Keen

There was no doubt, from the very start, that I wanted to participate in the 2024 Pantone Quilt Challenge, again hosted by Sarah @bysarahruiz and Elizabeth @elizabethkray. But I didn't really act like it, and I think real life events just played into my slowness in getting on board.

Early on, I had a bit of inspiration about a relatively simple design involving improv stripes, and once I had my Pantone swatch card in hand, I worked on an initial fabric pull - Konas Black, White, Ruby, Orchid Ice, Raisin, Terracotta, and RJR Apricot Ice, plus as I began piecing, what I think was Kona Cedar. This time around, the Pantone Peach Fuzz color is more of a team-player than the key focus, but it's what felt fun to play with this time around.

Let's just say making all the stripes took a while, there was some travel away from my sewing room, and a little lethargy once I got back. But eventually I had a quilt top, and primarily using the leftovers, I fashioned a scrappy quilt back as well.

As I began to consider a quilting plan and what thread(s) to use, I decided this wasn't a quilt where I wanted to do an overall design with one thread color. That's always good news and bad news for me. It adds a bit of stress to the project, but then again, it's fun to use a variety of threads. And in the end, I used seven - Aurifil 50wt 2420 [Light Blush], 2692 [Black], 1103 [Burgundy], 2520 [Violet], 2350 [Copper]; 40wt 6722 [Sea Biscuit]; and since it was the only thread I had that coordinated well, a spool of Aurifloss 6729 [Tangerine Dream], with which I did some hand-quilting in the peach-colored sections of the quilt.

The machine-quilting in the majority of the quilt was improv lines, back and forth, back and forth. Though time-consuming, it was what I felt I could do that would fit the design, and using all those colors added to the enjoyment of it.

Finished at 33.5" x 41.5" and bound with matched binding, I was going to name this one "Peachy Keen," but considering 'keen' is a synonym for 'peachy,' I'll just go with the one word. 

Now I guess I better head over and submit Keen for the challenge before it closes. 

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's April Favorite Finish Linky!