A Festival of Quilts

With all the sewing going on over here, I thought it appropriate to participate in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival this year!  People have been making some great quilts, and it's been great to hear a bit of the process or story behind them.

I'm going to talk a little bit more about my favorite quilt that I've made - the Rainbow Vortex Quilt.



When the American Museum of Folk Art had the "Infinite Variety" showing of a vast collection of red and white quilts, I was floored by the red and white vortex quilt.  I couldn't stop thinking about it!  Pictures kept popping up online, adding to my obsession. 

Right around this time I picked up a rainbow of Kona solids - a half yard each of 12 different colors.  I had no specific plans for these colors - the only "rule" was that it could only be supplemented with white fabric. 


I continued to think about the vortex quilt. I got out some paper and mocked the whole thing up, did a lot of math, tried out different things.  I thought about the easiest way to cut and piece the whole thing.  I thought about it all again.  And again.  And again.


I finally got out the rotary cutter and set to cutting.  I managed to sew the majority of the pieces together over the course of an afternoon.  The center of the top features an absurd 48 seams over a very very small amount of space - I had to trim these back, and in the end I placed a quarter-sized circle of white fabric in the center. 



Due to the close proximity of many of the seams at the center of the quilt top, I thought the best way to go about quilting this was by hand.  But I also wanted it to be DONE.  I invited some crafty ladies over and we had a splendid quilting bee, each working an arc of color in a matching thread. 

This quilt it gigantic, but definitely one of my prouder quilting achievements.  I'm thrilled with how it came out, I'm ecstatic that my math WORKED, and I love how the colors play together.