Sidestep

Whew! Finished my Courthouse Colourplay quilt just in the nick of time to link up with Q2 of the Finish-A-Long! Begun in a workshop with Krista Hennebury and Seattle MQG back in April, it took me just a few weeks to finish the top. And then it sat.

There's always something else to do when it comes to a quilt top needing basting. I let the weeks roll by, occupying myself with other projects, then suddenly, it was nearly July, and time was of the essence.

I rummaged through my stash for backing fabrics, and didn't find any prints that worked. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I should use the leftover solids from the quilt top. oh yeah! That's what really set the finishing of this quilt in motion. A simple color-blocked backing was perfect.

I really loved seeing Krista's samples at our workshop, and the quilting she had done on hers was perfect for the quilt design. I'd planned to follow her lead, but the thought of free-motion quilting just plain stymied me, so I opted for another route. But seriously, isn't Krista's quilting a wonderful match for the quilt design?

Used by permission 

So anyway, drawing from Jacquie Gering's Walk, I chose her Tower of Triangles design. What's really unique about this one (at least to me) was that back-stitching was an integral part of the quilting design. That part was fun! I had hera-marked vertical lines every 3" across the quilt, then went back to fill in the columns with the triangles. There was still quite a bit of adjusting the quilt under the needle to get the angles needed, so that was a little tiring, but that said, I'm really very pleased with the overall look and the texture is beyond amazing.

For thread, I used Aurifil 50wt #1231 [Spring Green] which felt very brave on my part, but totally worked. It nestled right in on the brighter green fabrics, and added subtle interest to the other colors. I especially liked it on the light blue, above.

After my first photoshoot with the finished quilt, I realized it was too sunny to get the photos I wanted, but they still show off the quilted texture really well!

Binding was made with two blue/teal solids, also left over from block construction, and just for fun, I included a pieced bit over on the right edge, mirroring the pieced sections throughout the quilt. It finished at 52" x 54", and I am so so pleased with it! I'd been wanting to try Krista's technique for ages, so it's good to have now done that.

Even though my hopes for a fancier photo shoot didn't work out, I kinda like this final shot, taken in our backyard garden. Rain spout, dryer vent, hose and all, it's all very real, isn't it? For today, that feels just about right.

This project was on my 2019 Finish-A-Long Q2 List and I'm linking up my finish!
Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Monthly link-up!