It's the first finish of the year! Yoohoo! All washed up and nicely crinkled, just like I prefer them.
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| #AHIQStringTulipQAL |
This was an
Adhoc Improv. challenge involving string piecing and tulips. I didn't actually do much string piecing {only in the tulips}, but challenged myself to use a difficult stack of fabric instead. There's something about these particular tones of blue that I've always balked at using and they were starting to pile up!
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| First completed quilt for 2023! |
That's the problem with me and challenges. Sometimes the challenge itself doesn't end up being what kickstarts my brain and I end up having to do a little end run around it to even get started.
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| Loving the outside border |
Oh well. This stack of fabric had been simmering on my counters for a long time and needed some tender loving care. I ended up having to go back into the totes and add more of the blue just to make the quilt large enough. Nice way to pare down the problem fabric though. Don't you like all the odd fabrics that I've thrown into this quilt?
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| Looking across |
If you were to ask me, I'd say the quilt has purple in it, but no... it really doesn't. The periwinkle blues mixed with the pink just trick my mind into thinking there's purple included. I set out thinking this was a guaranteed 'give-away' quilt, but somehow while working on it, I sort of fell in love. There's just something so sweet and spicy about the orange, pink and blue together.
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| A close up of the border stitching and binding |
That last applique addition of the mixed salmon pink basket handles wrapped the quilt up so nicely! And the pink and white Hawaiian print fabric used in the border makes me smile so big. How could I have found anything else that would have worked better?
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| The 25-Patch top is done! |
On a different note, the 25-Patch HST quilt top is finally sewn into a top now. It looks better to me after adding on the sashing strips to the outside.
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| Got a slightly childish vibe |
Though I intended to use a lot of cheddar on the outside, the quilt had other ideas. Boohoo.
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| Must be the crayon colors! |
I'm satisfied overall with the random placement of hst's, but I can't say this was an
easy quilt to put together. Mostly I tried to balance overall instead of block by block.
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| Does it look vintage-y at all? Hmm.. Maybe not. |
Whether this ends up being the front of a quilt or the back is the real question! We'll see. I'm super happy to have used up some of these languishing fabrics in such a carefree looking top, so there's that. Over and over I find myself amazed by how much potential the stash totes truly have.
Still. After a couple years now of digging and digging and digging through them....
Congratulations on your 1st finish for 2023!
ReplyDeleteI love the pink/orange handles too!
so many HST's I was tempted to start one that had that many but haven't - congrats on your finish!
ReplyDeleteYes, salmon pink handles are just the ticket to finish another beauty of a quilt, Audrey. So loved seeing all aspects of this one as I love tulips so much. What a great motif they are and esp. in your capable imaginative hands! I would love to be swayed by colourful hst's too...
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a gorgeous finish! You are so right about the endless treasures in the totes!
ReplyDeleteEl color azul es mi preferido, le ha quedado un quilt precioso y alegre
ReplyDeleteel ajuar de beatriz
Love the tulip quilt and I like the 25 patch. I love the colours in the tulip quilt. All the different blues, pinks and orange, really good combinations.
ReplyDeleteAnd the simplicity of the pattern of the 25 patch I like very much.
I absolutely LOVE your finished tulip quilt. Who cares about end runs when you get results like this?!!! And your HST 25 patch came together really well. Like you, I am so grateful for my resource and crumb boxes! Quiltdivajulie
ReplyDeleteYes! Loving your HST 25 patch quilt, it certainly looks vintage-y to me! And so satisfying to use up some of those older fabrics. Maybe there's still hope for the cheddar "pop' in the binding later on?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the finish of String Tulips, the quilt looks stunning, beautifully soft too I should think with your hand quilting. Your beautiful 25 patch definitely has that vintage look to it, it's so pretty.
ReplyDeleteBravo! I love how you took colours that aren't in your comfort zone and still made a quilt that unmistakably has your style. The deep blues sit beautifully with all the orange/pink/red tones.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that was Kaja, sewslowly@gmail.com.
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