Friday Finish: The Low Volume Rainbow

I actually finished this baby up a few weeks ago, but life has been crazy and Friday has slipped past numerous times without me posting.

This finish was my February goal for ALYOF and while I didn't get it done in February, it was finished in early March.

This was my first real go at improv piecing, and I love it... it was a fantastic way to use up loads of scraps and hard to use fabrics.

The quilting took forever. It was straight line quilting, but I used seven colours of thread, one for each colour of the rainbow. I took each colour over the corresponding band in the piecing, then into the low volume either side, and horizontally along each band. I love the effect, and how each low volume section is quilted in the colours either side of it. But the thread burying.... OMG. That took forever and ever and ever!!!!

I ended up totally overestimating how much of the low volume improv piecing I'd need for the strips on the front and had plenty left over, so I paired it with some grey solid for a pretty pieced back. Which meant no fabric purchases for the back too.

The only issue I have with this quilt is that it's not totally square, I have no idea why since I squared it up with a ruler when I finished quilting, but I guess the improv nature means it's hard to gauge that it's perfectly square. I'm trying to decide if I unpick some binding, trim and rebind, or if I just accept the fact that it's imperfect, like those people whose shoe sizes are a whole size different.

I'm linking this up with TGIFF over at Blossom Heart Quilts and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Have a fantastic Easter, and I hope the bunny is kind to you.

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WIP Wednesday - Low in the Rainbow

Once upon a time, about a year ago, before I'd even heard the term 'low volume', I hit upon the idea of using up lots of bright scraps and lots of that pesky-multicoloured-fabric-with-white-backgrounds-that-is-pretty-hard-to-use (yes, that is the technical term) to make another rainbow quilt.

I worked at it for a while, then in typical fashion, shoved it aside, all but done, rendering a whole stack of fabric out of action for any other project and adding to my WIP list. My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes in February is to get this top, which I absolutely love love love, finished and quilted. I have plans for the quilting, once I get over the hurdle of how to back it.

I love that this is low volume, but kinda not... a bit low vol at the carnival, perhaps. But overall, it reads as low volume. And since I reorganised my stash (more on that another day), I am itching to play with my low volumes a bit more.

I love the whole hot mess that is the improv piecing process too... perfect for this time of year when I am super tired from having lots of newbies at work (oh, the crying!) and just want some mindless sewing at the end of the day.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday, Sew Cute Tuesday and A Lovely Year of Finishes too!

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