Unconventional Pixels

After a long respite, I've been busy in my studio working on an Improvisational wall quilt for my son.
As soon as I started on piecing the top, I knew what the name of the quilt would be. "Unconventional Pixels".  A lot of my quilts are that way.  It doesn't take long before a clever name comes to mind.  This one is definitely "Unconventional" in every way. 

The strips were cut with scissors in varying widths and sewn together in their color categories which were lights, mediums and darks.  This generated 3 pieced sets which were cross cut with scissors into varying widths again.   My rulers went on vacation during the construction of this quilt. 

At first, I thought about putting them in a basket and blind pick each strip to sew to make blocks.  But, then I decided to piece them log cabin style.  Using the same light and dark concept, I chose the light blue and black fabric to space the blocks and make some of them float.  

My son is a film fanatic, so with this in mind, I wanted to add side strips that resembled frames from film.  I used the light blue with dark blue squares for one side and black with gold squares for the other side. Next, I sandwiched the top with the backing and batting using safety pins to hold the layers together while machine quilting the design.  I usually undo the pins about 6-10" in front of the needle so I am not running any of them over.

There is a sense of flow with the light and dark sweeping across the top.  This thought led me to decide the quilting design.  I rarely mark the top.  I love the random free motion doodling techniques.  I chose to make wavy intersecting lines.  I like to look of polyester and rayon thread with it's glossy sheen. The use of polyester is very unconventional these days.  The top and bottom thread is Superior's Fantastico thread in a slight variegated navy blue.  

Instead of adding a binding to the edges, I wanted the quilting to flow off the quilt and not end that look with the binding or looking like it was framed by the binding.  I thought of purchasing some wood slats to make a frame like a canvas and stretch the quilt around it, but I didn't want it to look heavy and bulky, so I decided to just roll the edges to the back and sew  them down to the back.  Perfectly "Unconventional".

Here it is, finished and ready for him to hang in his foyer which will bring lots of color to his bare wall.