I got lead over the rainbow by the String Beans on Design Wall Monday

Wow, this was quite an adventure and I had no idea where I was going to end up when I started this quilt. It began with this pattern, String Beans, by Stephanie at Loft Creations.



As you can see I was dazzled by a multitude of fabrics in rainbow colors- polka dots, checks, plaids and stripes - yikes! (you can click on the pictures to see the all the different fabric designs.)



Originally I thought I'd mix up the colors but when I had them on the design wall grouped by color I really liked it. Then I decided to use the same fabric for the sashing strips as the background so the String Bean blocks would float. Which lead to the brainstorm that I could make the cornerstones follow the same color order as the block- pink w/yellow, orange w/pink, yellow w/orange, yellow w/green, green w/turquoise and turquoise w/yellow. I thought I was a genius! (yes I easily impress myself - LOL!)



And floating the blocks and adding the rainbow bright cornerstones created a secondary pattern that I hadn't anticipated, but again - I LIKED IT! So off I went, sewing, sewing, sewing. This was simple sewing but somehow it took me all day Saturday and Sunday. By Saturday evening, I had the center of the quilt finished and seeing that secondary pattern got the little hamster-driven wheels in my head spinning and I sketched out how I could carry that pattern into the border.



I think it gives it a bit of a scalloped look. Now that yellow border fabric is a bit of a problem child. I know the bolt said 100% cotton but I have my doubts. It has a bit of a poly/cotton feel and I wouldn't have used it except I had oodles and I was seduced by the color and it's random dots. I am easily taken it, and no I don't need to buy a bridge this week. Ask again next week though. The border is a bit wavy but I figure a great all over quilting pattern, cotton batting and a spin in the washing machine will render that waviness inconsequential.

While I was sewing this quilt I remembered that when my boys were younger there was a show where they sang the song, "Polka dots, checks and stripes, yikes!" You can see the video here. My oldest son thought that this song was the reason behind Garanimals clothing, which I just found out they still make. Since he had trouble putting shirts and pants together I got him a lot of these outfits. Now that he's grown up he speculates that there would still be a large male segment of the population that would like Garanimals for adults. Since they aren't available he's goes with the basic gray plan - gray suits, white shirts and a colorful tie. Garanimals for lawyers- LOL!

Well I still need to get the back sewn up for this. It got bigger than I expected - 82" x 86". I can't wait to pass this off to my long arm quilter at tonight's guild meeting.

Hope your week is full of sewing time!
carol fun