It's Only Fabric

Photography has been the hold up with this post. Well, that and the weather. I finished my latest quilt earlier in the week, so obviously I wanted to take photos. But it was too dark when I got home from work, so I took some inside the house. So-so.

The next day, it was beautiful when I got off work, so I texted hubby, and asked him to meet me "at the blue wall" with the camera and the quilt. (More on that in another post.) Great idea except guess who forgot to put the camera card back in the camera after downloading that first set of photos? So cell phone photos it was. Ho-hum.

Enough already. Time to just put it out there, for better or worse. But let’s back up just a bit….

When Krista/Poppyprint's “Chess on the Steps” showed up as the MQG quilt of the month in September, I was so taken with it. Soon after Leanne/shecanquilt showed off her All the Colours, and I was wow-ed again. I had to try that "Improv Under the Influence" technique. I dug into my stash for some solid charm squares and sewed and cut until I had a conglomeration of color, approximately 25"x35". Now what?

Well, I chose to trim it up into a nice square rectangle, and add uneven borders - white, gray, and black.

It's at this point where things went really crazy. I got an idea, and honestly, I just couldn't let it go. And finally, I went ahead and did the unthinkable. With a feeble battle cry of "It's only fabric!", I cut the whole thing in half.

I know I shocked a few folks on Instagram. I think I maybe even shocked myself a little. But I just had to see where else this project could take me. It took me to a moment in time where a name for this quilt materialized. I'm calling it Striped Strip.

Whoa. At this point I loved it and doubted it all at the same time. Moving forward, though, I made a quick fat quarter quilt back and went on to quilt the dickens out of it.

For those that like such details, here's the scoop on the fabric and thread:

• improv section - KONA Cotton solids, quilted with Aurifil 50wt #2021 (Natural White)
• white border - KONA white, quilted with Aurifil 50wt #2021 (Natural White)
• gray border - In the Beginning Modern Solids Grey, quilted with Aurifil 50wt #2600 (Dove)
• black border (and binding) - unknown "black" (very much like KONA Pepper but not), quilted with Aurifil 50wt #4241 (Very Dark Grey)
• black & white strip - Michael Miller Clown Stripe

As you can see, I did some random matchstick quilting everywhere but the stripe. For that, I borrowed daughter dear's perle cotton and did some straightish lines in a variety of colors.

Whew. 48"x52" of who knows what. But it sure was fun.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.