Mod Mosaic--done!

I am pleased with how this quilt turned out--a version of Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic pattern.  You can see 50+ other versions in the Mod Mosaic Flickr group.  I've written about this quilt previously here and here.  The second post describes my efforts to dye gray fabric for the binding, but in the end I decided to go with white, as it best unifies the quilt.  I was concerned about how dirty a white binding might get, but in this case, I went with design over practicality.  

It was fun to piece these fabrics together.

The quilting was done by Mary Walck on her longarm. 

For the back, I pieced together what I had left of the fabrics.  It's fun to see some of them full-scale, including bits of fabric design that I did not include on the front--like these spiders (left out entirely) and this rooster (cut so that it's not recognizable:

Peter and Maya, I'll be sending this off to you before long!

Shades of gray-2

Here are the results of my experiment with dyeing three different grays, looking to dye fabric for the binding of my "Mod Mosaic" quilt.  A sample quilt block is at top.  From right: Kona medium gray, Kona ash (these 2 are commercial fabrics I could buy), then (using Carol Soderlund's formulas) Earth 102 (too blue), Basic 223 (this could be good), and Bright 212 (too green).  It's difficult to get a gray that doesn't lean towards one or another color.  I should have also tried a lighter value of Carol's basic black (Earth 566).  I think I'll audition these as actual binding strips once I have the quilt quilted, and if I'm not happy, try 566 also.

The next photo is for any dyers who might be reading.  I treated all three dyed fabrics exactly the same way, but the Bright 212 separated into green and pink instead of coming out gray.  Any thoughts on what I did wrong? (Double click on image to see the problem.)

 

What's next?

Having sketched out some ideas for "Regret," I'm going to put that idea aside for a while. I wanted to decide which idea I would work on next, and this is probably it. Now I can leave it in the background, and keep thinking about it, while I go on to work on some simpler things.

I've started a wedding present for Peter and Maya. I showed them a number of options, from which they picked Elizabeth Fransson's "Mod Mosaic" pattern. They liked the colors she used, while suggesting that I add in orange and maybe a grayish brown. Above are three blocks that I've done as samples; the one on the left has browns, the two on the right have gray. (Clicking on the photo will show you details of the fabric.) These blocks were done just from fabric I had on hand. Tomorrow I'm making a trip to a good quilt store, and will look for a wider range, including some prints that include white. This will be a fun project.

I also have a number of things lined up that I'd like to finish, projects where the top is done or mostly done, but I have yet to do the quilting. Let's see: two quilts for my brother, a four-patch posie for Kay, a wall-hanging that Kay and I did together (black with bright solids), and a small quilt made with rectangles of commercial "stone" fabric. Then there are a couple of tops for which I've cut the fabric, but haven't yet done the piecing. And I have many scraps from "Shelter" that I'd like to play with--probably to make into postcards, cards, or coasters. So, I have plenty to do until I'm ready again to work on an idea-based quilt.