Incandescent - the Quilt

The seeds for this quilt arrived in September 2023 when Wanda and I shared a fabric swap.   

I got serious about the project in January 2025 when I cut lots of additional 2" strips from my stash.

Inspired by my Hoppipolla quilt, I adjusted the math from 1.5" strips to 2" and started with my original plan - light outer strips and a warm-toned color in the center - you can see the test blocks HERE.

Even though we initially liked those test blocks, by April I realized I was avoiding the project because that "like" had disappeared.  

I unpinned all of the sets and re-did them into the blocks you see in the finished quilt.

By August I was stitching the blocks as leader-enders while I pieced the rows and top for Grandiose.

The flimsy (quilt top) was finished in October 2025, as were the backing and binding.

And then other things took priority and the quilting had to wait.  

The quilt sandwich was pin basted at the very end of February 2026 . 

And now, at last, Incandescent is finished.

It measures 51" x 70" and was quilted using Glide thread in Coral and my liberated all-over free motion spiral fans.

Backing - Benartex Fabrics Flower Festival - Pansy Display - in Crocus

Binding - Kaffe Fassett's Shiraz PWGP194

Gifting will take place in mid-April but I can enjoy it until then.

* * *

Next up for pin basting and quilting will be Daydreams (formerly known as Tropical Canyon), the second of the three gift quilts. 

A while ago, Lynne bought yardage to back one of her quilts and wasn't entirely thrilled with how it "fit" upon its arrival.  

She offered it to me and I knew it was perfect for this quilt top but the original name no longer fit, hence the change.

Quiltdivajulie

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Thought for today:  Why the push for quilters to use up their stash?  No one asks stamp collectors to mail letters . . . 

Scintillating - Start to Finish

Last September, Wanda sold me these eighteen multi-sized liberated/wonky log cabin blocks.  

I immediately named the project Scintillating (meaning animated, vivacious, effervescent)

Despite having lots of ideas, nothing happened other than these photos of the blocks.

Wanda generously included a small handful of KF strips in the package, so I put those with the blocks in a project box.

Fast forward to late February.  I decided to use the blocks for a wallhanging rather than trying to add more blocks to make a lap quilt.  Each block was enlarged so that it could be squared at 8.5"

In order to use all eighteen blocks, I went with a 3 wide x 6 long arrangement, knowing that the finished piece would hang in our dining room.

As things evolved, I decided to add vertical sashing strips between the three columns.  My first thought back when the blocks first arrived was to use one of the bold KF Collective black and white prints as sashing.  Time tempered that idea and I chose this KF print instead.  (and I'm very glad I did)

For the backing I chose one of my all-time favorite KF prints - Jungle Paisley - in green.  

Quilted with liberated all-over spiral fans using Glide thread in Lavender (top) and Basil (bobbin).

Binding is from the same yardage as the sashing.

The colors in this photo are very true to life.  

I am SO happy with the way it all came together.

Final size is 26.5" wide x 47" long.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Surround yourself with the risk takers, storytellers, creators, truth seekers, artists, adventurers, and dream makers, but mostly surround yourself with the people who draw that same magic out of you.”

Brooke Hampton

Progress Update - Colorwash 360

When this photo was taken,

I had webbed roughly half of my 

color wash quilt top.

IF ONLY I had noticed it at this point . . . 

After somewhere between 5 and 6 hours of work,

I had the top completely sewn together

and pressed so it was ready for basting.

But where did that elongated yellow line come from?!

I pulled out my photo (top) of the squares 

when they were still pinned on the design wall

and compared it to the photo (bottom)

 of the finished top and THERE it was . . .

one extra square in the wrong place.

Time to walk away, fix dinner,

and get over my not-so-happy reaction.

This very cool book sits on my studio shelf -

it will be for Little Man's 3rd birthday next fall

but I'm enjoying it in the meantime.

In most of my quilts, I can make an "oops" work

without having to do major reconstructive work.

But in this particular top, that was NOT an option.

And so I sat and surgically un-stitched both sides of

 the column in order to remove the offending square.

THIS was the problem.

(clearly I had been auditioning squares

and this one had somehow stayed stuck

to the back side of the real square -

a definite "oops" that Wanda

had repeatedly warned us about)

I shifted the removed column up a row

and carefully re-stitched each of the 26 vertical seams.

Near the bottom I added in another orange square -

which is the way things were supposed to have been.

Each of the fifteen horizontal seams were then pinned

(because the seam allowances all had to reverse

from where they had been previously pressed)

and sewn one at a time across the width of three squares.

Two-plus hours later,

the top was really and truly finished.

(double click to supersize)

Now the batting has been fluffed in the dryer,

the backing (above) has been pressed,

and the binding strips have been cut.

 (that's the binding fabric peeking out 

from under the backing above)

Next steps will be to get this basted and quilted.

* * *

And as I was un-stitching last night,

the quilt's name made itself known --

MARATHON

(inspired I'm sure by the fact that the

St. Jude Memphis Marathon was held this weekend)

Quiltdivajulie

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"If I have accomplished anything good, then it's mainly because I've been driven by the need to know whether I can accomplish things I'm not sure I have the capacity for."
Vaclav Havel

And the Weekend Begins

I pulled 25 purples and one turquoise

plus backing and binding fabrics

for Lynne's Letter Along alphabet sampler.

