Crossed Paths

It's kinda funny how things work out sometimes. Remember when I made Crazy Rainbow a while back for the Mini Quilt Swap? Simply put, I never received a mini back. Which happens sometimes, but still was disappointing. Enough said. Well last week, some swap angels, purely out of the kindness of their hearts, stepped up to make mini quilts pronto for the few of us that had been missed. Now how nice is that?!

Yesterday I received this delightful creation by Kristan of doodle do designs!

She called it Crossed Paths, due to the curious nature of our 'meeting' and just look at those details! A wonky cross block, that straight yet organic quilting, the striped bit in the binding, and that pieced back. It's me, don't you think?

So I'm beyond pleased, the swap has come to a more than satisfying finish for me, and I've been reminded of a couple of important things . . . good things sometimes do come to those who wait, and stepping forward to be an "angel" is a really really kind thing to do. End of story.

Blogger's Quilt Festival :: Crazy Rainbow {ROYGBIV Quilt}

It's my pleasure to introduce you to Crazy Rainbow, my entry in the ROYGBIV Quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. It was made expressly for my secret partner in the Mini Quilt Swap, and will be on its way to her in the next few days. 

I'd been itching to made a churn dash quilt ever since seeing HoosierToni's double. And then I decided why not make a triple? Which was just perfect for the rainbow I had in mind for my swap partner. And the crazy idea to crazy-piece? I have no idea where that came, except quite possibly my overflowing scrap basket! It was time-consuming to say the least, and after the first red-orange-yellow block, I really wasn't sure if I should continue. But encouraged along by my Instagram buddies, I forged ahead and am super happy I did.

Though the quilt front had many fans, there were also a few who felt it needed more contrast. I love the hazy look of it but with a nod to the others I pieced another triple for the backing, only this time in solids.

The back set on an angle, the mini is quilted with a wonky spiral using King Tut "Jacob's Coat". Rather than traditional binding, I used Elizabeth/OccasionalPiece-Quilt!'s tutotial for a faced binding.

I'm pretty sure this was a first for me, and it went together really well. I love the clean look of the borderless finished front.

When doing a swap project such as this, I often use it as an opportunity to try something new or come up with my own interpretation of a design. So creating Crazy Rainbow was a gratifying journey of discovery, one I'm happy to have traveled on.

Quilt stats:

Finished size: 23" square
Pattern: churn dash, beginning with this tutorial

Fabric: front is entirely pieced with scraps; 
backing in Kona Cotton Solids in Tomato, Orange, Canary, Grass Green, Peacock, 
Marine, & Dark Violet;
Faced binding: Timeless Treasures Rain Basic in Black

Quilted by: myself, using a walking foot 

 Category: ROYGBIV Quilts

My previous entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival:

Absolutely Mod Pop, 5/19/13

HST Love, 5/17/13

The Stars of Summer, 10/26/12

Hopscotch, 5/19/12

Mango Revisited, 10/28/11

Supernova, 5/13/11

Also linking up with Finish It Up Friday, Fabric Tuesday, & Little Quilt Monday. This project was on my Q4 FAL list!

2013 Finish-A-Long: Q4 List

Please don't laugh. But yesterday when I was mulling over this list, there was only one thing that could truthfully go on it, and that would be the Polaroid Blocks that the Always Bee Learning Bee had put together for me.


The Star Bright quilt, the other project that I had in mind to complete in Q4, got finished before I got around to writing my list!

This isn't to say I didn't have oodles of projects in my head for this next quarter; in fact a few even have deadlines! BUT they weren't started yet.

SO, in an effort to have a respectable list, I quickly started a few of those projects . . .

• At this point, this project shall remain nameless, but I have a tutorial in the works, as well as a mini quilt, and it all starts with this little block.

• Another project I've been wanting to tackle is the "For Pleat's Sake!" Tote Bag by U-handbag. So I've cut my fabrics (more on them later), and the leather handles are headed my way.

• And finally, I'm been wanting to do some scrappy piecing as well as make some Churn Dash blocks. AND I've entered the Mini Quilt Swap. So I'm going to combine these three. Here's my start:

So there, I feel better now. There's plenty more on my mind, and I expect the unplanned as always, but for now, it's a good start.

Linking up with the 2013 FAL Q4.