Emergence

In 2020 I did three 100 day projects, and at that point a daily project had become a major part of my daily routine. As QuiltCon Together (the virtual version of QuiltCon) approached, I thought it would be fun to do a quilt counting down the days to the big event.

For the majority of the 100 days, I created a pieced equilateral triangle each day. The piecing is done semi-improvisationally. I made up the composition of each triangle block as I went, but I used rulers and even incorporated 1/8″ wide sliver inserts in most blocks.

I frequently select a dominant color for the quilts I create, and over time I have featured nearly every color on the color wheel. The only color that had not held a starring role was orange, so it was definitely time to let it shine! The majority of the fabric for the quilt came from my stash, but I did end up purchasing some lighter value fabrics to complete the design.

Once the top was complete and ready to quilt, I started considering quilting options and thread colors. I knew that I was going to do custom quilting on this project, partly so I could match the machine quilting thread to the color and value of the piecing. Ultimately, I selected seven thread colors for the machine quilting portion of the design.

From the start of the project, I intended to incorporate both machine and hand quilting. One of the trickiest parts for me is remembering to leave some gaps in the machine quilting to allow the hand quilting to shine.

The machine quilting is a combination of ruler work and free motion motifs. The majority of the quilting is straight line, but on this particular quilt there was no computer guided quilting involved.

In the image above, you can see that some hand quilting has been added, but there are still spaces to add more. All of the hand quilting on this piece is done with 12 weight Aurifil thread.

Most of the hand quilting is a basic running stitch, but I also incorporated decorative hand stitching such as the plus stitch, X stitch, and herringbone stitch.

The binding of the quilt is constructed from the scraps of the fabrics used in the quilt. The general color and value of the binding changes to coordinate with the quilt color as it moves around the perimeter of the quilt.

I usually stick to a simple label, but in addition to the basics, this label reads

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, 100 day projects became a predictable activity in an otherwise unpredictable time. Embers of Hope is the the fourth 100 Day Quilt I started in 2020. At a time when almost everything was cancelled, QuiltCon went virtual and was a much anticipated event in the Modern Quilting Community. While my previous 100 Day Projects counted up to 100, this project was a countdown to QuiltCon.

Several other people joined me in Quilting the Countdown, so check out #quiltingthecountdown and #quiltingthecountdown2021 on Instagram to see how all of these projects came together!

Quilt Stats

Title: Emergence

Size: 46″x 61″

Techniques: Machine piecing, sliver inserts, semi-improvisational piecing

Quilting: Longarm machine quilted on an A-1 Longarm using rulers and free motion; Large stitch hand quilting

Fabric: Prints and solids mostly pulled from my stash

Batting: Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly blend

Thread: 50 and 12 weight Aurifil in a range of colors

Binding: Scrappy binding incorporating fabrics from the quilt