work my older brain more so that is a plus!! The size you are working with should be easier in panels.
Yes, I’m 71 and wrestling with the full size is difficult. I only began quilting 10 years ago and I did my first landscape quilt three years ago and it was much smaller. This is my first triptych. There is remarkably little advice online about triptych quilts.
I have basically figured out most of my quilt designing once I progressed past the basics of quilting like piecing and binding.