Rectangles In Rotation

Well the clock is ticking away on the MQG Fabric Challenge, so the pressure's been on to get this one done!

You may remember, this little bundle of Michael Miller Petal Pinwheels was given to all participating modern quilt guild members.

I picked up coordinating Cotton Coutures: seafoam, coral, kryptonite, fog, dirt, and soft white. In the end, I only used 4 of the prints and solids. I kind of hated leaving the seafoam out, but that's just how it worked. And instead of using the soft white as a background as I'd originally planned, my design process led me to use some Kona Cotton in Charcoal and Interweave Chambray in Pepper, both by Robert Kaufman. I tell you, that Pepper may just be my new favorite "basic". It has a lovely hand and I think was the defining moment in this quilt coming to life. 

The inspiration for the focus blocks came as I perused each little block in my "Unlocked" City Sampler quilt, which hangs on our family room wall. I can't really sit on the couch and not look at it, as if I'd try not to. It gives me lots of food for thought.

One of my favorite elements of this project was that charcoal partial "frame" in each block, and it was a no-brainer to repeat it in the border. For backing, I used a stash find, Mod Century by Jenn Ski. Goodness I adore this print, and I am more than a bit sad to have used every inch I had. But on the bright side, I think it made a perfect backing for my quilt design.

For quilting, I elicited the help of Pink Chalk Fabrics, who was kind enough to color-match thread for me. What a great service that is! I used 5 glorious colors to get the effect I was after: #2230 (medium peony), #1231 (spring green), #2615 (aluminium), #2326 (sand), and #2605 (medium gray). {Note: I used that peony in "Aurora", and it may just be my current non-neutral favorite. It's really quite perfect.} Anyway, I accented each center solid color out to the edge in a U-shape, echoing the charcoal frame with straight-line. Then I filled in the "corners" with more echoing straight-line in medium gray. You can see it best in the photo below - especially in the coral and "dirt" sections.

As a finishing touch, some matched binding was definitely in order. The quilt measures 44" square, and it just called to be washed and crinkled, so the texture is really terrific, especially with all that chambray. 

So whew! I {mostly} had fun with this one, am really pleased with my design, am happy with the fabrics I added to the original "assignment" (especially that chambray - thanks to Rachael/imagine gnats for her help in choosing that) and I met the deadline with room to spare. Off to link up . . .

Also linking up with Finish It Up Friday and Fabric Tuesday.