Feelin' Groovy

Last Saturday, at our Central Florida MQG (CFMQG) meeting, members shared their finished 2023 challenge quilts which you can see here. I've been keeping mine under wraps... until now. 

For our CFMQG challenge, we had four options to choose from. I selected "half-rectangle triangles" (HRTs) which I had never made before. I bought and used Latifah Saafir's HuRTy ruler (see what she did with the name? The letters HRT are capitalized), and I found it a great way to make uniform HRTs. By the way, Latifah has several HuRTy videos available for understanding her cutting logic and how to use the ruler.

I had such a great time making this quilt! It had me "feelin' groovy!" And yes, I still make big quilts. This one is 67½" X 84". 

Feelin' Groovy, 67½" X 84"

I was able to use set-aside blocks that I had thought to use in an entire quilt pieced with quarter-square Drunkards Path blocks, and Triangle-in-a-Square blocks. When I put those blocks on the design wall, and then began adding two sizes of HRTs - each pieced with a solid and a stripe (I had many more striped fabrics in my stash than I realized!) - I could almost feel maximalism coming together! 

QuiltCon 2024 (Raleigh, NC) will show a Maximalist Exhibit (for exhibit only; NOT judged). I thought, "This is the time to give maximalism a real go." 

For backing, this stashed yardage print was perfect. It's a Libs Elliot piece purchased a half dozen years ago.

Bonus: I was able to use more leftover blocks in the lower middle strip that I bordered with a black and white striped print.

Even after considering the busy design of the quilt top, I knew simple straight-line quilting wouldn't be considered maximal. So, I gave the quilt lots of customization with walking foot quilting, ruler quilting, and free motion quilting.

quilt back is a Libs Elliott print

A variety of 50-weight thread colors are on top, and all the bobbin thread is the same neutral color. Admittedly, it took longer to quilt this than it did to piece to the top. I'm so glad to own a Bernina 770QE with an 11" harp space to accommodate quilting such a large quilt. And yes, I buried hundreds of thread tails. Wouldn't do it any other way than with a Sench side-threading needle.

To finish the quilt - still thinking "more is more" - I made several sizes of circles, using only polkadot prints. Again, I was surprised - how many spotted prints I have in my ever-dwindling stash.

I used Appli-pops to make circles, and then cut a piece of batting to put behind each. Not only did I want to prevent shadowing through a circle, but I also wanted the dots to be trapuntoed/appear dimensional. Fifty-eight circles are hand-appliquéd to the quilt top, using 100-weight Aurifil thread. 

This particular area of the quilt gave me its name inspiration. I thought the Drunkards Path blocks and the circle dots looked like a record. Sing along: 🎶 Lookin' for fun, and feelin' groovy! 🎶

The final more came in the binding. As I was auditioning several black and white stripes, trying to decide which to use, it came to me: "Use two!" So with a little calculating, I determined how long to cut each strip, and then sewed them together. I love the effect!

Anyway, I'm extremely happy with this finish. Feelin' Groovy is one of four quilts I submitted to QuiltCon 2024. Entrants are supposed to hear, via email, about our entries by mid-December: "We're sorry... " or "Congratulations!..." 

Special thanks to my friend Donna and her husband, who were quilt-holders in front of the beautiful Senna tree next to their house. Those vivid yellow blooms are glorious!

🎶 Life I love you. All is groovy." 🎶 Linda