Batik Strata Quilt

This is how I envisioned the quilt--strips going horizontally.

 Saw a strata quilt somewhere in last year or so.  It was made similarly to this one with colored strips about 2 1/2 inches wide and about 40 inches long, same size for white muslin strips.  Really wanted to make one for  grandniece Sabra and her hubby, Ben who got married last November.  It's taken me awhile to finish as I was making the Interlocking Seasons and working on several other things.  

Inspirational one was a rainbow quilt and it used printed cottons.  This one uses sets of batiks in blues, pink/oranges, greens and blue/purples.  There are 28 strips.  Used all materials I had on hand except for a couple orange scraps my dear friend Shirley gave  me from gorgeous quilts she's made.

To make each strip, I sewed a batik piece to muslin piece to form a continuous loop, then randomly cut the white pieces so there'd be one on either end of colored ones.  In one instance the colored goes clear to edge, otherwise they varied.  Love randomness of it.  

Another way to use the quilt--it's square

Below shows part of backing.  It includes a bunch of good wishes to the couple.  I cut small pieces of freezer paper and ironed to back of muslin, put them in a basket with various colors of washable-ink pens and instructions,  this was passed around at a shower and also at their reception.  After getting them back, they were ironed to set ink and sewn together into strips to be inserted in backing.  

This is part of the backing showing some of the good wishes pieces.

Not the best picture but it shows some of the quilting.  All batiks had just a serpentine sort of design.  Muslin had a different design in every strip and tried to alternate a geometric sort of design for a more organic one.  Had fun making them up and used designs that were in my fmq diary.  Some designs were from others, too.

Strips for the quilt.

Color sections sewn together--greens and purply ones.

Up close on mostly blue section

Showing backing in progress

In midst of making this and trying to quilt a baby quilt, my Brother Duetta decided to throw a fit--it literally started screeching and then totally refused to work!  Hadn't been in for a "spa treatment" for a long time. But the shop from which I got it and where it usually goes is 88 miles away and over two mountain passes with lots of snow on them.  I spent a couple hours fishing out a LOT of lint and then oiling it--supposed to let repairman do that, but needed it to work now!  After awhile fly wheel would move a bit and then little by little it started working again.  After I got the baby quilt done, and two strips of this quilted, the Duetta decided to break stitches every inch or two---SOOOO fun--HA!  Decided to give my 1976 Pfaff a try.  It was ridiculously slow and with my wonderful shoulders, just not going to work since it would take me about four or five times longer per strip to sew.  New sales/repair place in town has both of those machines and hubby got me a "Baby Brother" from Costco for $140 that worked well to finish this since they're backed up two weeks or more.

Have a picture of dear hubby pinning the quilt but he said I couldn't use it!!  He's always so good to measure/cut batting, sandwich quilts and pin them for me.  Ben and Sabra came by today and we gave them their quilt--on their one year anniversary, no less!  They loved it...Sabra spent all the time looking at the quilting so that was fun she enjoyed it!  Forgot to get a picture of them with it, but have the memory of them sitting under it while they were here.