This week I finished another quilt which makes #13 for 2017. I’m calling this “Rainbow Wedge” as it was constructed without a pattern. For the background fabric and binding, I used Riley Blake Designs Riley Blenders C200 from 2011. I bought several yards of this when my local fabric store went out of business because I like the grunge pattern on the fabric and how versatile it is. The variations in the charcoal sections are very striking in person. The triangles are all made from 5″ squares and I sewed and cut them using the easy HST method which yields two half-square triangles from each 5″ square of print and background. All the colored prints came from my stash of fabric which means that I’ve done what I always swore I would not do when I started quilting: I’ve built up a stash of leftover scraps and fabric I haven’t yet used in a project. So I went around merrily pulling out fabric and cutting 5″ squares. This was a bit tedious but I did discover parcels of fabric I’d forgotten I owned, so that was useful and got my mind thinking about new projects.
This quilt was constructed using my favorite Leaders and Enders method. I put the stack of background squares and print squares by my sewing machine and while working on other projects, I always started and ended each set of seams with one of these squares. When I had a bunch sewn, I cut and pressed them until I had used up all the print squares and had a stack of background squares left. Since I tend to do scrappy quilts in a bit of a free-form way, I had counted and measured how many squares I wanted in the finished quilt so it would end up being the size I wanted, and cut that many background squares. Then I cut a variety of colors. When they were gone, it was time to lay it out and see what colors I needed more of to create a varied spectrum and a pleasing look. Then I scrambled around in my stash to cut more print squares to fill in the blanks. Once they were are all sewn, cut, and pressed, I laid it out on my design wall and my floor and sewed the rows together while working on other projects. Once the rows were all sewn and pressed, I focused on finishing it by sewing the rows together and getting it to the quilter.
I used a gray print I had acquired on sale and had in my stash for the backing and had it quilted at Utah Valley Quilters using gray thread and their “Waves” pattern. I love how the wavy quilting gives a movement and flow to the angular form of the top and softens it.
It’s fun to find a pattern with lots of intricate piecing, but it’s also fun to find a basic pattern and design your own quilt as I did here. I hope someone else loves “Rainbow Wedge” as much as I do. Scott says every quilt I finish becomes my new favorite and he’s probably right!
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