Marshmallow Candy Quilt

The quilt I saw that inspired me to make this one was done in blues, greens, and lilac and I decided that while ordering my solids for one like that, I should go ahead and pick another color palette as well.  I was attracted to the idea of making strips from solids to give the quilt an interesting color dynamic while keeping it open for intricate quilting designs to show up more clearly, as solids are much better for this than busy prints.  I do enjoy making a quilt that is pretty much all one color, but a mix of solids has proven to be fun as well.  As it turns out, the blue one is still waiting to be quilted because I dove in and did this one first – it reminds me of marshmallow candy 🙂

I used one thread color overall and I like the way it shows up clearly on some of the strips and blends with others so there is kind of a gradient thing going on that wasn’t necessarily planned but the effect satisfied me.  I’m often surprised by the overall effect of the quilting once I finish a project and spread it out to see what it all looks like! I think I probably defy a lot of basic guidelines for quilting that come from various sources, like planning ahead!  That’s okay because the basics are there to help us when we need them but sometimes we need to go wild.  Obviously, as you can tell from many of my quilts, I prefer to live on the wild side. (This only applies to quilting, however, as I’m generally a fairly cautious and structured person in my daily life!)

Once this one came out of the dryer it was so soft and cushy and marshmallow candy-ish that I couldn’t stop cuddling it.  I even considered keeping it (how often have I said that about a finished quilt?!) but alas, I have to stock up my store as some weeks I sell more quilts than I make and the holidays are coming.

Besides, I did keep one that I just finished.  I had made a quilt last year from the Hello Darling fabric line, and it was so popular in my house that my daughter adopted it for herself.  (She will say that I gave it to her, which I probably did in some conversation I don’t remember …)  I really wanted another one for myself, so I tracked down on eBay the now hard to find layer cake that I wanted, managed to find some coordinating pieces for the border and binding, and then left it sitting on my shelf for a few months while I made other things.

I dug it all out recently and when I looked it over I felt a bit bored with the fabric and wasn’t sure I even wanted it anymore (that’s why I do NOT stash!)  so I decided to make it up and put it up for sale in my shop, since I’m stocking up.  However, when it was all done and laundered and crinkly soft and cuddly, I spread it out and decided that while I’m not overly crazy about some of the fabrics, I still like the overall combination, and having to track down the fabric in a couple of places wasn’t exactly cheap, so  I will keep it.  I didn’t do anything fancy with the stitching because the prints and piecing are busy so the quilting barely shows, but I wanted a nice dense pattern so it would crinkle up properly.

I guess once in a while it’s okay for me to have one for myself 🙂