And I deconstructed the pink dresden bedspread.

These are the dresdens, which will unstitch a bit at a time

from their backing/batting.

The eyelet-trimmed ruffle fabric will be mixed with these brights

and turned into a little girl quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest

(I'm thinking something ala chinese coins, but time will tell).

However, THIS is what took up almost the entire day...

my new iphone 4 is awesome 

(especially now that it has been synched with my laptop,

voice mail set up, photos and music loaded, settings customized, yada yada yada).

[Oh, and if you happen to be in the market for a new phone this weekend,

DO check you local Sam's ... their price was MUCH less than everyone else!]

Quiltdivajulie

Out of the Box

Yes, this is what was in the box from yesterday's post.

Before her most recent garage sale,

Wanda posted a photo of the "very pink" she made for her daughter

and wondered who would want to buy this at her sale.

After a series of e-mails, her bedskirted and ruffled

quilt-as-you-go dresden quilt now lives at my house.

Rescue plans include removing the side panels

and repurposing the dotted swiss with eyelet 

into a child's quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest.

Then I'll begin a rescue effort for the dresdens,

liberating them from their soft pink background.

Not sure yet how the transformation will take place,

but I'll share photos along the way.

Thanks, Wanda!

After all the terrible storms we've had this spring,

our plants are finally beginning to bloom again.

This mandevilla is the show-off of the crowd.

Here's to the rest of the week

and whatever new adventure lie ahead!

Quiltdivajulie

This and That

Front

 Look at what arrived in the mail!

Back

Do you remember the scrap/string pieces from my last JCCFS class?

Outside - front and back

Wonderful Wanda turned them into journal covers and I LOVE THEM!!!

Inside - front and back

I can't wait to put new composition books inside and start using them!

Now that Waiting For the Mail's scrappy back

  is pieced, pressed and trimmed . . .

. . . I pulled out the final 2011 "promised" gift project box.

This one is for DH and he's already given it a name ~ Reboot.

He has requested his special "design feature" (more on that another day).

Any of you who are married to an engineer 

will understand his need to "add more features." 

The best part was discovering that I had already cut it out!

And there are even small scraps to piece for the back

(or add to the crumb collection).

When I moved Reboot's box, I rediscovered the wonderful orphan bits

from my swap with Andrea, the Welsh Quilter.

These will become a nine-patch block for my white coat project.

OH ... for those of you who pop in to visit Mary Lou Weidman's blog,

her bloggy-address (and look) has changed!

Here's the new link ~

Mary Lou and Whimsy, Too

And I am going(!!!!) to deal with the 

overabundance of selvages in my studio . . .

I pulled selvages out of their two large, very full drawers,

two clear storage boxes, and

oops, I forgot to add those from the b&w stash!

First step will be to sort by color . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Exuberance - On the Wall at Last!

Wanda designed and pieced the flimsy in 2007.

I purchased the flimsy in 2010.

Now, at long last,

Exuberance has been quilted by Chris

& bound/sleeved and hung in my studio by me.

I will take it down one evening this week

just long enough to apply the label and 

shorten the width of the too-long hanging rod

(this is the way it was when Jester hung on this wall).

I'm SO happy (thrilled) with this finish!

Quiltdivajulie

p.s.  For detail photos of the 350+ batiks in this quilt, scroll down through the previous post . . .

Amazing . . .

Please join me on a journey ...

... through the amazing beauty of Wanda's flimsy ~

newly-quilted by Chris 

with a glorious fern leaf panto . . .

I purchased Wanda's incredible colorwash flimsy last year.

Each and every time I handle it, I am amazed all over again . . .

So many different batiks, such perfect placement and piecing . . .

And the colors . . . 

Oh, the colors!

Working my way around the perimeter, 

Wanda's work amazes me all over again.

Not much longer until this beauty will grace the wall of my studio

and inspire me every time I walk into the room . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Forward Motion

Almost a year ago, I purchased this incredible flimsy from Wanda.

(visit her blog, Exuberant Color here)

Wanda's experience & mentoring, her masterful skills with color, 

and her marvelous body of work inspire and motivate me.

I have always admired colorwash quilts.

This one features rectangles instead of the traditional squares

and the moment I first saw it on Wanda's blog, I fell in love.

(click here to see her photo of her finished flimsy)

 I feel so very fortunate to now call this work of art mine!

There has been a lot of pondering since the flimsy first arrived in Tennessee.

What style of fabric and what color should I use for the back?

(The finished quilt will hang on the wall in my quilt studio.)

What about the quilting?

What color(s) should I choose for the binding?

flimsy on left, backing batik on right

Over the weekend, Chris and I met at The Quilting Barn.

With enthusiastic input from the shop's owner and assistant,

we pulled bolts, spread fabrics on the cutting table,

discussed the options, and came to a decision.

Backing batik on left, flimsy on right

Pat, the shop's owner, found the perfect binding fabric.

It doesn't photograph well (see link below) ~ but it is wonderful!

Along the way, there have been several suggestions for quilt names ~

but, in the end, the flimsy has named itself.

Exuberance.

I started a web album here and will add more photos

as this amazing flimsy becomes a full-fledged quilt.

Thank you, Wanda ~ for everything!

Quiltdivajulie