Shattered Crystal – Modern Improv Quilting

I finished this quilt the last week in December, but I wanted to wait to wash the quilting marks out before posting.  Laundry wasn’t a top priority over the holiday, so I’ve had a bit of catching up to do before getting to the quilt.  It was worth the wait.

I blogged about this project in an earlier post.   A friend from The Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild suggested we take the Thunderstruck class with Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and I signed up.  Taking classes with quilty friends is great fun.
The original pattern finishes at 41″ square.  I wanted my quilt to be a bit larger, so I made a border using up all of the scraps from creating the improv slashed diamonds.  It finished at 48″ square.  I love how the borders look – you can expect to see more improv slashing in future projects.  Most of the fabric for this piece is from my stash.  I did need to buy some more creamy batik for the final row – nothing I had was big enough or the right colors.  (I may have bought 6 different pieces online, just to make sure I had the right one.  How my stash grows is a mystery.)
This quilt told me it wanted only straight lines in the quilting.  It seems that common wisdom in quilting is curvy quilting for quilts with straight lines, and straight lines for quilts with curves.  I don’t really understand where this idea came from, and I don’t agree with it.  This quilt is all about lines, not curves, and I love how it turned out.  The only marking I did was in the setting triangles.

The backing fabric is a fun print I picked up on clearance from a quilt shop in New Hampshire.   I was so happy when I noticed it on the shelf.  It is a lawn from Cloud9 Fabrics.  It is so soft, and I loved how lightweight it is.
My next Victoria Findlay Wolfe project will be her herringbone pattern from Modern Quilt Magic.  I’ll be at the Feb 7th class with my friends – I think there are still some spots open!