Double Tall Skinny Vanilla

The honest truth is that way before I dug through the scrap basket and pulled out all my brown scraps, before I cut the first tumbler block, before I knew that my hope for the perfect photo-shoot would be dashed, this quilt had a name. A brown quilt had been on my list for quite a while, and when one day I got the inclination to make a scrappy tumbler quilt (you know, in my quest to lower the level of those scraps all the way to the bottom of the basket) the two ideas merged, and the name Double Tall Skinny Vanilla percolated up and did not go away.

And when that happened, I got the notion that the photo-shoot just had to be at one of my neighborhood Starbucks, preferable with a barista showing the quilt off through the drive-through window. I even considered a few different store locations, and picked the one with the best-looking siding as a backdrop.  Only problem was, Starbucks didn't like my idea as much as I did. snif. 

So I settled for the parking lot, strange as that may be. Some days it's worth settling when blue sky and nicely planted community areas are involved, right?

In case you missed it, I posted a tutorial for scrappy tumblers earlier in the month. They are really easy to cut once you know what size you want. And they piece together so quickly and neatly.

I chose to lay out my tumblers in a gradient of sorts, letting one lone 'cup' stand out and receive some singular quilting. I found several brown and green prints in the scrap basket, and I thought they added a fun nod to my favorite espresso stand's signature color. Two coffee-colored threads were used for quilting - Aurifil 50wt #2372 (Dark Antique Gold) for the cup, in an angular spiral; and the remainder a steam-symbolic wavy straight-line in #2326 (Sand).

Using stash browns and greens, I pieced a back - not my favorite thing to do but I used up more fabric!

And I chose a binding that is kind of striking and keeps your eye moving, a yummy brown wonky grid from Echo by Lotta Jansdotter.

So things didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped as far as the photo-shoot went, but otherwise, I'm more than pleased that I finally made a brown quilt, and having been inspired by my favorite espresso beverage kept me pretty stoked to work on it. AND, the fact that this is my sixth scrappy quilt this year was a bonus. Bottom's up!

Finished size: 56" x 56"

This quilt was on my 2017 Q3 Finish-A-Long list!
Linking up with Finish It Up Friday!