Handsome in red

 Hi everyone! How was your week? I'm happy to tell you that my head is a bit better. It helps to stay indoors, away from the nasty allergens outside. Thankfully, it is plenty warm and humid, so I don't mind it so much. But I do hate the treadmill! It's much better to walk outside. 

 

So, I would have shown off this quilt top much sooner today, but Google was acting very strange. It didn't want to upload photos or save things, which seem to be among its primary functions. Anybody else have that happen? Maybe it was messed up by our recent storms. It was frustrating, but I finally got everything put together correctly, just to show off this handsome red and twisty quilt top:

 

 

Hurray, it's together! This is the quilt I'm making for Preeti's Positivity quilt along, which benefits Mercyful Quilts. There is still time to jump in, and Preeti has a very easy and genius method for making the blocks. They go really fast, and even I could not mess them up.

I wanted to make my quilt gender neutral and good for anyone, and I also wanted to use up these fabrics that are not really my style. I think I succeeded on both counts. I think it looks kind of woodsy and cozy and good for people who like many different things. This quilt top finishes up at just about 60 by 76, which makes for a nice generous size.

You'll notice that I didn't make 80 blocks, as directed in the pattern. Yeah, I kind of ran out of the tan fabric. I made as many blocks as I could, then dug through a couple of bins and found these pieces that I had cut from a panel. Thank goodness I save everything, because I was able to piece them together into two large blocks to fill out the quilt top. I like how they look like puzzle pieces, too. I also added a narrow border all around the top just to corral all those seams and bring up the size a little bit.

I had to piece together the final three blocks from the leftover bits and pieces of the tan fabric. It wasn't that difficult, but I did sweat it out a bit. I did have a backup plan if I needed it, but thank goodness I didn't. As it turns out, the fabric in the picture above is literally all that's left of the tan fabric. I can't even say how happy it makes me to use all of that up. Unloved fabric turned into something cozy to comfort someone? Yes, please!

So, there is my finished quilt top! I was thinking about how to quilt this, and I think it's just going to get straight lines. I like cross hatching, so I might do that instead, but I think the straight lines would work really well for this. Open to other suggestions! I have enough of the red left for a binding, and I'm thinking about just a plain tan for the back. We'll see what I can find lurking in the stash. Before anybody asks, I did wash the red fabric before I used it, so I'm hoping it doesn't bleed. I'll wash it again before I send it off, too.

And there we are! It seems that Google is behaving now, so I'll get this posted. This weekend we are going to see my parents, which is always a treat. They now use their oven to store cookies, and have discovered the joys of takeout. I think that's the makings of a great visit! Everyone enjoy your weekend!

Sharing at Finished or not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting Patchwork Applique, and the Positivity linkup at Needle and Foot.