Such A Joy

I am really enjoying the process of sharing my 16 recently completed quilts. Composing these recaps is taking me on a trip down memory lane. The catalyst that ignited this string of posts was this one 16 Quilts.

The Beginning

AQ # 22: Crossroads began its journey during my private 9 day retreat last summer. The concept evolved by accident while pulling fabrics from my stash. I love happy accidents. Don’t you? Sometimes those turn out to be the most successful.

These are the scraps I started with. The post that originally talked about them was called Quilt Retreat Day Eight.

I am assuming they caught my attention because I love the colors and the designs.

First Instinct

At first glance I was tempted to leave them unadulterated. I could have simply attached them to a background using a fusible material, quilted, then finished the art piece using customary steps. My over-exuberant enthusiasm, however, tempted me to proceed further. In hindsight, if I had it to do over again, my hunch is I probably would have stopped the ball from rolling and declared it done.

Don’t get me wrong. The quilt I am revealing today is absolutely gorgeous and one of my all-time favorites. Its just that I have this feeling that continually replays in my head. The feeling that when is enough, enough? I saw the opportunity to create something bigger and better, when I already had something right in front of me that was spectacular. Oh well! No turning back ! Let’s move on.

Moving On

Where were we? Oh, that’s right! We were admiring my collection of fabric scraps. 🙂 Following the protocol I learned from Rayna Gillman I grabbed my tub of scraps and searched for additional candidates. After merging the two groups I began stitching combinations. With a little nudging here and a little persuasion there I managed to create one spectacular art quilt.

Finishing Touches

My job wasn’t finished just yet. Now that my small quilt top was done it was time to add the finishing touches. I really liked the appearance of the raw edges so I decided to preserve them by fusing the quilt top to a background of black cotton.

A protective row of stitching was added around the perimeter of the quilt’s edges. These stitches should help maintain the integrity of the piece. I also added a pattern of geometric stitching using a spool of color coordinated variegated thread. The exposed areas of the black fabric were quilted with black thread and straight line quilting. Rather than finishing off the raw edges of the background with a matching binding I chose to add a black cotton facing. The facing, while providing a protective, invisible, seal also left the edges looking clean and unobstructed.

The Finished Project

AQ # 22: Crossroads measures 18 1/4″ x 15 1/2″. The materials used in the quilt top are 100% cotton. The batting is a fusible black fleece. The backing and facings are also made of black cotton fabric.

Origin of the Name

Crossroads, the name given to this quilt was chosen because of its linear lines. The linear lines reminded me of intersecting streets or crossroads on a road map.

The Reveal

This is how AQ # 22: Crossroads looked when it was done.

Thank You!

Thank you for sharing in this debut. I hope you found the mini quilt to be as interesting as I do. Links to the previous five reveals can be found here:

• AQ # 17: The Chosen Nine
• AQ # 18: Friends # 1
• AQ # 19: Friends # 2
• AQ # 20: Rising Star
• AQ # 21: Backwards