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Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation

This quilt was glimpsed on this blog six weeks ago when I wrote about my productive weekend retreat with the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild.

Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-11

Well, it’s done now, so I thought I’d sit down and explain how it came to be.  This quilt was largely the result of my fascination with Andover’s Textured Solids.  I’m contemplating making a queen-sized quilt entirely out of the textured solids, but I wanted to sew with and quilt and wash the fabric before making that commitment.

I was lucky enough to receive a charm pack of the textured solids while at Quilt Market in Portland.  The same day my friend Lynn waited in line and received a copy of Cherri House’s new book Urban Views (I haven’t read this book closely enough to review it properly, but I love what I’ve seen so far.)

I was really taken with the quilt “City Rain” and decided to something vaguely similar with my rainbow of textured solid charms.

Of course, once it was up on my design wall, I had to make life difficult for myself by deciding not to use a single color for the background and border, but a mix of neutrals.  And, additionally, to not just have rainbow stripes, but to sash them.  And not just sash them in a single color, but in the same mix of neutrals that surrounds them, so that it looks like the background is reaching into the main block from the various corners.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-whole thing
The sashings are of unequal width, which is why the rainbow bits look wabi sabi.  I also made the borders of unequal widths.  These were intentional choices, but I’m not sure they look intentional enough, i.e., I think I would have just pieced it all precisely and symmetrically if I had it to do over again.  Oh well.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-reds
Since free motion quilting is my “growth area” and this quilt was all about experimentation and growth, I issued myself a design challenge to quilt each part of the background with a different design. I don’t usually like any sort of swirly or rounded quilting, so I needed a bunch of geometric designs.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-textured solids
I started at the center with my current favorite: the squared stipple.  It took a really long time to quilt so densely, so I decided that I would do the rest of the quilt (the border area) with BIGGER designs.  This upper-left section is done with a larger squared stipple (bold choice, I know, but I figured it would get me moving the needle in bigger designs.)
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-quilting
The next section is done in chevrons.  This is the same quilting design I used in the white version of The Arne Quilt.  I learned it from Leah Day’s website, it’s a beginner design called Basic Chevron.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-chevron quilting
Next, there is a large section of a loosened up Square Shell design.  I found this one and watched Leah Day’s video on it at the retreat.  It was in the “advanced” section of her website, but I found it easy enough (perhaps because of it’s similarity to a squared stipple, especially when blown up as I did it).
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-square shell
My brain really gets a workout when doing a new quilting design, so I opted to end with things I already knew how to do. These two sections are a random zig zag and a horizontal stripe, both done with a free motion foot.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-quilting
The last section (no photo) was done with a diagonal stripe.
I used the same thread throughout.  It’s a Sulky Blendable (100% cotton; 30wt).  I think the color is 4024-Heather.
When it came time to bind my Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation, I realized I wanted to put some color around the edge.  Actually, I realized I wanted to inject a lot of color and fun.  So, I opted for a BIG binding made from three different fabrics.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-fat binding and back
At QuiltCon, I have been quite taken with Latifah’s quilts (find her at The Quilt Engineer). One of the things I was really intrigued by was the monster bindings on some of them!  I decided to try it out for myself.  I straight-cut 6.5″ strips of fabric and sewed them 3″ in on the front of the quilt.  I seriously had no idea if what I was doing would even work, so when I took that first corner, and it worked, I was so super happy.
Once the binding was sewn on (I machine sewed the front and hand-stitched the back) I decided to stitch the corners with big embroidery thread for extra interest.
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation-fat binding
And in the end, did I like sewing with the Textured Solids? Yes!
And do they wash up nicely?  Yes! I’ve washed the quilt several times (all photos are post-washing) and am very pleased.  So, hooray for that!  Now I just need to find those textured solids stock somewhere!
The Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation, meanwhile, has become my snuggle blanket in the living room.  🙂
Rainbow Quilt of Experimentation at home

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. I really like how the background looks like it extends behind the coloured squares. Given how much effort it must have taken I agree that it would be nice to really make a feature of it.

    1. Yes, thank you! When I first thought to do that I didn't realize what a bother it would be! Worth it in the end, though, I think.

  2. I love it! The mixed neutrals for the background are a great choice, I like how they add dimension. I'm also intrigued by this wide binding– I want to give it a try sometime!

  3. that really is an awesome experiment… love the wabi-sabi and fat binding, made MY brain start to experiment 🙂

  4. it's gorgeous – I love the mix between the perfectly square charms and the random background. Also, the name is making me smile – I can hear your voice saying it!

  5. It's lovely! I like the color choices and all the attention to details.

    You said: "but I'm not sure they look intentional enough". Funny, that rings so familiar to me. I once had a designer tell me to never be subtle in anything but the details. I always have to exaggerate what I think is already exaggerated. 🙂

  6. I know its been a while now since you made this quilt, but I LOVE the floral fabric in that first photo of the binding (the one with flowers and leaves in rows). Do you happen to remember where you got the fabric or who designed it? Really great job, the composition of this quilt is so interesting!

    1. Hi Laurel, I really don't know about the fabric beyond that it is quilt shop quality and I probably bought it online. I've had it for a while. Sorry! Rossie

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