Acceptable Madness

Fun fact about me: I often do not follow the directions when making a quilt. I pay attention long enough to get the cutting correct, and then I usually just refer to the pictures and sew, sew, sew. If this weren't my tendency, the entire post you are about to read would not have happened.

My title refers to the name of the quilt I have been stitching for most of this month - Diagonal Madness, a pattern by Kaffe Fassett featured in his book, Country Carden Quilts. I have finally completed my quilt top, and while it lacks a cohesive look, the title gives me license to put my own spin on it. I now deem it acceptable.

Kaffe's version pictured above shows distinct diagonal movement as well as vertical movement all created by the placement of fabrics. Note, too, the checkerboard border - I will come back to borders further down this post.

So in earlier posts, I have explained how I let a significant gap of time lapse from when I began this quilt until this month when I decided to finish it. I could not have foreseen the exasperating complications this gap would cause. My vision from 8 months ago and my vision now were very, very different, and the result was a chaotic mess. See previous post for pictures.

Today, I finished the remake of this quilt. In addition to unsewing almost half of it, I also removed two rows across the bottom. Yes, those directions certainly would have told me how many rows were needed, but gosh, who has time to read directions? I just stopped when it seemed 'enough' and after I'd gone a good ways into it, I realized I got a bit carried away on the length. So that was fixed with my seam ripper as was my chaotic placement of fabrics in this newer portion most recently added.

The photo above shows all my deconstructed rows pinned in place as I attempted to rebuilt a quilt top that suited me. All the upper left was what I made back in September. I wanted my new part to 'work' with my original part.

I finally finished the quilt top and spread it out on the bed. While I still see parts I would or should fix, I am not so bothered that I am willing to do further unsewing. In other words, I can live with this.

It is evident without the visual aid, but I put in some dotted lines to show where I would do more work if I were so inclined. (I'm not.) Everything above the top dotted line was done last September. Everything under the top dotted line was my addition this month. Everything under the lower dotted line was sewn, unsewn, and resewn. And in between the dotted lines, I selectively removed blocks and changed out here and there in an attempt to establish some manner of cohesiveness. I wasn't entirely successful, but it's better than it was.

So here are some random shots from different angles. I do love the variety of color in this quilt. It is quite a happy quilt, in my opinion.

Now to the topic of borders, which I alluded to above. This part of the quilt measures roughly 70" x 74" - I will be more precise once I  trim it. I went to my Kaffe Fassett stash to consider outer border options. I decided early on that I would not be doing a checkerboard border. Too much work. I have worked hard enough on this quilt as it is, I will just do regular old borders and move on. So here are some options I am considering.

By using those light blue setting triangles to frame the quilt, I technically already have a nice inner border. So my first inclination is to simply add a bright and bold outer border and be done with it. One problem: I don't have tons of yardage for that. My biggest piece of KF yardage is the blue above, and I would definitely need a middle border if I were to use this.

My preference is a single bold border. I pulled my biggest pieces and they are shown numbered above. My least favorite of these is number 1. It is just not bold enough, in my opinion. I have an idea that I can piece the three other options above into a border and it would look quite striking. Or I could shop online for adequate yardage of 2, 3 or 4. That is doable, for sure. If they are still available. I bought these years ago. Literally, like more than 10 or 15. It is old stuff.

So there's my madness saga. The final chapter in the saga has come, and none too soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!