Friday, January 14, 2022

Fall color amid winter gray

 Hi everyone, and happy weekend! Hope you have had a really good week. I finished getting ready for the new semester this week, and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for it. And hey, did you notice that I redecorated? Some of the settings have changed since last time I did this, and I'm not sure what they all do, but I managed to get a nice pretty picture up at the top, and that's what matters, right?

I finished up another quilt top this week in between class prep, and before I show it to you, you'll have to cast your mind back to last fall, which is when this quilt top really should have been finished. But it wasn't, so just try to remember the pretty leaves and how awesome they were. And didn't it smell great?
 
 
Doesn't that seem like a quilt top fit for fall? It certainly looks good and colorful against all the gray in the landscape these days. I know there really weren't any pink leaves, but it needed a little zing, so I threw in some pink scraps, too. I started putting this together last fall, and it's been hanging around here for way too long, just taking up a big space on the design wall. This is the Sunshine pattern by Myra at Busy Hands Quilts, and you can get the pattern right HERE.

 
This quilt was pretty easy, except that I made it hard. It made my brain confused, and it's my own fault. You can see that it is mainly squares and half square triangles, and the pattern shows the quilt made in scraps of just two colors. This would have been so much easier! I decided to use up a number of orange scraps that I had left over from my nephew's quilt, and I threw in a bunch of other scraps that looked like fall leaves, with the second color coming from some golds that a friend gave me. 
 

This was not my best idea ever. Sure, it turned out looking great, but the road there was arduous. I kept turning the hsts in the wrong direction, and putting the wrong color in the wrong place, and then I also had to be sure not to put the same color too close to another piece with same color, you know? For some reason, I just couldn't make sense of how it should go. If you can see the pinwheels in the top, I kept stumbling over those and putting them in the wrong place. This was entirely my own fault for trying to be creative with a pattern I didn't create myself.


I sat down this week and made myself figure it out, and it did turn out well, I think. Look at all the variety in those scraps! (Of course there's a stray thread, too, because I couldn't make something that's not covered in thread. I always think I get them all, but there are always more.) If you decide to make this quilt, I highly recommend putting it together in columns. That would be so much easier than rows! Plus I think it might be easier to get into a rhythm and spot mistakes, too.


This quilt top finished up at about 56 by 72, a nice lap size. I'm pretty sure it's going to become a donation quilt, but it will have to wait its turn to get quilted up because there are several things in line ahead of it. I just ordered a bunch of backings, so I'm pretty excited to get some more things quilted up and moved out.

So there we are-- off the design wall and ready to finish! It was a long road, but it feels good to have gotten this far. Hope you have gotten pretty far along on a project or two as well. And if you know what "custom robot tags" are in Blogger, and what I should do with them, be sure to let me know! This weekend I'm planning to stitch some leftover battings together because the weather looks nasty, and I hope you all have something more fun planned than that! Have a great weekend!


Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, and the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting Patchwork Applique.

20 comments:

piecefulwendy said...

That's a pretty quilt for any time of the year, I think. Love the gold fabrics and how they shine with the scrappy stars. I had to go find the pinwheels - missed them the first time I looked at the quilt. Will be fun to see how you quilt this one, Mari! Nice finish!

Preeti said...

Absolutely gorgeous. Love love love the colors, Mari. Pink belongs totally and scrappy is much better than two colors. I mean come on - why limit yourself to mac and cheese when there is the entire table of Thanksgiving food :-) Perfect remedy for cold and dreary days... other than hugging friends, which we must do soon.

The Joyful Quilter said...

SEW worth the effort (and frustration), Mari... Gorgeous!!!

Elizabeth V Kelbaugh said...

Love the yellow gold stars as the background. Fabulous

Quiltdivajulie said...

Beautiful colors - glad you went scrappy even if it was a challenge.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That's so pretty, Mari! I love how the stars intertwine with each other - even if that did make it challenging to put together. Great colors, too! Thanks for linking to the pattern!

Vicki in MN said...

The stars really pop in that last photo! Nice to get it finished isn't it.

Bonnie said...

I do like that quilt -- especially how scrappy it is. I had to go look at the pattern as I'm looking for something to use up a lot of fat quarters. (Or several quilts to use some up.) Thanks for your take on working with the multiple colors. I've just started a Busy Hands Quilts so probably won't break down and buy another until I get it finished. I hope you don't get inundated with snow Sunday. It "looks" like it'll be a fast dump of snow followed by ice/sleet/rain for us. Good time stitch away and then cuddle under a quilt. Have a great weekend.

ButterZ said...

I do love all the colours of this fun quilt. I’m sure you will get it quilted and it will be beautiful.

Julie in GA said...

What a beautiful, colorful quilt! It's perfect for any season of the year, but I can definitely see the fall inspiration. I love it!

Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty said...

"This quilt was pretty easy, except that I made it hard." Mari, that is the story of my life! : )

Marie-Claude said...

I love the quilt! It’s so cheerful! I can see how easy to have the hst turned the wrong side.

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Wow, this is a cheerful and beautiful quilt top! You made it difficult, but it was worth it. I love the scrappy golden background and all these colors together!
Thank you for sharing your beauty, and linking up today ;)

Karen's Korner said...

You have definitely captured Fall in that pretty quilt. Well done.

Kim said...

Well, if there are no pink Fall/Autumn leaves, then there should be. =) The inclusion of the pink into your quilt was just meant to be; an inspired choice. All those colours dancing together are magic. Such a beautiful quilt! LOVE the last photo. Your beautiful quilt sings a most colourful song against the wintry backdrop.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I love seeing it in winter!!!! the colors are so happy and bring you back to a more colorful time!

cityquilter grace said...

gosh that is sooo pretty and colorful in this drab season...

grammajudyb said...

This is a great quilt! I can see how it might have been confusing to get the pinwheels in the right position! Hooray for perseverance!Hold onto your hat! I’m thinking your weather has changed! Oh btw! I like your new header photo! I need to change up mine too!

Kathleen said...

Its one gorgeous quilt! I would do exactly the same thing if I were making it - complicate it and twist things around! I actually think this is a perfect winter pick me up quilt too! Congrats on getting your top done!

gayle said...

Your stars quilt does look like a brain-stretcher! Luckily, it's absolutely gorgeous!