DrEAMi Pink and Purple

Throughout this year I have enjoyed making string blocks according to the RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) color prompts hosted by Angela at SoScrappy. I made most of my blocks into two small quilt tops, which will get their own post after I quilt them. You can see them in process here. My original plan was to divide the 80 blocks in two sets of 40, with 4 blocks of each color in each quilt. While laying out the second quilt, I started having second thoughts about the pink and purple blocks. I set them aside (I first was going to say I rejected them, but that's harsh, isn't it?), and as I did so, I suddenly knew exactly what I would do with them. I subbed in other blocks in the second quilt, and then abandoned postponed the bigger quilts and got to work on this fun little project:

I had 8 blocks. I knew I needed one more block for the quilt I wanted to make. Before I addressed that issue, I laid out what I had and tested some possibilities for a border from fabric on-hand. This one just didn't feel right. The border fabric seemed too crisp and modern for the variety of fabrics in the blocks.

I tried some other fabrics too, and then worked on the central block. Rather than make one more string block, I chose a butterfly from a set of paper pieced patterns I have admired for awhile: the Pepper Block from the Butterfly Charm blocks at lillyella.com. These little butterflies are all so cute. I'd really like to make a quilt full of them someday. Of course, I had to change the pattern just a bit to put my own stamp on it and tie it in with the string blocks. So I string pieced the main sections of the wings. Here it is with that same border fabric again. (I was still mulling things over). I had also added sashing to the plan to make the quilt the size I wanted and to avoid sewing a lot of thick seams.

I also inserted a pink strip around the edge of the butterfly block to separate it from the sashing. 

By then, I had let go of the dotty border. But then the project took on a life of its own. I didn't like how some of the strips looked in the blocks. There was a hot pink strip in one that shouted out and grabbed all the attention. 

I replaced it with a tiny calico.

Then there was a purple strip in another, which didn't seem quite right as there were whole purple blocks next to it. 

I replaced it with a gold strip.

And a purple block with a bright red strip and more wine colored purple strips than I would like.

I replaced the red with a tiny red print, and the wines with bluer purples.

If you check out my other posts for RSC 18 (see the label on the right sidebar or at the bottom of this post), you will see that I kept the outlier theme going. The outlier strips are actually kind of strange in this quilt because they don't relate to anything in particular--only the RSC blocks that are in the other quilts. But I think it's kind of neat that I know the relationship is there. It's my little secret. Changing the strips was easy, as I used the old strips as a pattern for their replacements. But I was on the verge of getting carried away. DrEAMi (Drop Everything And Make it) was becoming OBSESSION (except those letters don't stand for anything--I'm not that clever). I had to stop myself. Each time I made a change, another strip in a block would stand out, calling attention to itself, until I told myself, "Enough, already!" 

I considered a solid pink and a solid purple for border and binding, but at the last minute I softened them a bit by subbing in a pink Grunge for the border and three purple prints for the binding. Then, finishing the piecing was easy. 

Because of the busy prints, quilting was simple--mostly walking foot. I outline quilted around the butterfly

and in the ditch around the blocks and (sort of) along seams between every set of two strips. I had to restrain myself because quilting these mini quilts to the nth degree is always my temptation. I wanted to keep it fairly soft. For the border I tried a bit of FMQ. I haven't done much lately and am a little rusty, but it was fun to add butterflies and loops to the top and bottom borders. 

Signed and dated!

The whole quilt is 22 by 24 1/4 inches. I haven't washed it yet, but I expect it will shrink a bit. The blocks finish at 5 inches and the sashings finish at 1 inch wide. The batting is a scrap of Hobbs 80/20. The white is Kona Snow. I pieced on my Singer Featherweight with Superior Masterpiece thread in Granite, and quilted on my Singer 115 Treadle with Superior King Tut in Temple. The back is pieced from the trimmings (three pieces) of another back. I even sort of matched the pattern. 

This view shows the quilting a bit better.

This quilt is headed to A Doll Like Me, the business of Amy Jandrisevets, who makes dolls for children that match their physical characteristics (perhaps with a limb difference, or hearing aids, or any other unique feature that might not be available in commercially-made dolls). Amy also provides doll quilts to include with the dolls under special circumstances. (If you'd like to learn more about Amy's business, you can read this post by Bernie at Needle and Foot from a quilt collection she did in February this year and then go to Amy's Facebook page to read more.) I'm pretty sure there is a child somewhere who is obsessed by pink and purple--and maybe butterflies, too--who will enjoy it with a doll. 

I'm linking up this DrEAMi (OBSESSION) with Sandra at mmm! quilts for her monthly linky party where we all share the squirrels we just had to chase this month. And with Angela at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

I hope you've had fun with your scraps and squirrels this month!

(I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)