Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Another Friday Finish!  I won't be able to keep this up much longer, but it's been fun.

This is a strip quilt, done using Molli Sparkles's tutorial for string piecing without a foundation.  I varied the width of the strips to maximize scrappiness.  I wanted my finished squares to end at 5", which they almost did.  His tutorial yields 3.5" finished squares, so based on careful math, I determined I'd need my initial fabric strip to be... bigger. 

My math was totally correct, but then I did something wrong making the first cut of the second set of cuts (perpendicular to the first set) and was left with a couple pieces that were almost squares, but not. 

Scrappy back - this shot shows the quilting better than the ones of the front.

The back is something of a mess, but it's a thrifty mess.  I threw together a second set of strips, cut more squares that were fully squares, and finished the main part of the top.  Then it sat on my design wall for a while, until I made a decision about borders. 

My favorite block is the top left.

At first I was thinking about a checkerboard using the darker fabrics of the strips but decided that the center of the quilt was busy enough that the border needed more of a "Go home, quilt, you're drunk" vibe.  So the plain white-on-white is like a place for the eye to rest/a lamppost to lean against on the stagger home. 

Quilting detail

Having not thought at all about the quilting until it was basted, I decided to quilt a spiral out from the center of each square.  After burying the brillion ends of the ticker tape quilt, a few dozen no longer seems like a lot.  I used to go to great lengths to avoid stopping and starting in the middle - no longer!  Then I stitched some straight lines in the border.  As I turned onto the second side, I couldn't remember what part of the presser foot I was measuring against.  Guessed wrong, repeated the mistake on the other end of the quilt, and called it a design element. 

The binding is a 13-color floral print from JoAnn's that I've had for years.  It's used in the top, too, and I liked how it was dark enough to provide a nice frame for the quilt, but still variegated.  I sewed over half of it down in the car on a long trip to and from the vet yesterday.  Not sure me + sewing needle + moving car is the best combination, but it did help me finish in time for this post. 

If I ever make another quilt this way, I'll use thinner strips - the biggest finished at a bit over 2", and I like the effect more when they're under 2". 

Linking again to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday. 

Happy crafting!