Quilters' Challenge: Scrappy Rainbow

This month, the challenge is coming from Future Cat in New Zealand.  The challenge is Scrappy Rainbow!  I am a sucker for a rainbow, I always have been.  I'm not sure if it's because I like rainbows or if it's just because I know the colours always look good and I don't have to choose just one 🤣.  

YouTube Video

So I began my scrappy journey with a bag of strips that was given to me by another quilter who was having a bit of a destash.  I dug through the bag and found a great collection of batik strips in widths that were between 2" and 3.5", so I began thinking about what I could do with some strips and my longarm.  

I knew about layered quilting as I had watched a video by Angela Walters a couple of years ago.  This technique is also a sort of reverse raw-edge appliqué.  I decided to give this technique a try.  I started by drawing up a simple design that I thought might work for this.  I used my old projector to get the design to the size I wanted.  

I ended up layering 3 fabrics together, my rainbow piece, a blue piece and my top black piece.  I didn't want my design to all be rainbow, I needed to calm it down a bit.  I then mounted the 3 fabrics, a layer of batting, and a backing on my longarm, and I stitched out the lines of my fish design. 

I really wish I had stitched over my lines at least once more to really secure the fabric in place. I cut a little too close to a couple of the stitches and ended up having to do some repairs a little later, no big deal, but it was avoidable. 

After that was done, it was time to cut some fabric away. I was so excited about this part... omg it took sooooo long.  I think my dots were too small, I didn't have the right scissors, and I didn't use high-quality cotton for the top layer.  But a couple of hours later, I was thrilled with the result.

I had to remove the fish from the longarm to cut all of the bits away; it was much more comfortable to sit and listen to an audiobook than to stand over the longarm.  But now it was time to remount the fish and finish the quilting.  I had originally planned to do some ghost quilting and add in more fish to the background, but I realized that it was going to be a waste of time because black thread on black fabric just doesn't show up nicely, and I was starting to get a little frustrated with this 'quick' project.   So I did the background with the pebble pop filler and then added some texture to the fish with some clamshell shapes. 

I haven't finished the binding yet, but I am thinking of maybe using the leftover rainbow strips.  I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know what you think I should name this rainbow angler fish. 

Sam