Spring Green

 

This quilt started with the green (Moda's Dill, possibly?). I had visions of a very green, a very spring quilt. The idea came to me in February -- seeking spring, I suppose -- but I didn't act on it until April (there was a touch of travel and work and whatnot in between). It took me a while to decide on what colors to use with the green, and in the end, more green -- lime? -- won out. With a touch of yellow and white.

This quilt was all about play -- with color, with shapes, with ideas, with lines. I started piecing and let it develop. The small lime rectangle was a fairly last-minute addition, when I wanted some oomph. It took a few nights for the quilting plan to gestate. I felt the improv piecing needed some structure for balance. The single chevron-esque quilting is the result.

This quilt is a classic case of looking more simple than it is. It's not that the piecing or the quilting were complicated, exactly. But the piecing had to feel right, and the quilting, well, getting straight lines the same distance apart is not all that easy. I got impatient midway through and let it settle, returning to it the next night, when the quilt + sewing machine + sewing machine operator were a little more in sync.

This quilt back started with about 4 other pieces of fabric. Only the bright turquoise was a constant. I began with a focal print that was white with colorful gear-like wheels on it. But it felt off. Then I remembered the Laura Gunn's lemon tile mosaic (except it's not called lemon), and it hit just the right spot. It adds a little texture but keeps the color scheme united around green.

This ripply picture makes me chuckle. I'm not sure why, I just like it. And after I mailed it off to a friend whose baby is coming any day now, I realized that Dartmouth is the Big Green and she teaches there, so there's that. But it still started with wanting to make a spring quilt for a spring baby.