Incidental Refractions

Val made this quilt as a Mystery Project to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Canadian Quilter's Association.  The pattern is called Incidental Refraction and was designed by Border Creek Station.

There was a lot of open space to accept some doodle/graffiti/busy quilting and when I asked Val what she thought, she was all in.

I knew that I wanted to contrast the quilting in the background to the strips and stars.  I added some straight lines and star motifs and a few curves in the the taupe sections, and stitched in the ditch around the purple triangles. 

The background quilting was a freehand mix of paisleys, swirls, feathers, curls and pebbles.  No preplanning, just filling the space with what felt right.  I haven't done this kind of quilting in awhile and I really enjoyed the process.

Val entered this quilt in the Manitoba Prairie Quilters - Quilt Reflections this weekend and it earned 3rd place in the Two person, medium sized category!