ash+fog

It's happened before and I expect it'll happen again. But every once in a while, no matter what I'm working on, I need to set it all aside and just start something new.... specifically something with very little forethought. So in that spot a couple of weeks ago, the notion came to make another Everyday Improv-inspired quilt, and why not work with just two colors, per the QuiltCon 2019 Two-Color Quilt Challenge? I don't keep many lengths of solids on hand (or anything really), so upon glancing through my solid stash, I at least found a couple of yards of Kona Ash, and a yard of Fog. They seemed an unexpected pairing, but it's what I had, and though subtle, I opted to go with it.

As is my norm with these kinds of projects, I just started in cutting and sewing sections and placing them up on the design wall.... stripes, and dots, and spikes. I tried to include good-sized sections of solid. I find so often that I tend to squish components together, maybe even over-filling the space, and I wanted to avoid that.

Not sure if I really accomplished that, especially when I started to add in the quilting. Sticking with the two-color theme, I chose Aurifil 40wt #2600 (light gray), which matched the Ash pretty well. I have rarely used a 40wt, but I really liked how it quilted this piece.

The quilting ended up being an improvisational patchwork as much as the piecing did. It's just how this one came together, and apparently just what I needed. Matched binding was a perfect fit for this small quilt, which finished at 30" x 42".

And then.... I decided to throw it in the wash and crinkle it up. And boy did it crinkle.

Disappointingly, I tried three times to get decent photos of this one in its various stages and it just didn't seem to want to happen. Too sunny, too shadowy, or just plain ho hum, nothing is quite what I'd hoped for. Part of it may be that very quiet palette, which at least was interesting to work with.

Meanwhile, I got the diversion I needed, have another class sample, and feel pretty ready to get back to the wips. Pretty ready, not totally ready. We'll see how that goes.