Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Tipus and Treetops - Backing

This post is continued from my previous post 6/30/2023 where I created the top for this quilt. Although grateful for people's input and interest, after due consideration I chose to make the quilt five blocks by five blocks. It called out to me to be square. Here it is wrapped around the corner of my design wall. I made three more blocks the same as others I'd made. Two extra blocks incorporated those stripes I like and I set them in the upper right diagonal to balance the two in the lower left diagonal. I had to unsew and resew the upper right corner block with the tipu (little bird) border to offset the height of the center correctly, but that was no great effort to do. Now those five landscape orientated centers undulate up and down in that top row, as in the middle and bottom rows. Rows two and four have portrait oriented centers that also subtly undulate down and up. The symmetry of this five by five array pleases me.

Although I had yards and yards of gray fabrics, the teal ones are more appealing and exciting. I had partial yards of the teal feature fabrics left over — not so much the "tulip" one but the tipus and trees and mesh. I decided to use them uncut and full width. I experimented with the placement and what looked best was the teal mesh on the bottom; positioned there it weighted the composition and acted like grass. Next the trees were in the middle; they are the most interesting and centrally placed are more of a focus. Tipus are on top like birds in the air. For the extra width I needed, I used the large graphic charcoal and white sunflower print, fussy cutting for symmetric sunflower placement.


I laid the top on the backing to be certain I have enough extra around the edges and I do. Enough of the backing peeks out above, below, and both sides of the top. I made up my binding from the striped fabric. 



Next I will make up the labels, but they will need to wait until I finalize the quilt name. Tipus and Treetops as a working title is certainly better than a boring Teal and Gray, but it does not recognize the sunflowers and woodland critters. Perhaps I can do better. Maybe not. I will have time to think it over since I am off for a weekend with grandkids and the Long Beach Quilt Festival. Labeling, layering, and quilting will be on hold for a while.

1 comment:

  1. I love a good, lightly pieced backing, and it's great to see that tree print whole! I also love a striped binding, so I'm excited to read about how this all comes together.

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