Thursday, October 2, 2014

Spiraled Underground

Nearly 3 months ago, I posted my Big Batch HST tutorial, created as I was starting on my latest Spiraled quilt with its massive amount of hst's. Needless to say, it took a while to bring this one to completion, but I kinda gave it a push over last weekend, knowing my 3rd quarter Finish-A-Long report would be pitiful without it.
The objective in making this pattern again, was to see how it looked less scrappy. And I like it! {If you haven't seen the original Spiraled or Spiraled Jungle, click the links. They are basically the same 34"x36" design, with tweaks.} Another reason was that once I got my hands on yardage of the "Underground Route" print from Sara Lawson's Jungle Ave. line, I really wanted to see how it looked as a complete background. Again - I like! I chose the super pink "Word on the Street" text print for the spirals because I wanted them to be bold, and I just plain like it!
Quilting was done very similarly to what I did on my mini Swoon, basically using a few of the spirals as inspiration and then echoing using my walking foot as a guide. Overall, it gives a sort of willy nilly effect, but there was a rhyme and reason, and resulted in great texture, even before a wash. I used my super-sized cone of Aurifil 50wt #2021 (Natural White), which made me ridiculously happy. And then, I hit a stumbling block.

I had planned all along to use the black and white "Dotted Boulevard" as the border, topping it off with some matched binding. And though I was more than pleased with the border, after I'd sewn on a good quarter of the binding, I realized that I wasn't really happy with how the border and binding dots looked side by side. After a day of mulling, I removed the binding I'd stitched on and began auditioning other choices.
Except that I didn't like anything I tried! What to do? Then all at once I knew that to preserve that dotted border 'just so', I'd need to do a faced binding. So I turned again to OPQuilt's tutorial, which had served me well in the past. And yes, that was the look I'd been after.
For backing, I used a single piece of "urban sprawl" by Alexander Henry, one of those random stash purchases that I think was destined for this quilt.
So I'm really pleased with this new version of Spiraled, and I'm already thinking of another version I may need to try. Another day.

20 comments:

  1. Another beauty Debbie! All these fabrics- the spiral, the background, the binding and the backing play so well together! Do you have a pattern for this, or is it in your head? :-))

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  2. This is wonderful! I love the colours and the quilting. And the facing is great; we get so used to finish a quilt with binding that it can be easy to forget there are other ways of finishing the edges!

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  3. Yup, that's perfect! Excellent choices for quilting, backing and facing.

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  4. Well I think taking off the binding was completely the right call, it looks fantastic the way you ended up doing it! The backing is just great too!

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  5. I love that faced binding--you made a great choice. (Thanks also for the shout-out to the Tutorial.) The whole quilt is simply wonderful--I also love the hot pink and that fabric line. What a terrific creative piece!

    Elizabeth
    opquilt.com

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  6. I love Sara's Underground Route! It's one of the best background fabrics I've encountered in a long time. You never cease to amaze!

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  7. It turned out wonderfully. Even though I think the dotted binding looked great, I think it is best to always go with your instincts.

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  8. I love this version of this great pattern. The faced binding works so perfectly on both sides and I love the quilting too.

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  9. This is just wonderful! I also like that the labyrinth continues in the border. This adds extra interest to the quilt. I like this version best.

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  10. Another wonderful Spiraled version.

    tushay3(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  11. What a fascinating design...love it as well as your backing!

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  12. Once again Debbie, it's wonderful!

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  13. Just stunning Debbie - love the hot pink spirals and black dots together.

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  14. Looks great! I thought you took the binding off?

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  15. I Love, love love it! It really inspires me to make something similar and is on my list of "to do's".
    I especially love the way you break the frame by continuing the pink over the border.
    Jo
    in Liverpool, England

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  16. Alright, alright, you're forcing me. I started sketching and spirals and ordered fabric. I don't know if I can't do it as awesomely as you manage it, though, because you are the MOST AWESOME at this!

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  17. I am about to try my first unconventional faced binding. I love the way yours turned out!

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  18. This turned out wonderful Debbie! The faced binding was the perfect resolution and I love the backing for this piece - perfect!

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  19. Wow, I love it! Great choice of fabrics, and the backing is pretty cool, too!

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  20. I love how this came out, and the fabric on both sides was perfect!

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