Sochi-inspired quilt

Was there a quilter anywhere who was not impressed by the patchwork-themed design work at the Sochi Olympics?

There is something especially beautiful about the irony of the rainbow spectrum of this gorgeous artwork, in light of the human-rights violations that are the reality in modern Russia. As soon as I saw the design, I started piling up fabrics that I wanted to use for my version. I even have all those nifty 60-degree diamond rulers all warmed up! And, lucky me, just before the closing ceremonies, as I was tracking down my isometric graph paper to get to design work, the Hoffman fabric company saved me the effort by publishing a free pattern called When Bali Met Sochi.

This is the batik version of the "When Bali Met Sochi" quilt shown with the Hoffman pattern.

They planned it out for their new line of batiks, which is terrific, but I didn't want to buy anything (much) when I already own a really nice collection of bright mostly-solid geometric prints. The pattern called for 29 (!) fabrics, but I added a few more to make the pattern a little bigger and because I couldn't decide which to omit. I hit the scrap stash pretty hard with this project, so there are a few prints that are only represented in one or two diamonds. I will confess to purchasing a few quarter-yard cuts to round out some blanks in the spectrum -- mostly in the blue range, because I just don't buy those. I could have used a little more color variety within the prints to better approximate the many varied Olympics motifs, but the mostly monotones or analogous prints work well too.

I started cutting the day after I printed the pattern. Cutting all the edge and half-diamond pieces with those skinny 30-degree angles required attention to detail, but it was worth the effort in the end. Interesting tidbit: I didn't even use the 60-degree rulers for the initial cutting (although they were useful for trimming up the pieced diamonds); the ruler I used most was the 2.5 x 18" Omni ruler with the angle lines printed on it -- this was a great opportunity to practice using those angle lines instead of just the straight edges!

The sewing itself was a snap, so the top is already finished and waiting to be quilted!

This is my version of "When Angelina Saw Sochi" - approx. 71 x 77

I have the perfect length of the perfect fabric for the back, which I just washed this morning. I'm planning to iron and piece it this evening, because this project has catapulted to the front of the To-Quilt-Next line!

"Clover Sunshine Favorites" by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics

And, happy bonus, I am now left with a gorgeous pile of well-pressed, nicely angled, coordinating scraps, all ready for the playing! I cut a bunch of 1" diamond pieces with my Sidekick ruler and whipped up this little beauty:

A mini version of Jaybird's Rock Candy pattern; it's only 10" across the short distance of this hex!

And I'm also working on some freeform piecing with nothing particular in mind...placemats? A table runner? Who knows what will result! Tune in later to find out!