Green Pluses

I'd had a pack of 12 coordinating fat quarters (picked up on sale at the usual big place) sitting in the stash for a while.  I had no idea what to do with them until I saw a pattern in the Quilters Companion magazine (forget which issue now).  It used 12 yellow and black fat quarters arranged in plus shapes.  

Wanting an easy-ish project, I went ahead and cut up the fat quarters into squares, and then started arranging on the floor in the dining room.  I decided to put the quilt top together on the antique Singer, and I could set the machine up there for the duration.  I started by following the design of the original pattern, which used partial plus blocks to fill in the gaps between complete blocks.  But that left me with plenty unused pieces.  So I decided change up the pattern and use as many full plus blocks as I had available fabric.  The gaps around the edge would then need to be filled in with something else.

Another trip to the good quilt shop was in order, and I found a Bella Solid in a peachy colour to use.  I also grabbed a different colour of Bella Solid which looked like it would work with a layer cake I have plans for.  More cutting of blocks, and sewing on the Singer, and the top was together.  The back was pretty simple, using up the leftover blocks from the fat quarters, and some other leftover bits of backing fabric.

I already had an idea how I wanted to quilt the thing.  I was going to completely ignore the design and do some walking foot work.  I had seen some interesting examples of walking foot designs a while back, and I decided to go with an X or chevron sort of design I half remembered.  

As usual, some parts were a bit trickier than others - not so much because I was quilting on the Bernina, but more because the cat kept deciding it was a great place to sleep and then get annoyed because I'd move things.

Once done, I found some dark green with polka dot fabric in my stash that I just had enough for the binding.  I think it had been Christmas fabric at one point. With binding sewn to back and front - and with a label - it then had to sit there for a while through days of rain.  A sunny day finally appeared during the recent long weekend, so I took the opportunity to go for a hike out near Bells Rapids.  At a detour past the lookout afterwards, I found a nice (and dry) spot to pull the quilt out of the car and take some photos overlooking the valley. 

Not sure which quilt I am going to work on next - so many choices.  Perhaps I'll get started on that layer cake quilt that I now have background for.