Cherry-Go-Round

Knock! Knock! What's black & white, fun & bright and super sweet?!?  

Strike a Pose Panda

Panda says Thank you!  Thank you!  I am flattered, but I was referring to mom's latest quilt finish!!  I will let her tell you all about this fun new quilt that complements me oh so beautifully!!

Thank you Panda...I will take it from here...

Back in March 2016, I finally had the opportunity to take a workshop with the fabulous Freddy Moran.  This has been on my bucket list as I love Freddy's bold sense of color and pattern.  My fabric pull was very much inspired by Freddy and quotes from her book:  Freddy's House of Color.

• Black & White prints: "Scrap quilts have few rules, but by using black and white, I am able to break even those rules and it works."
• Red:  "Just an observation:  I consider red a neutral"
• Polka Dots:  "I am addicted to polka dots.  A polka dot is the first fabric I reach for." 

My collection of cherry prints were perfect for Freddy's Dot.com pattern, as they were essentially red polka dots on mostly black & white backgrounds!!  Lime green polka dots (including some red lady bugs) add a pop of color and unity when used in each of the arcs.

Freddy Inspired Palette and Quilt Top

The curved seams were fairly easy to piece using a couple of pins here and there.  Several different layouts were explored before deciding upon this radiating design.  Interesting but something more was definitely needed.

A 1.5 year time out gave me plenty of time to mull over border treatment ideas.  A variety of 2.5" strips were cut from leftover prints to create scrappy piano key borders, with mitered corners.  Leftover strip sets were incorporated into a scrappy pieced backing (and there are quite a few strips remaining!!)

Scrappy Strips

Given all the busy prints and patterns, I kept the quilting fairly simple with lots of stippling and a few fun accents (all using Aurifil 50 weight threads):

• Large daisy flowers were stitched into each of the circular nodes in Natural White, #2021
• Free Motion Quilted figure-eight designs stitched into the green arcs in Grass Green, #1114
• Lots of stippling around each of the daisy flowers and along the piano keys border in Natural White, #2021
• Emerald (#2865) was used for top stitching the machine stitched binding

Quilting Auditions and Accents

While working on this quilt, I oftend dubbed it Cherry.com, in honor of Freddy's Dot.Com workshop.  But as I neared the finish line, an alternate quite title suddenly popped into my head...

"Cherry-Go-Round", Finishes 54" x 54"

This quilt reminds me of my many fond memories of Freddy Moran's visit:

• Her fun & fearless sense of color!
• Freddy's whimsical and carefree designs (Amen to glue sticks!)
• Most importantly her warmth and fabulous sense of humor

I will close with this one final quote from Freddy Moran that really resonates with me:  "Quilting is my passion.  I feel everyone needs a passion in their life.  I think having a passion keeps us active, alive, and interesting, and interested in other people and places.  Quilting has led me to meet a fabulous group of people and to travel to wonderful parts of the world.  Quilting keeps our minds creative."