Finished: Counter-Clockwise

I worked on this little quilt while my friends pattern-tested “Big Bang” for me at the Snowbird Retreat back in October. It was #14 on my Q1 Finish-Along Goals for 2015.

Originally, I had named it “Where’s the Square?” since it’s built on much of the same principle as Big Bang — a non-square quadrilateral that, when combined in groups of 4, make squares. This design only has two foundation pieces, but figuring how to get the colors to end up where you want them was a bit of a puzzle for me.

I ran out of the Kona Ash background fabric — actually, I didn’t really run out. But I had two very obviously different dyelots and they looked terrible next to each other. This one had a greenish cast and the other one had a pinkish cast… So I was forced to think outside that light gray box and select a different background. Rather than make the light gray box be centered, I decided to place it off-center. This probably makes my husband a little crazy.

I quilted it through two layers of cotton batting, so it will be a very stable wall-hanging with a lot of texture. It finished at about 40″ square. The blocks units are 7″ finished, but I trimmed the outer blocks a few inches narrower after quilting because I didn’t want the border that wide.

I left the pinwheels unquilted, which makes them puff up quite a bit from the quilt with the extra layer of batting. I really like the look that this gives the finished piece.

Jerry maintains that the doubled pinwheels bear an unfortunate resemblance to an abhorrent symbol from the World War II era. I disagree, since I did not use black, red, or tan, and the pinwheels all turn in the counter-clockwise direction. He has hassled me the whole time I’ve been working on the piece, which has dampened my enthusiasm at releasing this one as a pattern. It’s really neat how it goes together without any partial seaming at all, and I think people would respond well to the simplicity of only having two foundations. But I definitely balk at the idea of creating a pattern that could so easily be manipulated into such a controversial symbol. I considered naming it “Blitz” (since the fabrics were from a “Tiles of Casablanca” bundle for QuiltNow, a magazine from the UK) or “Roundup” (since there’s definitely motion involved when you look at it), but felt that even those titles were too reminiscent of that connection which I want to avoid. So “Counter-Clockwise” it is.

As it is another Nerdy Math Quilt, I used my beloved Ikea Britten Nummer fabric on the back. I’m pretty sure I will grieve when I use up that bolt of fabric. And Jerry will rejoice, because he’s tired of it.