One of my favorite aspects of piecing Curve Star Blocks and Inset Curve Stars are the large scraps that are left over. As I was piecing Sesen, I set aside the large Kumquat and Coral scraps knowing that I’d be making a bonus quilt using them soon. In early November (I thought it was just a month ago, wow, time flies), I checked in with my stash of Kona Solids and got your input on whether I should use Basil, Burgundy, or Purple as the background.
Sesen Bonus Quilt – Cutting Background Fabric
The results from getting input were interesting! Instagram responses leaned toward Green, and other social media locations (my blog and Facebook) leaned toward a near Purple/Burgundy split. In the end, I chose Purple because I keep my Fiesta Ware dishes in rainbow color order and I have been loving the Purple / Red / Orange grouping of my dinner plates.
As you all know, cutting the fabric is my least favorite step in making a quilt. It really helps to have something enjoyable to listen to while I’m doing that work, so this weekend I caught up on the Pantsuit Politics podcast and got to work. And don’t worry, my phone is usually tucked in the side pocket of my active wear shorts or pants (hooray for someone finally making useable pockets on women’s clothing), so the headphone cord is well and truly safe and away from the rotary cutter and my cutting mat.
Sesen Bonus Quilt – Cut Fabric
After a long afternoon of repetitive work, all the cutting was done. And none too soon; my left thumb was starting to disagree with having to balance and hold those curved templates!
Sesen Bonus Quilt – Purple Background
This is the general direction I’m heading with the bonus quilt. I may opt to rotate the blocks to create a slightly different layout, but that will be fun for another day.
Sesen Bonus Quilt – Preparing to Sew
Right now, I’m prepping to sew all the curves. A few notes about this:
- I’m using new pins! I think I’ve been using the same straight pins since I began quilting in the mid 1990s. It was past time to get some new (unbent and sharp) straight pins.
- I will be piecing using 50wt Aurifil 1200 (Blue Violet). The thread is a bit more blue than Kona Purple, but it’s the closest match in my stash and it’s good enough!
What are you working on this week?
I have always loved the contrast of purple, red and orange!!
This week I hope to finish my second quilt from season 4 of the Color Collective. This is my first season and first time playing with solids, it’s so much fun!
Purple is such a fun color to sew with, especially that deep tone you are using. Enjoy playing with your scraps this week.
That arrangement is amazing!!! And the colors – so bold and perfect! The names just makes them sound like they should be in Hawaii!!
purple was the perfect choice!
This project is so fun! I love that it comes from the leftovers. I am ruthless with pins; throwing them out as they dull. It makes a huge difference not to have to fuss with them.
I love where this is going. It’s interesting that instagram gave you a different answer from other social media. I wonder why that might be.
I just love the colour combination use that settled upon Yvonne. All your curved piecing on your blog this past while has been tempting me to do some curved piecing again this year. I hope to make room for it and still keep on track for UFO finishes!
Cutting fabric is not fun and the curved pieces are even trickier. Hope you took a well-deserved break. The design look beautiful and I am sure the finished quilt will be worth all that painful cutting.
I love that layout. I, too, may be using bent pins, but can’t bear to part with them. But the sad thing is….I have a new box of pins just waiting to be used. ha ha ha ha ha