Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2014: Everything's coming up roses

I have finished exactly ONE quilt since the beginning of the year so my options for the Spring 2014 Blogger's Quilt Festival were a bit limited.  Unfortunately, I have also already blogged about the quilt twice. 

The first time was for 52 Photos Project prompt A Crooked Line & the second time was for a Block Lotto linky post about color.  So without further ado here is the quilt I made as a gift to the couple who had my cow bred (so folksy, right).  He is the Dexter cattle fan (& rancher) but she has a landscaping business with a special interest in heirloom roses so my primary fabric choice was easy-peasy (it was not until afterwards that I thought about how many Einstein-themed gifts we get-they were still very gracious about it).



It may not be obvious at first glance (I think it is, but I already know) but this block is a revamp of a Block Lotto block I have taken to calling 8:56 (four to nine).   The original block pattern begins with equal parts of two fabrics & then a narrow slice is taken top to bottom & another side to side there is some flipping & voilà.  I am beyond fond of this pattern & have made several times it before & I am certain I will make it over & over again & even give this variation another roll.

In this most recent incarnation, I played with the dimensions of that center slice making it gradually wider as I worked my way out from the center.  I was mostly interested in seeing how the larger cuts actually diminished the punch of color; the highest contrast seems, to me anyhow, to be in the blocks with the most unequally sized individual pieces.  Because I varied the size of the cuts there is just that one center seam to match (except that one place where I accidentally bumped two blocks with the same size cuts up against each other WHOOPS!) so this quilt went together super-quick.  After al that cutting is done which can be exhausting.

As for the quilting:  the fabric had a vaguely geometric quality & I wanted to pick that up.  I used a wide piece of bleached white muslin so no center seam would interrupt the design (which was just a happy accident).  I made several starkly triangle "roses" in a variegated pink to yellow thread & then outlined them in dark green thread making ever larger triangles until they started bumping up against each other & then I threw in some jagged thorns in between.  I was going for a sharply angled bouquet sort of look, but I am not sure it worked. 

The quilting (& the piecing for that matter) was done on my Bernina 153 which I still love.  I have flirted with getting a new machine, but somehow they never feel right; this machine is the right size for me.  On the small side by today's standards, I can still jam a queen sized quilt through it if need be. 

This quilt finished at just over 54" x 54".  The fabrics are all cottons mostly from my scrap basket except of course for the yardage of that rose fabric.  The batting is 70% cotton/30% polyester (my preferred batting for quick free-motion quilting).  The thread was a YLI variegated & a Sulky solid dark green.

& as I said when we went to pick up our dairy cow (baby due in December fingers crossed), they took such wonderful care of her I wanted to say extra-thank you.  Because while Cow-girl is standoffish & maybe even ill-suited to the whole backyard diary thing she is MY cow & I love her. 

I have entered this quilt in the Home Machine Quilted category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  & because I adds up to 216" all around, it is also in the Small Quilts category.