The First Bottled Rainbows Block

The red/pink fabrics washed and dried and I am ready to start… so exciting!  Crystal of Sonnet of the Moon asked me which of the colors I was going to start with and I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know.  

I thought about it quite a bit and for some reason I can’t explain, I’m drawn to starting with the ruby block.   Of course, if I don't have enough scraps when I lay them out on the neutral block... then I'll pick another color.

Rachel from Stitched in Color gave finished block sizes so I sat down with a paper, pen, and my handy-dandy calculator (on the computer) and came up with the following:

The neutral block, to finish at 11”x15” needs to be cut 11.5”x 15.5”.  If you cut an 11.5” WOF strip and sub-cut into 15.5” blocks, you’ll get 2.7 blocks.  If you cut a 15.5” WOF strip and then sub-cut blocks, you’ll get 3.65 blocks.

Rachel writes that the blocks have 2.5” sashing… so that will be 3” WOF cuts, yes?

I’ve decided to do QAYG (quilt as you go) because I like the effect of the shapes of the little scraps on the back of the quilt.   So I need to figure out what backing I’m going to use… it may entail a trip to my LQS if I can’t find anything in my stash.  Another thought is to back each color square with the same fabric…  still thinking but decision will be made shortly.

I like the pinked edges on Crystal's quilt blocks... so I'm gonna do that too.

Crystal's "corn yellow" block... love the pinked edges and the use of selvedges!

The Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along measurements all in one place...

Finished quilt size:  64”x80”

Finished block:  16”x20”

Neutral center blocks:  11.5”x15.5”

Rainbow fabric sashings: 3” WOF

Batting for each block:  16”x20”

Backing fabric for each block:  16.5”x20.5”

And away we gooooooooooo…….