A Big Leap Forward

I bought this yardage a long time ago

to use as a quilt backing.

I've paired it with several tops along the way

but it has always been returned to 

the backing stash before being used.

Until now.

When I read Monica's latest post  about her recent fabric pull,

something in my head connected several sets of dots.

One - a stash pack of pinks and greens purchased 

during Wanda's most recent pop-up shop

which inspired the idea of a pink/green string quilt.

Two - the backing shown above with all its glorious colors.

Three - my series of NOT a Mystery quilts

And voila - 

another squirrel moved into my studio.

With the basic fabric pull in mind,

I went to my Unconventional and Unexpected 

(by Roderick Kiracofe) book

to look for inspiration and ideas.

This String with Broken Grid (NC, 1950-1975)

has always appealed to me and

will now serve as the jumping off point

for a quilt I have named Agglomeration.

(noun, meaning a jumbled cluster or mass of varied parts)

After pondering the fabric pull to determine

which of the colors would be used for the sashing strips,

I decided on the aquas.

Yardage was enhanced with a few fat quarters 

and pieces from the aqua resource box.

Each of the color groups was similarly enhanced

using their respective resource boxes since I am such

a big fan of scrappy overload (controlled or otherwise). 

After a bit of calculating with paper and pencil,

I will make thirty-five 8" (fin.) string blocks

using the neutrals, pinks, yellows, purples, and greens

for a quilt top in the 50" x 70" range.

And for now I am thinking I will use this for binding.

* * *

I really NEED to make another set of the gift bags

and/or spend some focused FMQ time with Max -

but I suspect I will find myself cutting strips instead.

(if nothing else so I can clear off the drafting table

in order to pin baste Merry and Bright)

(p.s. Our 5-year-old grandson HIGHLY recommends

this book and the two that came after it)

Quiltdivajulie

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“I went through this phase where I thought pink and purple matched.  To dance class, I’d wear purple tights and pink leg warmers and paint my shoes purple.”

Carrie Ann Inaba