Friday, December 14, 2018

Hiding in Plain Sight

There was a time not too long ago when every quilt I made was photographed and blogged about the second it was finished.  It was a stead fast goal of mine to finish a quilt before I would start a new project.  That doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about the next project, it meant I had to wait and that was pretty exciting to me.  There were never WIP's, never a pile of quilts to quilt, and I was proud of that.

Somewhere along the way my rules changed.  I became a rebel!  Okay, not so much a rebel maybe I loosened up a little bit!  I'm certainly not complaining!  With my new found freedom I've discovered a quilt or three that was stowed in my closet waiting for...what?  I don't even know!  I probably shoved it in there so I could make room for another project to get underway!  I know it's not abnormal to have half a dozen things happening all at once, every one does, and I shall not dwell on the good old days, instead I'll embrace it and move on!


54" x 72"
I'm intrigued by geometric shapes and half-square triangles are a fantastic way to experiment and play.  I could spend hours if not days turning, flipping and moving the blocks to create different patterns.  I've fallen in the rabbit hole far too many times!

This time I stuck with a plan and besides moving a few background pieces, it was written in stone!  The squares and rectangles are Kona Nautical, which in this picture look black, but in reality it's a very dark blue.  I arranged them semi haphazardly and filled in with a lot of blue and green HST's in many different shades.  


When I start a quilt like this, I grab every fabric in the color scheme I'm going for and cut all my squares.  Generally I'll cut 2-5 squares in each color, but it depends on big my chunk of fabric is.  Then I'll grab my stack and randomly pair up sets.  That way I'll have a bunch of different combinations of colors after the HST's are made.  Random is better for me.  


They say variety is the spice of life and that holds true for me...but only when it comes to quilting and fabric!  

Sometimes when I'm pulling fabrics for a 'theme' color quilt, there are shades I'm not in love with.  I have to force myself to use them anyway.  I may only cut 1 or 2 blocks, but I throw them in the mix for variety sake.  


What would a geometric quilt be without geometric quilting?  I printed a coloring sheet via EQ8 and began the intense quilting process.  I started with the squares and rectangles first.  Stitching in the ditch and then quilting a 2" grid inside each shape.  After that it was a puzzle of lines.  I tried to keep a flow with the lines so it didn't look too haphazard in the end.  It worked and every inch was covered!


As always there were blocks left over and as almost always I didn't have a large enough piece of fabric for the entire back!  By adding the extra blocks to the back I was able to stretch my backing to fit and give the back a little visual interest as well.

The backing is Kona Pickle, which I love!  It's a rather bold and different kind of color that not everyone is attracted to.  


I added a binding of Nautical and this guy was done!  Well, this guy was stuffed in a closet!  When I finally released it from purgatory, I washed and dried it for the a true finish!  To me, a quilt isn't truly finished until it's been washed! 


I do want to get back on track a little bit with project finishing.  Maybe that should be my New Year Resolution?!  Probably not!  I've never ever ever followed through on a resolution...why start now!

Being the end of the year, do you scramble to finish WIP's and UFO's?  I know I do!  I want the old gone and make room for the new!

LINKING:


25 comments :

  1. The quilting really makes it! In my quest to make a plan for 2019 I have come across several forgotten projects, too.

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    1. I think most of us like fresh starts, especially with out forgotten projects!

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  2. love your new quilt. I remember back 30 years ago that I made one quilt at a time from start to finish and it usually took me 1 year to make each of those quilts - then something happened and I went crazy LOL

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    1. When we first started quilting it was all we could do to finish one quilt! Years later we improved our skills and frankly, became obsessed!

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  3. That is a great finish!! And yes - I want to finish a lot more things before the end of the year.... but then.... there is So many new things to start ( ha ha ha)

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  4. Really fun! I find tho I DO like finishing UFOs by the end of the year, most of December is working on Christmas gifts & wrapping. So I'll see if I can't finish up a couple of things between Christmas and NY!

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    1. There is a measure of satisfaction when clearing out the ‘old’! I say that as I look at several unfinished projects hanging on my wall…stuffed in a closet…Good intentions!

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  5. I like trying to tidy up my to-do list at the end of the year. Having a fresh start can feel so good, and the new year seems as good a time as any for trying to accomplish that. Nautical is a great color and unifier for the other colors in the quilt!

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  6. I am struggling to finish orders and commitments I made before the end of the year.
    But I am getting closer day by day. Love your quilt with the pop of navy!

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  7. this is awesome! thanks for sharing your process. I am so busy right now, I have several started projects set aside to finish in the new year. fingers crossed!

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  8. I love it, Jayne! The Nautical stands out so beautifully from the other colours and the quilting is fantastic.

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  9. Beautiful combo of colors on this - glad you finally shared it!

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  10. It looks great Jayne, I can see the blue in one of the pictures. It's a great colour. I continue to make way more tops than finishes, I doubt that will change much...maybe when I am working less.

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  11. What a neat quilt! Love the color play in it. Yeah, I'm the same way about needing to wash it before I call it finished. I love finding older projects that have been set aside for ages - it's like getting to start something new, almost!

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  12. This is a fantastic quilt with all those fun colors! Love the Pickle color, so I'm adding that to my fabric wish list. I've put a sizeable dent in my ages old UFO stack this year, but won't be able to get the rest done. Ah well, a dent is better than nothing, right?!

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  13. Gorgeous piece, Jayne! I love the deep, dark blue shapes! This year I seem to want to finish UFOs, but that isn't always true. Since it's my hobby, I try to just do the stuff that seems fun this week. Next week, something else will call me :)

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  14. So glad you found this one....it's awesome. I always scramble to finish, but never seem to do so LOL

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  15. Awesome finish! Great post, too!

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  16. I love it- the shapes, the colours, the quilting, the snuggle factor! I'd like to think I'd have everything finished for the new year, but with so many projects at varying stages, that's not going to happen. I'll put my head down and plough on.....!

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  17. December and January are my slowest months so it is a time I use to get organized. Maybe even some housework might get done ;)

    Lovely finish. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  18. So pretty, you always have that way with HSTs! I scramble at the end of every quarter, thanks to the FAL!!! lol!

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  19. I love designs with HSTs, Jayne - just as you said, there's so much you can do with them! The way you organized the Kona Nautical to make the squares and rectangles is really neat. Fun seeing your quilting plan, too!

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    1. HST’s are fun and I’m sure will make many more appearances in 2019! There are so many options it’s hard not explore them!

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  20. A wonderful finish! And I enjoyed reading your post, lots of things to think about, how we start, stop, revisit, etc...

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