Burning the Midnight Oil by Anne Strite-Kurz

This design was adapted, with permission, from an original quilt with the same title that was created by Beth Miller of Australia. I have used traditional quilt designs as a source for a number of geometric interpretations and I loved this unique arrangement of simple Log Cabin strips to form lanterns. By reducing the number of lanterns to thirteen and merging some of the strips into double bands, I came up with what I like to call a “notebook in disguise” for my students. Although the design itself is not original, almost all of the 41 patterns are original arrangements of laid fillings. Even the two background patterns have laid foundations that glisten to suggest the soft glow of the lanterns.

To create some order out of the chaos, I chose to combine shades of red and purple to go with the obvious gold highlights and black background. Each lantern has a dominance of red or purple and this dominance is balanced throughout the design. The rows of lanterns are further united by the matching ribbons from which they hang.

This was a fun piece to both plan and to execute and I am currently stitching the lanterns again as ornaments in holiday colors for a handmade espalier tree. This reincarnation of the class will be called Great Balls of Fire.