I am totally in love with this quilt and have been since I cut into the first piece of fabric.
Catena
66 x 78
A Catena is a chain of similarly sized impact craters. I chose that name for this quilt because of the rows of spiral quilting that I chose to finish it.
The quilt started with a pile of fabrics that are a waste product of my gradient dyeing process. They are muslin strips that are 4 - 6" wide and I have a big pile of them. I love the texture in them and wanted to start using them for some quilts. I cut them into 3.5 x 6.5 pieces and arranged them in groups of 4.
Once I decided to quilt it in spirals I dyed a mottled gray/black for the backing. It is quilted with the Quilt EZ 13" spiral template and I used 11 colors plus black. The thread is Superior So Fine. I picked colors that matched the block I was quilting over so there's a nice effect on the back with some quilted areas showing up better tha other. All of the edges are quilted in black.
You can see in this photo how the spirals overlap. Yes, I changed thread color for almost every block in every row but it really didn't take very long to quilt.
I used Quilters Dream Black Poly for the batting. I haven't used 100% poly in one of my own quilts before. It makes it very soft and light weight but it doesn't hang quite as flat as a cotton or cotton blend batt would. If you click on this photo you will be able to see the spiral texture on the back.
It's going to be a very comfy quilt for watching TV but first it will be at the Virginia Quilt Museum "Unity in Diversity" exhibit in September. Now I only have 2 more quilts to finish for the exhibit and then I can start a new project with my hand dyed "waste" fabrics.
It looks very cool but I can't believe you changed thread so often! I quilted spirals in my last quilt and was just thinking I needed to try some overlapping ones.
Posted by: Mary | June 23, 2011 at 06:21 PM
I can see why you love this quilt-it's wonderful.
Posted by: Sandy Jandik | June 23, 2011 at 07:07 PM
This is so totally cool! I LOVE IT!!
Posted by: Cindy Is Crafty | June 23, 2011 at 09:33 PM
I love this one. Great use of your hand dyes!
Posted by: joyce | June 23, 2011 at 10:44 PM
Fabulous! I really loveit.
Posted by: Yvonne | June 24, 2011 at 04:57 AM
Beautiful. Hard to believe it is made from "waste."
Posted by: Carol | June 24, 2011 at 07:03 AM
Yes, it is a very appealing quilt. Cool!
Posted by: elle | June 24, 2011 at 08:22 AM
Definitely a fabulous quilt!
Posted by: Debra | June 24, 2011 at 09:56 AM
Great use of those wonderful hand dyed scraps. Love the overlapping spirals too.
Posted by: Deb Levy | June 24, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Oh, I love this one, too! The bright colors, yet simple pattern are just right, along with the contrast of the quilted spirals.
Posted by: Summerset | June 24, 2011 at 01:24 PM
Beautiful quilt Vicki! The textures in the fabric really make it unique.
Posted by: Barbara | June 26, 2011 at 11:18 PM
Beautiful! Great artsy feel to the quilt. The spirals give it a water/ripple effect which blends in wonderfully to the dye pattern.
Posted by: Superior Threads | July 14, 2011 at 01:23 PM