Spirangle Square Off

Fabrics featured in this post were provided by Michael Miller Fabrics as part of my being a Michael Miller Brand Ambassador

One of the many goodies contained in my Michael Miller Brand Ambassador Welcome Box this year was a package of Krystal Neutrals 10" Squares. The Krystal Collection is a beautiful array of mottled tone on tones print, similar to the texture of a hand-dyed fabric. These 10" squares are the perfect size for some Free Styling & Spiraling fun...

Project #1:
Inspired by St. Patrick's Day festivities, I chose a variety of green squares and paired them with Hash Dot Ebony. A set of 4 blocks was surrounded with wonky frames using the Black & White Stack Print, making for a fun mini quilt (approximately 22" square)...

...Or so I thought! These square spirangles are so much fun to improv piece that I kept pulling out more green squares and making more and more blocks for a total of 16 blocks!!

Four square spirangles were grouped together and wonky frames added in either the Black & White Stacks print or some of the rich Evergreen Krystal yardage that was also included in my Welcome Box (also used for the majority of the quilt backing).

The quilt top was already pretty busy, so I kept the quilting fairly simple with a fun-to-stitch Spikey Bear Claws motif.

I couldn't resist binding with Black and White Little Stripes.

Feeling Lucky & Free Styling, Finishes 40" x 40"

Projects 2 and 3:
The free styling fun continued as I needed new workshop samples to send out to guilds and groups booking me to teach my Free Styling & Spiraling workshop.

These square spirangles were pieced using an assortment of red, grey, and black Krystal squares. The spinning borders were pieced using skinny strips of black & white Clown Stripe and wonky strips cut from a fat-quarter of either Rave or Red That's It Dot.

Given the smaller size, I opted to quilt these on my Juki TL-2010 domestic machine, using a mix of free motion quilting designs: Spikey Bear Claw and Square Spirals (Left) or Spikey Spirals with some Loopy Pulleys (Right).

Free Styling Mickey and Minnie, Each Finishes 21" x 21" 

Given the classic pairing of black, white, and red, with all those fun dots, I couldn't resist naming this duo of quilt mini's after Disney's iconic sweetheart couple: Mickey & Minnie Mouse (who were dressed for a Holiday Fiesta during my first Disneyland visit with my friend Lori).

Project #4:
I hope you aren't sick of square spirangles because there are still some remaining 10" squares wanting to play!! 8 warm colored squares were paired up with 8 squares of Cotton Couture Royal. Once all 16 square spirangles were assembled, I laid them out into a 4x4 grid, taking care to distribute the pairs and values.

The orientation of each spirangle block was then determined by a roll of the dice, borrowed from the Left Center Right Dice Game. Each side of the die was assigned an orientation:

• L--turn block Left 90 degrees
• C--turn block 180 degrees
• R--turn block Right 90 degrees
• Dot--No Change
• Wild (turn block 180 degrees or Maker's Choice)

In the photo below left you can see the outcome of all 16 rolls. While I didn't roll any Wilds, I did reserve the right to employ Maker's Choice by changing the orientation of just 2 blocks (below right).

In Progress Quilt Top Finishes 28" x 28", Pending Borders

All 16 blocks have been assembled into a quilt top, which remains a Work-In-Progress while I decide whether or not to add borders.

And in case you were wondering whether all the 10" squares were used?!? There are still 17 more Krystal 10" squares left!! Time will tell whether they too will be destined for some Free Styling & Spiraling fun...?!?

Be There, Or Be Square!!
I hope you will consider joining the Free Styling & Spiraling fun in one of my future workshops**:

8/28: The QUILT Guild of Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
9/23: Quilt and Fiber Art Festival, Sacramento, CA (online registration just opened)
10/10: Santa Clarita Valley Quilt Guild, Santa Clarita, CA
10/29: International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX

**In light of COVID-19, I encourage you to check my teaching calendar as there have been a number of cancellations.