Ode to Joy Finale

With great relief, Ode to Joy is complete! Begun back in May with a call for blocks from my Bee Sewcial @beesewcial mates, the collecting of said blocks was a joy in itself. There were 59 blocks in total, all symbolizing something that brings each maker joy.

The puzzling of the quilt top was indeed a puzzle. Arranging the blocks by topic first with a paper chart, I laid the actual blocks out on the design wall, a portion at a time.

I filled in around the blocks with Konas White, Black, and the very dark purple, Raisin, creating a bit of an organic yet geometric design with the background colors. Once the quilt top was fully pieced, it measured 59" x 81".

Things got really interesting when I decided I should hand-embroider the words representing each Joy block onto white pieces of fabric that would eventually be incorporated into the quilt back. It took me several weeks to do all the embroidery, but I really liked the effect, and it'll be a good reminder of what the blocks represent going forward. Around those embroidered blocks, I used Konas White, Snow, and Haze, along with two or three very low-volume prints from stash. I wanted the overall effect of the back to be very 'quiet,' with the embroidered words being the key focus. They are small - just 1/4" to 1/2" tall - but I'm pleased with the effect.

So then it was time to get quilting! At a quandary with what color of quilting thread, I finally settled on Aurifil 50wt #2625 [Arctic Ice]. Was it the best choice? I'm not sure. But everything else I tried seemed too dark on the white fabrics, or too light on the dark fabrics etc. etc. Design-wise, I consulted Jacquie Gering's WALK 2.0 book and settled on the Equilateral Triangle Grid, which is created by quilting point-to-point from the 60-degree Diamond Crosshatch. That all was to be the foundation of the Pinwheels design I originally intended to do, but once I got to that point, and after testing on a corner of the quilt, I decided the Equilateral Triangle Grid was enough. 

When decision time came for facing or binding, I decided to go with matched binding, as I didn't really feel that facing would lend anything extra to this particular quilt. So more of Konas White, Black, and Raisin it was, and I'm content with that choice.

Any quilt finish feels good, but honestly, a Bee Sewcial quilt finish (this is my 10th!) always feels a step above. I think it's at least in part due to the sense of responsibility, having set forth a prompt, and then using my bee mates' actual work in my own creation. Personally, at least, I feel a huge commitment to giving it my all, and though Ode to Joy still needs a proper label, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I so want to acknowledge my co-makers of Ode to Joy, Leanne Chahley @shecanquilt,
Stephanie Ruyle @spontaneousthreads, Felicity Ronaghan @felicityquilts, Karen Foster 

@capitolaquilter, M-R Charbonneau @quiltmatters, Jen Broemel @jen.broemel, Tia Curtis @tiacurtisquilts, and Emilie Trahan @mili.tra who, in addition to myself, all pieced several blocks. I seriously loved seeing what gave them joy, and their representations of that. Ode to Joy finished at 57.5" x 80".