No. 20

No. 20

36.5" x 36.5"

This one started from a small watercolor sketch in my notebook. I was surprised when I finished the quilt at how closely it resembled the sketch. 

It is difficult pulling a color palette when using solids. They never seem to look like what I think they are going to look like. For this one I used only fabrics I had in my stash. This meant I had to do some planning and some math. As you will note, each additional row outward gets bigger, which means that for the outer rows, I needed to make sure I had enough fabric. This quilt is small enough that it did not ultimately make much of a difference.  However, when I started it, I loved it so much, I thought about going really big! And, I probably can still do that on another quilt, it just takes more planning to ensure I have enough fabric.  

I really enjoyed working with all the blue combinations for the blocks.

I also enjoyed adding the pops of thin color strips on the design wall, and then slowly filling in with the blue blocks. The process of working with the colors was enjoyable!

Also of note: the building of this type of quilt, starting from a small point and building outward, tends to distort the shape after a few rows.  To adjust for that, I carefully trimmed each row after adding it to the whole using a large cutting mat with a grid on it. The unintended consequence is that while adding each row and handling the quilt top a lot, previous rows will come unstitched. It is really important, right after trimming, to add a small stay stitch across the seam (at the edge). This prevents the unwanted unraveling of my work.

After completing the top, the basting is next.

Then the quilting. I opted to work from the middle outward to machine stitch the pink and orange strips. Then I tucked the thread ends inside the quilt sandwich. This allowed me to remove all the safety pins before doing the hand quilting. 

I really love the combination of machine quilting and hand quilting. Although this example is not the most innovative of artistic choices for this quilt. Quilting adds texture to a quilt, and I like to balance that texture in a way that does not interfere with the design choices of the quilt top. 

Last up with the binding, hanging tube and the quilt label.

I had fun with the hand quilting for this project even though it takes longer. It is nice to add balance to my work by slowing down.