Vivid

This finish is a bit of a final farewell to the Mid-Century Modern Bee. Oh I've many friends among them, and that won't change, but most of the blocks that make up this quilt were made for me by them, and since then, I'm no longer a part of the bee. But back in April 2014, I chose the Rolling Diamonds pattern by knottygnome crafts, and as requested, I received a bright, colorful mix! Except when it came time to finally put the quilt together, I needed a few more blocks. My friend Sharon/smbrendle graciously made me one, and I made a couple more. Aren't they fun?!

I know 'just' 16 blocks make a relatively small quilt - only 48" square - but I really liked them as they were, and it seemed like I'd waited long enough to finish this one up.

I searched in my stash for a backing and settled on a green Dear Stella ticking stripe. Quilting in a simple grid resulted in a soft, comfy quilt, and the Aurifil 50 wt #2021 (Natural White) I used was subtle enough to tie everything together and not make too much of a statement. Binding is from "Wish" by Valori Wells Designs and I went off on a limb doing a machine-stitched binding. I used Rachel/Stitched in Color's tutorial, which was really fun for a change, and seemed to fit the playfulness of this quilt. I used the same Natural White thread, and even though it's pretty obvious, I like it just fine. The only thing to note is that Rachel uses a 3/8" seam to sew on the binding, which obviously dipped into my block points a bit. I could have easily adjusted that, but was so focused following instructions, I neglected to. Otherwise, though, I'm quite pleased. I still totally consider myself a hand-binder, but for now and again, I think I'll revisit this technique.

So there's an end of an era, so to speak. Thanks to the Mid-Century Modern gals for the fun time we sewed together!

Yahoo. This quilt was on my 2015 Finish-A-Long Q3 List! Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.