WIP: Ghastlies Quilt – Tree Top Assembly

At the end of my last Ghastlies post I was decided tree strips. I committed to one double height green tree row and, while my mind was churning on others, I made some tweaks on the polka dot brick rows. I had one brick on the left edge of the quilt where a little boy was hiding behind his mom's skirt. Had I left it that way, once I trimmed the edge, none of her skirt would have shown and a smidgeon of the boy would have been covered by the binding.

I removed that brick, trimmed a half inch off the right edge and re-inserted it so more of the skirt showed and the 3/8" binding will just come up to the little boy's pudgy cheek.

Back to those trees... Oh, how I agonized on how much more tree fabric to include, how tall to cut each tree strip, and where to place them! If I had trees on the top should they be on the bottom also? Did I need equal amounts of white/grey/green trees? Should I save some green trees for the back? In the next photo the trees look grey but it must be my lighting because they are really green as in the preceding photo. As a backing, I'd been planning to use that yellow fabric whose olive dots matched the tree fabric so exactly they seemed meant for each other. Now, I was reconsidering. 

Tucking in a few tree rows in all three colors here and there, I experimented with repeated layouts. I reforested that quilt with trees many times over! After rearranging yet another configuration, I stood back and stared once again at the quilt on the wall. "Stop!" I scolded myself. "Enough!"  So I added no other strips, joining together only what was currently on the wall. Here is the assembled top on my design wall, with a bit of sunshine streaming in on the lower left side edge. I decided that asymmetry was good, tree edge on top, dot edge on bottom, uneven tree row heights. The grey and the green double tree height rows only appear one place each but hey, that's OK. If I'd included all the fabric combinations I was considering, this tall, tall, quilt would have been more appropriate as a floor runner down a long hallway.

After saving the green trees to use with the yellow fabric with olive dots, I changed my mind for the backing material. I will use this pink and grey stripe instead. The uneven stripe widths are unique and, since I know this is for a girl, I no longer have to pretend to be gender neutral. I plan to break up the length of the back with a grove or two of grey and white trees, just to add a bit of a surprise.

In the game of Scrabble, I view Q and Z as partners in crime. I am pairing that duo again for the edges of this quilt so it will have a Quirky Zebra binding. It should be fun!

Now I am at my typical stall point of backing, batting, and FMQ. I plan to prepare the backing and batting today. I just might distract myself this evening with sewing some of the cloth books I bought this weekend (see 2/22/13 post) and put off starting the FMQ with the lame excuse that I'll be fresher in the morning. To quote Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind...

Here are my stats updated relative to last week's WIP post. I have completed nothing and started nothing new since I have been actively working this Ghastlies quilt exclusively. The ongoing projects are unchanged from my 2/19/14 WIP post and mostly awaiting FMQ so I have not repeated them here.

Stats since 02/19/14 WIP:

     Completed  projects - 0

     Currently in progress - 7 - but actively working only on Ghastlies

     New projects - 0 thus far - unless I cave and sew cloth books

I will further delay my FMQ by linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP to check out what has been keeping others busy.