Raw II

It appears that Spring is finally here!  I've been waiting for the weather to warm up so I can get outside and thaw out.  It also means there are plenty of nasty weeds going crazy in the flower beds!  I've spent the last few days pulling and yanking and prepping the beds.  Hopefully today will be the last of that for a little while.  

All the yard work has left me zero time to quilt.  Which is making me crazy!!  I need to get busy and get caught up.  I have half a dozen new things happening in the quilting saga and little time to share!

That being said, I finally got some pictures of one mini quilt I'm anxious to show you!  

RAW II
13 1/2" x 17"

I had been wanting to make another mini in my 'RAW' series, but I just hadn't been able to sit myself down and do it!  You can read about my first adventure here:  'RAW I'.  I talk about my crazy obsession with scraps, raw edge weaving and how I went about coming up with the design. 

This time I wanted to focus on Violet.  Or Purple.  Ultra Violet is the 2018 Pantone Color of the Year, and since I had a few purple/violet raw edge woven squares to work with, I thought it was a good time to incorporate Ultra Violet into this design.  



I started very simple by adding Kona Silver around the woven squares.  With the squares being pretty small (1 3/4" finished), I knew I'd have to come up some other mind blowing idea to up the ante a little bit. 

A long time ago, I played with a piping-like idea in a quilt that I loved and decided this was the time to explore it a little more.  I couldn't be happier with the results!



I ransacked my solids stash looking for anything in the purple family.  The idea I had required a lot of parts and pieces.  The more the merrier!



What I came up with is pure magic!  To me it's magic!  I ended up with the gradient effect and the texture I was after.  



Every time I walked by this quilt I couldn't help but rub my hand across it and feel the texture!  It's hard to capture that in pictures.  The other thing that mesmerizes me  is how it changes as you walk around it.  It's like an optical illusion!  



And you know full well that I have another one in the works!  Just as soon as my weeds are pulled!



I couldn't help but show the back!  You get the full effect of the gradation with the colors.



I kept it pretty simple with the quilting.  I used Aurifil thread Pale Lilac (#2564), which if you look really, really, really close you can tell it's lilac!  



I've been planning the next version of a quilt using this technique.  A baby quilt will be a good size to practice with and see if its worth pursuing...I think it will be!



If I could only find the time...

I have more ideas than hours in a day!  Complaining I am not!  I love trying things that are unconventional in quilt making.  This one renews that excitement of quilting that has always inspired me to take chances!

What is the most unconventional method or thing you have used in a quilt?  

LINKING:

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