July in January

My friends asked me to make this quilt in July.

And, well, now is the exact opposite of July. Until I get braver/it gets a little warmer, indoor shots may have to do. Or, next, you may see me trudging through the streets with a camera, a thermos, and a bunch of quilts slung over my shoulder.

This is Maine. There's snow. My car's thermometer said 1 degree the other morning.  BUT, the cheery colors and lighthearted design of this quilt were just the thing to warm up this winter! I've had some free time on an extended holiday break and have just been stitching away.

I decided to work with the concept of a mini version of this quilt, and went from there.

The palette is based off these Echino Lion pillows, but I wanted to focus more on the oranges, and used Kona orange, papaya, and tangerine.  There are also bits of aqua and periwinkle from Connecting Threads, and sneaky Echino scraps. Kona snow backs it all up.

A little bit of everything got thrown into the binding!

For me, making an improv quilt involves creating a bunch of little strips, and then playing around with them until I find a layout I like best. There's "no measuring" in the sense that I don't cut or trim as I go, or cut set widths of strips, but there's plenty of measuring and squaring when it comes to sashing and laying out the quilt top.

Since this is quilt is destined to be a wall hanging (measures about 45x58 inches), I included tangerine pockets on each corner of the back for a dowel.  

It is quilted in organic lines that sometimes cross intentionally. I feel like the organic lines go nicely with the feeling of the entire quilt, which is a little wonky, but still quite neat.

I had some help, as usual. Nothing beats a cold day, a cup of tea, a podcast, and sewing, so there's more to come!