Wednesday WiP and an Unexpected Gift

As I was working on my new pattern Color Weaving last week, I got lots of great ideas for other fun ways to modify the quilt. One thing that I really wanted to do was open up the pattern to have a larger size, and I have also really wanted to make something fun for a picnic quilt for a while. So I let those ideas simmer as I worked on the baby size quilts last week.

Over the past 5 years, our group of friends have made it a fun habit to have a picnic together on the 4th of July. Afterwards, we lay in the grass and watch our local fireworks display together. It is something I look forward to as the weather begins to warm up, and it was definitely the final push of inspiration I needed for this quilt! Speaking of fun times, in 2009 the fireworks caught the ground on fire so the show was doubly entertaining:

4th of July, 2009

The fire trucks rolled out to put out the flames (which were 3 stories tall in relation to the fire trucks!) but they kept going with the firework show!

4th of July 2009 with Elliot and Jenn of Wasabi Air Racing

Lots of photos were taken that year. Above are my friends Elliot and Jenn of Wasabi Air Racing with the spectacle (together they have built their own Reno air racing airplane and are all around awesome!). The city now has a controlled burn of the area a few days before the fireworks show to make sure there isn’t a repeat performance, which makes us kind of sad. That was a rather amazing year. 🙂

As I showed in a sneak peak yesterday, my fabrics for this project are very American flag themed. I am using Kona Chinese Red (which kind of cracks me up, but it is what my LQS had in stock and is a rich and yummy red), an off-white muslin (with hints of blue and red in the weave), and a speckled blue star print that plays well with the tone of the red, I think. I chose a slightly off-white muslin because I want this quilt to be used on the ground, and a bright white just seems too fussy for outdoor use. (Side note: I also struggle with the concept of white bath towels.)

4th of July Picnic Quilt Fabrics

I have made decent progress this week on getting the quilt top pieced, and I hope to get the majority of it finished today before we have dinner guests over this evening. Nothing like a deadline to make me productive!

4th of July Picnic Quilt WiP

I was concerned about being able to keep all the stars aligned in the same direction, and I debated on if I WANTED to keep them all pointing one way. In the end, I am pleased with the alignment and will continue to keep an “up” and a “down” to the stars in the quilt top. As planned out, this will finish out to be 54″ by 62″, which will be a great size to use as a picnic quilt!

Unexpected Gift

Yesterday afternoon, my neighbors (and former co-workers) stopped by with a most unexpected gift. They presented me with a very unique and amazing photograph.

Quilt Photo Collage

This is a photo collage made up of approximately 50-60 of my former co-workers lying on blankets/towels on the ground.

Photo Collage Detail

On top of that, the photo was manipulated to look like a quilt that I had previously made and gifted. I am absolutely floored by the generosity, thought, and wacky creativeness of my former co-workers. The hardest part of deciding to leave my job to try something new was the thought of leaving behind such a wonderful group of people, because I have never had the opportunity to work with so many people that I am proud to call friends and amazed to think of as family.

Which just makes me look forward to our annual 4th of July picnic that much more! Time for me to get back to sewing!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced’s WiP Wednesday.