One More Time

After finishing up my recent Both Sides Now, I had scraps! And rather than toss them in the scrap basket, I started to piece them together, made a small quilt top (first photo), then a few days later, cut it up and pieced it back together again (second photo). Then it waited for me for a couple of weeks while I worked on other things.

So I finally got back to it over the weekend. Luckily I hadn't put away the stack of fabric I'd pulled from to support those scraps - a Marcia Derse print, Spotted Graffiti in Thimbleberry, along with Konas Lipstick, Poppy, Eggplant, Sangria, Tomato, Wine, and Rich Red. Kind of an odd combination, but even so, I really love it.

Along with the quilt front, I'd pieced a back. 

And for quilting, I pulled several Aurifil threads in several weights - 50wt 1103 [Burgundy] and 2250 [Red], 40wt 2570 [Aubergine], and 28wt 2260 [Wine] and 2265 [Lobster Red]. 

I did vertical straight-line quilting with the red threads to start, ranging from 1/16" to 5/16". And then I went back and did some fancy straight-line using the purple. In retrospect, that purple thread stands out an awful lot, but I do enjoy the added angles it adds to the piece.

The piece is bound in Kona Wine and measures 16" x 22.5". I had a little trouble getting good clear photos of it, but the one below is the truest of them all.

This piece was totally for fun, and wouldn't you know, I still have scraps left! Hmmm. What to make?

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Monthly Linky.

A Rich Red Report

Remember last spring when I decided to purchase a good amount of Kona Rich Red and use it in each future project - for as long as that felt like a good idea - ? Well, there were several cases (gift, bee quilt, color-guided challenge) where that wasn't feasible. But I was still happy to see that since last May, I used it a little or a lot, in five quilt finishes.

Rich Red I

eXtra

Let's Eat!

Italiano antico

Red Cross Meets Very Peri

When I refreshed my solid stash last week, I included another couple of yards of Rich Red, as I plan to continue with my personal challenge going forward into this year. Maybe not every quilt, of course, but I definitely hope to continue the focus. We'll see where it takes me.

Italiano antico

You may remember I shared with you several weeks ago about the Old Italian blocks I was making, and the dilema I was facing that would complicate the trimming later. I liked my plan, and spent the next several weeks making blocks, piecing a top, and quilting. But when that quilting was done, rather than trimming at an angle as planned, I trimmed the quilt square and proceeded to bind it right up that evening. It was only as I was editing photos yesterday that I remembered!! OH WELL. Hubby and I really like it as it is, though, so I guess it was meant to be.

So more about the quilt, as it really was an enjoyable process. It all began with a stash of crossweaves, chosen in an intentional analogous color scheme. All of the 6.5" X blocks were made with them, using a tutorial by Barbara Black/@bbquiltmaker. They made up pretty quickly, and it was fun to mix up the colors. Then came adding background squares to create the layout, in a part of the original plan that I actually followed through with! I cut squares in Kona Rich Red, Cotton Couture Paprika, Cotton Couture Cherry, Kona Red, Kona Cosmos, Kona Cardinal, Kona Pimento, and Kona Flame; and you may be able to tell that the colors change left to right across the quilt top.

For the pieced backing, I chose primarily Kona Cosmos, the 2022 Kona Color of the Year. I had stashed a couple of yards for a project featuring it, but after piecing the Old Italian quilt top, I knew it was too perfect not to use here. And I love it. As you can see, I incorporated several other solids, and a striped scrap that also found its way into the front.

So for quilting, I chose three Aurifil 28wt threads, #2260 [Wine], #2265 [Lobster Red], and #2270 [Paprika]. They were used in an orderly fashion, but unfortunately with the bold colors of the quilt, their differences aren't really obvious in photos. 

But the diagonal grid quilting went very well, and using a 50wt #2250 [Red] (not shown) in my bobbin worked nicely too. I did find I needed to stitch just a tad slower than normal, but I like the result.

I intentionally left the Xs unquilted, and later went back in for some big-stitch quilting with Aurifil 12wt #2260 [Wine]. Perfect it's not, but I love the look, and it was a pleasure to stitch.

The quilt was bound with a traditional hand-sewn binding in Kona Rich Red, and measures 56" x 56". Even though it's not quite what I had in my mind's eye at the outset, it was a joy to make, and I'm more than happy with the finish. That's more than enough, I think.