Electric Stripes!

   Finally finished the quilt for little Nayla, a new arrival to my big extended family.  

    This quilt is the result of some experimenting with striped fabric.  Last year I had won some batik striped fabric in a raffle.  I loved how fun it was to work with the stripes, and figured out what the fabric was (Hoffman Artisan Batiks Elemental Stripes) and ordered up more.  

     One of the fabrics was in very bright, primary stripes.  

     I cut the squares to make the half square triangles that form the basis of these pieces, and tried many variations of putting them together. 

     I really enjoy the watercolor effect of these fabrics, and how interesting the squares are when mixed up and put back together.  (Isn't that just the beauty of making quilts?) 

     I tried out a pretty big lap size layout, but didn't really know where such a quilt would go.  It was quite vibrant and busy.    I ended up making two smaller pieces for baby quilts out of the squares.

     The baby quilt tops:

     Nayla is now two, so I wanted something a bit bigger than those pieces.  I decided to add some bright yellow solid to one of the center pieces, and then created a border of the striped fabric.  I ended up binding it in the yellow as well. 

     I like how the yellow sets off the center, and really like how the border looks.  The border had to be mitered, or else it would have looked odd!   The quilt finished at 48 inches square.

      Now that my Tiara is in my sewing space with the other tools of the trade, pinning and quilting went fairly quickly. I am enjoying  listening to the audiobook versions of the Agatha Raisin series by M.C.Beaton while sewing.

   Betty found the quilt to be just perfect and comfortable.  Unfortunately, this means I had to wash it again before sending it on! 

   The backing is a Kona Cotton wide fabric.  I have been looking for an opportunity to use it.  I did a simple big stippling all over the quilt.

     In other news, the "Turnabout Patchwork" quilt I made for the blog hop has also been gifted to another new member of my extended family.  Little Baby Coen is going to be cuddling with the fun circus animals!  

   

     I keep hoping that spring will come soon, but there is still snow on the ground, but there is also some open water!  Hurray!  

     Enjoy the spring, and I'll catch up again soon! 

Take care,

Gretchen