I dream in color
6 ½ months of stitching - totally worth the time!
I’ve had two rainbow quilts in progress for the last little while, and one is finished today! My Alison Glass rainbow quilt, using Kawandi-inspired construction techniques is finally finished. It is wild that this one was 100% hand made, and went way faster than my Tula Pink Glam Clam quilt. I guess I know what I would rather spend my time doing. Hand Stitching!!!
The Details
Dates - Backing & Plan 4/3/25, actual stitching 6/4/25. Last stitch 10/21/25
Size - 54” tall x 49” wide
Backing - Double Gauze
Batting - Silk Blend by Hobbs *
Top fabrics - a carefully curated collection (aka hoard) of fabrics from Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics - years of collecting
Thread - Tencel Perle by Trailhead, in many, many colors
Needle - #3 Milliner’s by Sue Spargo
Thimble - Boho Magic * Fidget Spinner Ring
Needle Gripper - Clover Rubber Thimble *
*These are affiliate links.
The center panel is from Alison’s Color Wheel collection, which is available on her website. I thought it was Ex Libris, but I think this particular wheel comes back once in a while. I used the panel as a belly, and turned it under, which is why it isn’t a perfect circle.
I constructed the quilt with a single round of stitching spiraling into the middle, spacing the rows about 1/2” apart. I added a second spiral of stitches in between the lines to enhance texture, and to spend more time with it. I’m tempted to just keep going forever, but I suppose it is time to make something new.
I used all the colors of thread. I love seeing how the thread colors interact with the fabric. In general, the thread matched the color of the fabric I started stitching on. As I travel along the quilt, the combination of shifting fabrics and variegated threads mean the matching is sometimes good, sometimes not as good. But it’s always compelling.
My stitches vary from about 1/8” to 1/16”. I am for consistent sizes front and back, but often miss.
A trifecta! It is important that the whole wiener crew is comfy. Clockwise from right we have Oscar, Otto and CJ.
I work on my lap most of the time, because that is where I’m comfy.
I was shooting for at least an hour per day, but sometimes I did more, and sometimes I did zero. Often I could only get in about 15 minutes. Every minute counts, and they all add up. It is hard to get my head around taking 6 months to make something, when I used to finish a whole quilt in a weekend.
I stitch an X on the quilt each day when I start, so theoretically I can count the X’s and know how many days this took. However, I cannot possibly sit still long enough to do the counting, so it’s a mystery. It took a lot of days.
This quilt started in my home in Sparta, moved to my apartment in Westfield, traveled with me to Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Iceland. It even crossed the Arctic Circle.
To be honest, I wish I had chosen a more interesting backing color. However, Joann went out of business before I could acquire ALL the colors of double gauze. Since I have a bad habit of finishing bolts, even new ones, I have plenty of this weird puce color to work through. The texture rocks, though.
Shifting thread colors.
Joining up with Favorite Finish October from Quilting Jetgirl for this one!
