Sunday, January 24, 2016

X Marks the Improv


From the moment I posted the assignment for Faith Circle, I was excited about this quilt. The 12.5" X 24.5" improv-based block was of my own design, and I was admittedly pleased to be able to provide my bee-mates with structure, yet a chance to stretch their improv wings a bit. A tutorial for the block is coming soon. [ETA: Click here.]



As for colors, I asked for any blue solid for the block backgrounds; any blue, turquoise, teal, or bright green for the crosses. An occasional gold or orange was ok in the cross strips, but wasn't necessary. Both ‘arms’ of each cross did not need to match fabric-wise so the blocks were scrap-friendly in that sense. AND if they feel so inclined, contrasting bits pieced into the crosses were welcome. I used some of my own block trimmings to create cross strips for the next block and found that a satisfying way to use my scraps while still lending a cohesiveness to the blocks.


Dare I say I love how the colors came together?! And those contrasting bits . . . oh yeah.

For the back, I used one full block and then made a few partials, surrounding them with swaths of solids. For quilting, I used the most enchanting Aurifil 50wt #2730 (Caribbean Blue), which brought the kind of continuity that you hope for but can't always anticipate. You can see in the photo above that the straight-line quilting echoed out from an 'X' near the center - that light blue one with an aqua background.


Once trimmed after quilting, I had a width of several inches of leftover backing, pretty  much the perimeter of the quilt. SO, as you can guess, the decision to do matched binding was made for me. Not quite, but still, I had a good start, and it wasn't that fiddly to cut and piece the rest. To me, it was the perfect finishing touch - seen best in the top photo.
 

Measuring 48" X 60", this quilt is the perfect lap size, and I trust it'll bring a smile to its recipient. For me, it was a pleasure to make, thanks to a little help from my friends. And I can't imagine I won't revisit this block again soon.


This quilt was on my 2016 Q1 Finish-A-Long list
Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

17 comments:

  1. WooHoo Deb! Great quilt in every respect! I so enjoy reading your narratives :)

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  2. Wonderful quilt. A tropical seas sort of quilt with these lovely calming colours. I look forward to your tutorial.

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  3. Ohhh Debbie, this is one of my favorites of yours. Congrats on a beautifully executed bee quilt - the matched binding is fabulous!

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  4. It's fantastic. I love love all the blues and the thin and interesting Xs. Great photos too!

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  5. Beautiful!!

    Greetings from St. Petersburg,
    Mond

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  6. This turned out to be gorgeous! The bits of contrasting color is so perfect!

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  7. Love these blues and the little pops of contrast, looks great!

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  8. Beautiful quilt in beautiful colors. Beautiful photos, too!

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  9. I love that last picture so much!! I know this quilt will spread some joy and happiness for many years to come.

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  10. I've got to try this. It's awesome.

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  11. Beautiful quilt and your photography is awesome.

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  12. sorry about my post, as I meant to say....the quilt is stunning....

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