The incredible lightness of being... low volume

What a fun time I had making this quilt.  My sewing room was upside down for weeks with light and neutral fabric strips.  It was a happy mess.  So it usually goes when you're making something new and different.

I used a 60" throw size of wool batting and backed it with some Anna Maria Horner voile I found on sale.  The log cabin blocks were machine quilted kind of randomly, sometimes in the ditch, sometimes down the middle of the strips, puffing up instantly because of the batting.

A few of the log cabin centers were fussy cut and others just pieced.  I never really measured the centers or the strips, so the fabric pieces are anywhere from about 1.5 to 3 inches wide.  All the blocks were trimmed up to 9 inches square.

Instead of adding a binding, I wrapped the excess voile backing around to the front of the quilt, creating  a soft, silky border. 

There is a good tutorial on how to do this binding method here, although I like to leave a little batting in the binding to keep it from being too flat.

I have a lot of strips left over, so you may see a few other things popping up in these soft colors.  I don't feel like I'm done with this yet.  For a look at some other low volume quilts, go see Kristen and Amanda.  A pattern for the strip pieced low volume quilt like Amanda's can be found in her new book she wrote with Cheryl Arkison, called Sunday Morning Quilts.

While I'm at it, I might as well throw in a random book review.

This is the first of three books about Josephine Bonaparte, written as though you were reading her diary.  This is hands down some of my most favorite kind of reading.  Did you know Josephine used to smile with her mouth closed or behind a fan because her teeth were bad?  She created beautiful gardens, and she was thrown into an early menopause because of her imprisonment in the Bastille, rendering her unable to bear children after that?  July 14th was Bastille day (and my wedding anniversary) so it made me think of these books.

After the quilt came out of the dryer, I test drove it with a nap.  Toe polish color is Peruby Ruby by OPI, in case you just couldn't make it through the day without that important information.

I'd like to say Hello!! to my new followers.  Thank you to everyone for stopping by and leaving all those kind comments.  I may start responding to the no-reply bloggers in the comment section, but you will have to check back for that.  Also, the info  I received on thyroid medication  from some of you was very helpful and I appreciate you sharing it with me.
Okay one more picture.....