Blowing My Hair Back I

Just popping in with a little finish that you saw here before I added the big-stitch hand quilting. The name is explained in the original post, as is the source of inspiration for this 22" mini that I have grown to love despite the in-yer-face colour scheme.

I was lucky to have the opportunity to take and review Gwen Marston's Abstract Quilts in Solids class available on iquilt.com . They often have sales and specials on the site, so when they do, grab your chance to learn from the lovely Gwen. Her gently encouraging teaching style is my fav. This quilt is exactly modelled on one of her "string block" class sample quilts.

I love the fun details and shapes that emerge when they angled lines of the quilting meet!

I decided to quilt this in a large running stitch using 8wt. white perle cotton. Gwen often does free form zigzag quilting on her abstract work and it's super effective, so I thought I'd give it a try. I marked the lines with a 1" x 6" ruler and a Clover white wax pen so that they would be straight, but unmeasured. I'll definitely do this again as I love the effect. I quilted this whole piece over the course of our summer vacation on Hornby Island...mostly waiting for, and riding on, the ferries (it takes 3 boats to get there!).

I've made a start on a second abstract quilt based on other lessons in the class, but I think I'd like to grow it in a medallion-style like Gwen so often does. I may refer to her excellent book Liberated Medallion Quilts that is in my home library for some additional ideas. I have enough scraps of these fabrics, that's for sure!

I'm really enjoying working with solids and a limited palette at the moment. I've got another fun improv quilt to share next week that is a sample for an exciting new workshop I'll be teaching in the coming year.  Check back Monday for that one as part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival!