Nestle's Crunch

Dense straight-line quilting creates texture -- and uses thread! -- like nothing else. Quilting this little guy took 4 full bobbins of thread, plus a smidge of bobbin number 5. But it was totally worth it, and produced my Nestle's Crunch version of Lynn's Zinnias quilt. Technically the background color is Moda Betty's Brown, but I like to think of it as chocolate. And the single strip of colorful pieced triangles + the texture give it a little crunch.

Don't mind the folds and wrinkles, please! I waited about a week to take pictures of it as the rain made finding decent light near impossible, and even when it wasn't raining, most surfaces were quite wet. I folded it up and took it with me in the car just in case I found a photo op. When the rain departed, I snapped a few pictures under grey skies and didn't think to iron it until editing the images. I started with 3" squares of fabric, pieced the half-square triangles, and semi-randomly sewed them together. I tried to avoid using the same combination more than 1-2 times which technically makes the process non-random,but I didn't plan it out either, hence "semi-random."

Since I didn't plan the front, I ended up with way more half-square triangles than necessary. The leftovers from the front became part of the back, and I added a row of pinwheels to a yard of aqua/brown/orange/white dots that in this photo look oddly grey. It's not grey in real life, however! I used my 1/4" piecing foot for the first time while sewing the triangles for this quilt and what a difference it makes! I confess that I had long assumed that foot was silly, since I could use the edge of my regular foot or markings on my machine. But I was wrong; it makes a big difference, and these represent the most even pinwheels I've ever produced.

Ah, these colors are much more representative of the quilt itself! When quilting, I opted for (intentionally) wobbly lines. In order to ensure they didn't get too crazy, I sewed straight lines about 4-5 inches apart and then added the scraggly ones in between, using brown thread on the front and white on the back. I think it's neat how the quilting appears behind, but fades into, the pinwheels.

This quilt has arrived in California, where Benjamin will get to enjoy it. Well, I don't think he's cognizant of it yet, but I know his parents like it and that's quite a compliment coming from another sewer.  Sarah and I are both sewers, but she has mastered garments -- she sewed her own wedding dresses while I panic at the thought of sewing a simple skirt (one day I'll figure it out) and thus stick to quilts. Several friends who make clothes say that clothes-making is easier and faster than quilt-making; I accept the speed argument but continue to admire anyone who can make things that, you know, actually fit someone's body. Types of sewing aside, Sarah and Matt sent me a surprise bundle of fabric for my birthday last summer, and while I would have made Benjamin quilt anyways, it was extra special to do so for the child of friends who know just what to give a quilter.