Piecing... my default setting

In times of stress I always seem to revert to the simple joy of piecing... enough to keep my brain from spinning out of control, but also something where theres not too much thought required.

I've found this lockdown process has negatively affected my sleep patterns... resulting in some incredibly long days, caffeine filled afternoons and some stupid cutting and sewing mistakes.

Amidst it all I have been plugging away at my version of The Proverbial Quilt by Denyse Schmidt.  The pattern version gives specific letter templates although the QAL has promoted a more freeform improv approach.  I have totally ignored the improv style of letters and worked with a more pixelated font using 1.5" and 2" cut strips (I don't actually own the pattern so I'm kind of working on my own thing).

I chose some song lyrics from the Sonny and Cher song "I got you babe"... And jumped in with the first letters...

I created a simple rainbow layout of colours so red turned into orange...

Then yellow...

 And green.

Although I worked in EQ7 for the basic layout, it wasn't until I started piecing the letters that their final size revealed itself.  My lower case alphabet is 6" tall totally forgetting until I got up to the "your" that I needed some space for the letters with "tails".

Blue and indigo...

I am going to need to add a blank strip under the other rows to make them all the same width.  Using capital letters would have solved this issue... or alternatively a mix of capitals and small caps.  Something to think about if I ever do another one. 

I also changed "mountain" to "maunga"... the Maori translation... a person's maunga reflects almost a spiritual connection with the land... where they and their people are from... and I thought this represented a special relationship for my husband (and children)... this quilt is for us... and reflects our strong supportive partnership.

My first row used a Spotlight grey as the background, having to piece the last bit to stretch it to finish the row.  Then a white row, then a pale blue, back to the white, then a lighter Bella solid grey, then white for the final row.  Again, if I'd planned this  (and realised how much background fabric I was going to go through) I might have changed the layout to be a bit more symmetrical.

And I'm now up to the last word... climb... with both indigo and violet.

So close!