Fractured an improv mini

A few weeks back I made this wall hanging as part of the curves class at Stitched in Color.

It was an instant favourite and because Mr Husband spent the day looking after the children I offered that he could have it if he liked.  He loved it but he knew that I did too so we decided to keep it at home and I promised to make him something with the scraps.  This weekend past I got out the pile of scraps and started work.  It was a little fiddly, I had to unpick a few pieces but I only had to add in two new sections (mostly to make up the width on one side).  The smallest piece is less than 1/16" x 1/4", can you believe that, I guess that's where improv can take you!

It was really hard to photograph, in real life it has great depth, the blue right in the centre draws you in and the lines around it kind of overlap to give the thought of looking out a window or into a forest.

I'm not sure I got the quilting right.  I love the texture that the Essex linen blend provides but I'm not sure the SLQ at 1/4" apart works.  It's also a little crooked, but I totally disgused that by naming and signing it ;)  It's called Fractured.  Maybe not the best name for a gift to my husband, but that's what came to me.

This mini is growing on me, I love it but I'm not sure SLQ was the right choice for the negative space.  But I love it and so does Mr Husband so that's all that matters, right? :)  It measures about 16" x 26" and was pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50wt (2000 and 2692) on my Bernina 440QE.  As always I machine stitched on the binding, I follow the Red Pepper Quilts method, my only tip is that I really iron the binding flat, and then use a small bulldog clip on each corner, then I don't need to use any pins or clips and I very rarely have to unpick or go over areas.

I often read questions about whether you can join pieces of batting/wadding, I always do!  This small piece is made up of 6 wadding scraps, you know those long thin ones you get when you trim your quilt top?  One across the bottom, one across the top and four down the middle.  I join pieces of wadding using my flat overlock stitch (number 23 on my Bernina) but I think a zigzag would be fine.  The trick is lining them up so they just overlap and then encompassing both edges in your stitches.  I trim off any bits poking out as they kind of make a little lump.  This method has worked well for me so far :)

You know I love a good back, and whilst this one may not be sexy it does show the quilting and it used up some scraps :)

This mini will head to Mr Husband's office tomorrow, but until then it is happily hanging in our loungeroom :)  Do you display your quilts in your home?  Do you have any tips for hanging them?  Do you wash them or don't bother if they're only ever going to be displayed and not used?

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