Friday, August 22, 2014

A Friday Finish!

I finished the X-plus quilt!


The recipient specified her love of bright colors, and the rest was up to me. I have been wanting to do a Japanese X-plus quilt ever since that design started showing up on Pinterest (such a great tool for concrete inspiration! here's my patchwork Pinterest board), so here is my first in that vein.

I was pleased that it was not necessary to have the same saturation degree for all of my colors, and still to have it "work". Perhaps it even worked better because--for instance--my orange was not a true orange, but a slightly less aggressive "carrot" (on sale for $3.48 at Connecting Threads). Perhaps the less intense colors make the quilt more live-able.

This quilt required row-by-row piecing of blocks to ensure the background block colors. The basic block has the "plus" in the middle, so, for instance the one gold-background block in the middle zone is actually the intersection of four block corners.

from Portland Modern Quilt Guild
It was long-arm quilted by my dear friend Judy Robey, of Waukee, who took time out from her busy sewing schedule for me. The back is an orange "Quilters Showcase" print I found at Jo-Ann's: in fact I had to go to two separate Jo-Ann's stores to have enough for the back--and I finished off both stores' bolts! Jo-Ann's prices have shot up for the "designer prints"--as high as $12.99 per yard!--but this line of nice modern calicos is always reasonably priced.


Can't wait to get back into the studio next week. My next project involves strip- and possibly crazy-piecing the mounds of scraps in my bins, like this maybe? 
Heartspun Quilts - Pam Buda
...then pairing the strips with large solid blocks. Meanwhile, I'll see if my friend Liz's long-arm is ready for use again, so I can finish up my Paducah 9-patch and send it off to my exceedingly patient cousin in Arizona.












9 comments:

  1. Wow! I love your x plus quilt! I just finished one this week too! Your fabric choices are really great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, it's interesting how similar our color choices were. I like how the criss-cross fades in and out of yours. Yours is much freer in style, almost like something seen underwater. Beautiful!!

      Delete
  2. Your X-plus quilt is amazing, beautiful colors, well done!!

    Visiting from TGIFF.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations on the finish of your man quilt! I love the pattern and may try it some day.

      Delete
  3. So beautiful! I think the differences in the saturation levels make the quilt more interesting, and more beautiful. Great job, and thanks for linking with TGIFF.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for hosting! The hex quilt is stunning.

      Delete
  4. Congratulations on this is gorgeous finish! You did good, you did REAL good! Is this your written diagram?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not my written diagram, it's from the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. Stacey (comment above) did one that puts mine to shame, you should check it out! Also, Leanne (above) has a blog "devoted quilter" that includes Christian devotions, thought of you when I visited.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Greta. I'll check them out.

      Delete