Reverse-Value Mod Mosaic Quilt

Another summer WIP finished!  It has been so stinkin' nice out up here recently, and I took it outside for some glamour sunshine shots.

Back in March 2012 (ouch!) I asked members of the New Bee on the Block quilting bee to make me Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic Blocks for my month. Instead of using white for my "tile grout" strips, though, I sent out Kona Cerise, and used Kona Snow and a pretty print from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line as background. I love how the geometry becomes the focus, not the prints.

Sometimes being the "Queen Bee" is a challenge, in that you want to pick a block that your bee-mates will think is fun and interesting, but not too demanding, and I think Elizabeth's block design and technique strikes a perfect balance.  I've always loved the mod mosaic blocks I've seen, and experimented with reversing the values before with this pillow, too.

After getting back blocks from the talented and lovely worker bees, putting them all together was quite the puzzle! It was so challenging that I had to leave them in a stack for a year, mhm ;)

I wound up filling in different sized areas with mosaic strips, and everything jigsawed together eventually.

Instead of squaring off the attached mosaic blocks, I made border half-blocks so that the mosaic could sort of trickle out towards the white space, and I think it creates a very map-like effect.

To reward myself for all this work, this one's a keeper, measuring up at about 60"x70", my favorite lap/throw size.

I backed it in some gorgeous and downy soft AMH Loulouthi Flannel (roses and chevrons?? ♥ ♥ ♥) and bound it in a marigold solid.

I like flannel-backed quilts to be as cosy and soft as possible, so kept quilting minimal with double organic (i.e. not marked) horizontal lines about 6 inches apart.

Back indoors, this quilt was met with an immediate seal of approval, and is ready to keep us warm during the impending late summer chilly evenings!