Quilt-opedia: Obsession Quilt

A couple weekends ago, following the completion of two mini quilts, I found myself project-less for the first time in recent memory. While I usually don't have multiple projects going at once, I do have a mental list of projects I want to attempt. Somehow I managed to outpace my list. Being ansty, I opted to make a project from Quilt-opedia by Laura Jane Taylor, which I previously reviewed.

It wasn't hard to decide what project I was going to dive into: the Obsession Quilt. Taylor cites the Obsession Quilt as her hands-down favorite project out of the book and it's easy to see why. Hell, it's even on the cover of the book! 

I made some changes to the overall design. Taylor's finished quilt is 80" square, but I reduced my individual squares from 4" to 3" for a finished quilt that's 60" square. I also rearranged the color by omitting the oranges/pinks and repeating the the green, aqua, and light blue sections in the middle.

A single quadrant of the quilt top

As per the instructions, I pieced the quilt top together in quadrants then stitched them all together at the end.

I pieced my back together (my normal practice since I rarely buy anything bigger than a half-yard) then sat down to quilt it! Like Taylor, I did a spiral from the center...but oh lawd is it bad. Trying to cram this quilt through the itty-bitty harp space on my Brother CE5500PRW was making me go batty. Also, since I was increasing the space between my spirals as I moved out from the center, it was harder to keep the quilting guide on my walking foot to stay down. The quilt itself kept pushing it up. The result was some not-so-pretty outer spirals. I ended up drawing the last few curved on the quilt with a water-soluble pen and tracing them. 

my pieced quilt back

Lucky for me, the white thread I quilted with is barely noticeable on the finished product. The lovely colors and eye-catching design of the quilt top succeeded in distracting from my de facto worst quilting job ever.

I finished the quilt off with some scrappy binding (which has quickly become my favorite way to bind) and a toss in the wash. It came out lovely! I'm very happy with my choice to make it 60" instead of 80". It's the perfect size for burrito-style quilt snuggling!

Name: Obsession Quilt
Size: 60" square
Fabric: Too many to mention. I did use a lot of Patty Sloniger's new line, Emma's Garden, more than any other single collection. Most was just from my stash.
Pattern: Obsession Quilt from Quilt-opedia by Laura Jane Taylor
Quilting: Spiral
Completed: May 17, 2014