Chaotic Order

I looked it up, the definition of chaos: complete disorder and confusion · disarray · havoc · turmoil and on and on. And though the recent class with Libs Elliott included a very unique (and fun!) method for us each to design our own distinctive quilt, the end result seems to me quite the opposite of chaos.

The beautiful and textural Irome Muji cotton/linen blends by Kokka was for me, just perfect for this quilt, a joy to both sew and quilt. I took inspiration from a quilting design from Ashley/Film in the Fridge, rotating her original 90-degrees, which require marking every line, which seemed time-consuming at first, but in actuality went very well.

Photo courtesy of Ashley/Film in the Fridge

For thread, I started out using Aurifil 50wt #2000 (beige), and after a break of several days, inadvertently continued on quilting with another color, #2021 (natural white). Oops! Rather than unpick the whole thing, I kept using both threads, switching them out every several rows. Maybe not ideal, but I can live with it.

Finishing at 48" square, I expect this quilt finds a happy home in our living room, where it coordinates well with our 'wild' chair. It seems meant to be.

This quilt was on my 2016 Finish-A-Long Q2 list!

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday and Finish It Up Friday!

Embrace the Chaos

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending the day with Libs Elliott and the SeattleMQG. The class Libs was in town to teach was Embrace the Chaos, which was a class she taught at QuiltCon. Next best thing to being there, right?

The fabric I took to work with was a bundle of stunning Irome Muji, a cotton/linen blend by Kokka that daughter dear had purchased from Circa15 for my birthday. I also pulled from stash some dark gray chambray and some natural Essex linen, thinking I could use them as fillers as needed.

Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised yet pleased when Libs announced we were going to start our projects like a game show. We chose blocks, called out numbers, rolled a huge fabric die, and colored in a plan.

Up until the coloring I was having a grand ole time. But as silly as it sounds, I wasn't into the coloring, and whether to my detriment or not remains to be seen, but I just started making 6 1/2" blocks.

I managed to get 40 some blocks done (easiest first!), and when I got home, laid them out according to my personalized quilt plan. The lighting wasn't great, and colors may be rearranged as I make the rest of my blocks, but the kinds of blocks are all in their assigned places.

So I totally embraced the chaos of creating my own unique design and quite honestly, I'm anxious to get back to it!

photo courtesy Tawnee/tmamaphresh

If you want to know more about Libs and her work, you will enjoy in the q-niverse: code quilter, published in a recent Generation Q newsletter.