Circle Up

"Circle Up" is about being a team -- a team of 8 friends supporting another friend from afar. It's about a community circling the wagons and barn-raising for a friend, even when we're scattered across the country. It's about encouragement in times of need, warmth in times of stress, and love in times of challenge. It's about investing in people and making that investment tangible.

On a design level, this quilt is a riff on Alissa Haight Carlton's "Red Square" quilt in Modern Minimal. There are three circles instead of a square and 4 vertical lines instead of 3, lines on right and left, more color and less neutrals, and no red, so the move from origin point to finish line was certainly meandering. In fact, I originally planned to make it purple, blue, and gray, but the solids I had access to just didn't mesh as well as I desired. The yellow vertical line? That was added when I felt the design needed some oomph. I suppose I just can't not improvise.

While the design rests of the graphic power of solids, the back -- gasp! -- uses a print. The gray is from Ellen Luckett Baker's Quilt Blocks collection, and is not only versatile but super soft. I added in some white, charcoal, and Betty's orange to make the back -- the solids are a mix of Bella Solids and P&B textiles. I don't love P&B solids, but I do love the magnificent shade of green they make.

I had a hard time deciding how to quilt Circle Up. Part of me wanted to use the same circle pattern Alissa used in Red Square, but I was concerned about manipulating a quilt this big (60x70) with the particular set-up I had at the time. Actually I was most concerned that swing around the quilt would pull the plug out of the outlet (it was a stretch) and I would end up stopping and starting all the time. That seemed like a plan laden with problems, so I opted for irregular, all-over, mostly straightish lines. And I like it. It's enough quilting to be secure, but with sufficient space to crinkle and drape well. And I avoided knocking out the plug, always a good thing with items electric.