SLW is quilted

This quilt has been a worrisome thing. I've enjoyed the celebrations, but the fretting parts have not been fun. There's so much to it though, that I feel compelled to deal with the parts, good and bad.

The sun makes a stained glass illusion.

After the Sherry Lynn Wood workshop, I thought seriously of abandoning the chunks of fabric that I'd put together but guild sisters said to keep going. I decided to take it on as part of the Cotton Quilters "Finish on a UFO" challenge. 

I like the purples, which may be blue in reality.

I tossed in AHIQ's hourglass challenge--because what's a challenge without a challenge and I'm an idiot, sometimes--and found that I really liked how the hourglass blocks helped to make sense of it all. Then AHIQ helped again when I remembered the old Chinese coins challenge and used that to come up with a setting. Ann and Kaja, thanks for the help!

a row of hour glass blocks

The idea of quilting this was overwhelming. I folded it up and put it in the "to be quilted" bin, where the possibility of never looking at it again is kind of real. But where would that get me after all the other challenges? So a week or so later, I made a backing, loaded everything on, and tried to make a plan. 

Some of the original pieces

I should have known better. I don't make plans! Those are throwbacks from the old teaching days when everything was planned, or schemed. :) No, these days I have to plug in the machine and hold onto the handles. Something happens. Some times I have to rip out the stitches, but mostly I just play along with the muse that is the machine. (Doesn't that have a poetic ring?)

The neutral has a green undertone that may influence the binding.
But it's too soon to tell.

The quilting is rather unconventional. I mostly followed the shapes, but occasionally added some sort of motif in areas that needed additional quilting. I like that quilting it this way tends to draw people in because the motifs are a surprise. The kids started looking for circles and other shapes. They asked a couple of times how many to look for. I haven't the slightest idea! Ask the muse.

Linking up with
For the love of geese #47 Thanks, Denise!

SLW quilt ~~ a finished top

I started this quilt in a Sherry Lynn Wood workshop back in November. Since it was a two day workshop, I brought home only the beginnings of something. I could not determine what that something was. Can you tell from this picture that I was not impressed? Thanks to my friend Glen of Quilts and Dogs for taking this shot when I was completely lost in my piece.

In January I challenged the Cotton Quilters' Guild to bring a difficult unfinished project to the next meeting. At that time we would each present the project and tell the group what our challenge was. In March we were to bring the project to show. The beauty of the idea was that everyone got to choose her own piece and decide for herself what she would try to accomplish. 

 For example, one lady brought in a completed top and challenged herself to have it quilted (though not necessarily completed). I brought in the "SLW mess" and challenged myself to figure it out and complete the top. In March I would show the top and challenge myself to quilt (or complete) it.

Since AHIQ (adhocimprovequilts.blogspot.com) was having an hourglass challenge, I decided to add a few hourglasses. That was the pivoting point. After that the pieces seemed to just make themselves. 

As you all know there have been all manner of crazy things happening in the world. The March meeting was a sewing room tour and, because of the Coronavirus, we won't meet in April. 

I decided that I would still meet the challenge and get it to a completed top for the beginning of April. But look at that messy confusion on the design wall. I needed a strategy. Back to AHIQ, of course. At one point we had a Chinese Coins challenge going...What if? 

   



I tested my theory and voila! If you have too much happening, separate the confusion. Calm it, slow it, sort it. Just do something to give the eye a way to see the ideas individually. I used every inch of the neutral. Otherwise I'd have made the top and bottom strips wider to make the quilt longer. I am much happier with it now, however. I'm not exactly looking forward to quilting it, but once it's on the longarm, something will happen.