Blogger's Quilt Festival: Turtles All Around

I have already blogged about this quilt this year, but you can show a quilt more than once so long as it's not at the same show, right? That is what I told myself, anyhow so I could put it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Turtles All Around started with a package of nine batik turtle squares & a family friend obsessed with turtles.  I had a vague idea of doing a disappearing 9-patch, keeping the turtles in one of the corners where they would not get sliced.  Alas, those batik turtle blocks were not remotely square; they were not even the same dimensions.  Once I had trimmed each disappearing 9-patch to match the turtle blocks, not one matched another in either shape or size.

& so, once again, I used the sashing I always use to rescue odd blocks.  You can see how not-square the blocks are in this close up, but by adding this irregular sashing & then squaring them by cutting only from same sashing, I did end up with perfectly square squares & everything else fell into place.  Making the sashing from the same fabric I used for the (sliced) center squares also helped smooth the rough edges.

As re-read this, I am realizing it sounds like I am ho-hum on this quilt. I am not.  I love this quilt.  I love the busy batiks that still somehow work together.  I am even pleased with the quilting, as it came out looking water-y, another happy accident.

My only regret is not having a picture AFTER the binding got turned.  As with so many of my projects, I took the quilt just this far & then sent it to Mom, who bound it, sewed in any strays I missed, & just in general did the finishing work that takes so much time (& for which I have no talent/patience).  Thanks Mom!