Strawberry Rhubarb Πr2

April 28, 2007 at 12:30 pm | Posted in Doll Quilt Swap, Quilting, Sewing/Crafts, swaps | 17 Comments

That’s what I’ve named this quilt, which I just completed for our little Doll Quilt Swap. The colors reminded me of the fillings in my husband’s favorite pie.

I’ve quilted grids between the circles that look a little like a lattice crust. And of course the formula for the area of a circle is πr². Guess I’ve been teaching too many math classes at the ol’ children’s museum :o)

The design is based on the Mod quilt in Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr’s book The Quilter’s Color Workshop. They’re the fine folks at Funquilts who also authored the popular book The Modern Quilt Workshop. I thought a lot about color when choosing the fabric for this quilt. The middle section of the quilt is supposed to look as though a translucent white square lies lays sits atop the “original” darker colors, seen along the edge.

I love, love, love the binding. It’s a couple of taupes and a salmony-rosy color woven together.

This is my first time making a doll quilt. I was really amazed at how much more quickly and easily it seemed each step was completed, compared to making a larger quilt. It also took so little fabric and very little space to work on it (marking, layering, pinning).

That being said, I did hit a couple of speed bumps. Since both of the circle fabrics had directional prints, I had to be super careful when cutting and piecing them. And I challenged myself to try out curved piecing, thinking it would be easier on a small project. It was hard for me! I drafted the templates for the circles, which was a little tricky, but they worked out. The curved quilting gave me fits, too. Luckily the majority of the quilting is straight-line grid and channel quilting, which is easy-peasy with a walking (even-feed) foot.

I’m a little sad to pack it up, but I guess I have to: the deadline to send quilts for the swap is Monday! Hint, hint, Swap Dolls!!

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