“Serpentine Surprise” Quilt

It’s Sunday morning, and Brrrrr cold for South Carolina, and “Serpentine Surprise” is in the washing machine as I write.

Last year when I first got here, there was a spell of 17-degree temps that froze the two Rinnai tankless water heaters’ outside pipes at my son’s house for several days.  Getting them unfrozen required a hair dryer, hours outside, and wrapping the pipes with more temporary insulation for the second freezing night–but fortunately, no water pipes burst. Consulting with neighbors who know better than I do how to prevent frozen pipes in South Carolina, I started dripping my hot water before I went to bed last night–after the temps had started dropping below 30 degrees. The wind chill is a further factor, of course. Remember that our hot water heaters are on the OUTSIDE of houses here. 

All was fine this morning–Every day I have to run the hot water before hot water comes–which takes much longer in the winter. That strikes me as really wasteful, especially as we pay for water/sewer here. (I had a well in Maine–and outside water faucets were built for freezing weather–and an indoor heater and a water tank that stored hot water.)

BUT, I finished the binding on “Serpentine Surprise” last night–Kona Thistle, which I had enough of to use some for binding. Note, the top is NOT wavy; I just didn’t smooth it down properly.

Remember that this curvy “Serpentine” block that works so well with checkerboard blocks is from my online “blocks” class with Tara Faughnan. This block involves glue, and I do machine baste on the longarm before quilting, so I thought it prudent to wash her to dissolve the glue and to close up the basting holes. ”Serpentine Surprise” and her sassy self are going to live in my tv room on a chair.

I used my domestic and a walking foot to quilt this grid on her–and a very neutral Aurafil thread that does not stand out, front or back. The thread is a cross between a light grey and a light tan–which works well on the back as well as the front. And I had enough of this newsprint fabric by Carrie Bloomston in my stash to piece the back: 

I love the graphic nature of the two-color version of this block:

But I also love the scrappy versions:

And it was great fun to play with combining these two block versions, and to, also, play with using both versions in one block. 

I went down a rabbit hole with Serpentine and checkerboard blocks and played to my heart’s content–and that is the purpose of this “block” class. 

The 5th of 6 planned blocks comes out at the end of next week. And Dale Flemings’ book on “the 6-minute circle” method is now in the mail. I love having learned that method and am likely far from being “done” with it.