Icecream with Sprinkles

Sex is like food, but different.

Beauty and the Beach

You imagine it to be sweet and smooth like ice-cream.
In reality it is like barbeque ribs - sticky and messy.

Ice-cream with Sprinkles

You picture it will be a neat little cup with a small spoon.  You daintily take a bite, close your eyes and enjoy the gentle melting of the ice-cream on your tongue. You take a deep breath of extreme satisfaction as the coolness travels down your throat, while the sweetness lingers in your mouth. Pure bliss.

Barbecue Ribs

In reality, the barbeque ribs are rather large and unwieldy. You go to pick it up and it is hot and it slips out of your fingers and as you try to catch it, the sauce splatters all over you. You manage to catch it but you are up to your elbows in brown goopy mess. It is spicy and smoky. It is sweet and salty. It is juicy but also burns. Pure disaster, but worth it.

Finished!!!

Such is this quilt. It looks innocent - like a cup of ice-cream (with sprinkles) but making it has been a long drawn out process - like smoky ribs.

Kaffe Fassett

There were some scraps leftover from Clay's quilt other than the HSTs (that became Parikrama and the squares that went to the Little One).  Some were really skinny slivers.  I devised a simple plan to use up those skinny slivers.

Slivers - Composite and Simple

Make composite slivers!!!  Sew them along the length and cross cut into slivers, resulting in a mix of simple and composite slivers.
Are you still reading? Oh my goodness, thank you for your support and patience.

Cut and Insert

To give maximum focus to these slivers , I stitched background fabric on either sides to make a 6" square block.  Once I had 64 blocks, I would sew them in a layout of 8 by 8 and call it a flimsy.

Changed orientation to avoid bulky seams

Just when I got close to 60 blocks, I found a ziplock bag with slivers left over from Angel's Midnight Garden.  (Does that ever happen to you?)
Oh my goodness, more Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Was that a sign?
Of course it was a sign. More background fabric was cut, slivers were inserted and more 6" squares were churned out.

Contrast Borders

I was now up to 144 blocks.  Some slivers were still left over. What if I make the second cut/insert?
Some squares were inserted with sliver #2.

Flimsy

Light YellowBacking

Green Binding

144 blocks. Arranged 12 by 12 would yield a square lap size quilt of 66" sides.
I was already dreaming of snuggling with it, when I spoke aloud.

Sun shining through...

Me: Lap size goodness infused with magnificent slivers of Kaffe. So snuggly!!!
Paul: Lap size? Who is it for?
Me: Me, myself and I
Paul: What if someone else wants to snuggle with you?
Me: Who would that be (I asked innocently)
Paul: Brat, who else?
Me: Oh you?
Paul: Yes, me. Such a pretty quilt and none for me.
Me: So you really want to snuggle with the quilt, not me.
Paul: It can be both, you know.

Time for design modifications. At current layout, the quilt would be 66" square. I needed it to be 66" by 88". Meaning I needed a layout of 12 blocks by 16 blocks. That is a total of 192 blocks. I needed 48 more blocks. And all slivers were gone.
AAA...........RRRRR....................GHHHH.

Brightness = Happiness

Finished at 72" by 94"

I cannot possibly put into words the mental calisthenics, the scribblings and scrawls that led to the final design and layout.

Hello Beautiful!

In the end, I decided on a layout of 165 blocks, arranged 11 by 15. Plus 5.5" borders.

Labelled

I am calling this one Moonbeams. Because those colorful slivers - simple and composite - beam against the white/off-white/silvery moon-like background.
Slivers on Silver - say that five times fast :-D

Moonbeams

Celebrating Color

My love affair with Kaffe continues...

Ready to Snuggle

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties, see full list on the sidebar.
How is your summer - like ice-cream or smoky ribs? I'd love to hear your thoughts.