Slice Is Right

When I first saw Ben Millett's "Slice Is Right", I was intrigued by his design and the hint that the construction would be an interesting one to explore. Ben kept posting more about it, including different sizes, so by the time the pattern was released, I already knew I'd be buying it.

One busy afternoon, I took a few minutes' break to see what stash fabric would be fun to use. Almost immediately, I happened upon a partial Marcus Fabrics' "strip-it" bundle of hand-dyed ombre fabrics and thought 1) ombre would be an interesting option, and 2) with the 2 1/2" strips already cut for me, I could get to construction much faster.

I'd already decided to make the 20" x 27" 'mini' version, and before I knew it, the initial piecing was done and I was ready to cut and reassemble. The magic happened quickly and was just as satisfying as I'd hoped. I found a just-right remnant from Jeni Baker's Nordika for the backing and was trying out Quilter's Dream Select for the first time. I'm not sure if it was the fabric - the texture of the hand-dyes is a little stiff - or the batt, but quilting this one went exceedingly well. Similarly to what Ben did on one of his versions, I quilted 1/2" strait vertical lines across the whole width, then angled crosshatch at 1/4" on the top and 1" on the bottom. Thread was Aurifil 50wt #5021 [light gray] which while named 'gray', definitely has both a green and a brown tinge. I think it was perfect, at least for what I was going for.

I went back to the ombre strips for binding, and had to piece several to get the length I needed. I really like it though I'll confess I must have confused 'up' vs. 'down' went I attached it, as I really meant that light/dark seam to be on the bottom, and didn't realize my 'mistake' until the hand-stitching was done. And yeah, I'm not redoing it.

So that was alot of fun! I like to try new things, including making up designs from folks I admire, and even though I didn't commit to a full-size quilt for this one, it did provide a really quality diversion from my other works in progress, and enjoyment-in-the-making, and that's exactly what I was after.