rocky mountain needlework

Something new in the Workshop. Once upon a time I thought I would call my (then just imaginary) company Rocky Mountain Needleworks -- you might not know that I grew up in the Rockies in Colorado.

(I did finally figure out a big reason why I gravitated to the name I ended up with -- Kitchen Table Workshop reminds me of Children's Television Workshop! Those were the folks who brought me so much joy in the form of Sesame Street. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I saw the name and logo of CTW go across my little black and white screen. Also, can you tell me the city that contains the zip code 02134?)

But, wait, quilts.

This pattern is called Rocky Mountain Puzzle. I chose a combination of turquoise, pink and orange prints for the main colors. I experimented with mixing the colors up in each block, but that ended up looking too clashy for me. (Now I have a couple of clashy orphan blocks -- pillows?) I like it better this way, with all the colors combined in the quilt but each block more monochromatic. I mixed in some solids I had picked up in a great online sale at Connecting Threads (who knows, maybe they'll find out I'm giving them free advertising and kick me back something someday! A girl can dream.)

For the background I used a mixture of gray solids and grayscale prints, and I accented each block and bound the whole thing with solid black. It seems that I don't have a photo of the back, but it's the same as the little border on the front -- another of those random matches I already had. Super cute gray background with whimsical pink, orange, and blue kites (with weird little faces). I would have totally picked this fabric from the store if I'd gone shopping for a quilt back!

I made major breakthroughs on this one in aligning my points and not cutting anything off -- I actually invite you to inspect them (in this shot, anyway). All of my half-square triangle quilts will be improved! 

I quilted in double diagonals, just one direction on this one. That worked pretty well, though I did stop about halfway through to smooth the layers and repin. It finished up as a larger crib/child or a smallish lap size.

I started this one just to try out the pattern and play with the colors, but by the time it was finished, it had found a (temporary, anyway) home. I donated it to a friend who is working on a charity event for their raffle. I hope someone ends up with a cozy quilt and the charity scores a little cash.

(Did you answer the zip code question? It's Boston. As in "Send it to Zoom. Box 3-5-0. Boston, Mass. 0-2-1-3-4. Loved that show.)