Batik Spiral Flimsy

It just glows! 

Awhile back I was inspired by this photo Wanda of Exuberant Color posted. Thanks, Wanda, for the inspiration!

I made a template, dug into my batik stash, and cut lots of pieces. I used them as leaders & enders while I was working on several projects in March, April, and May. And then they took on a life of their own and I had to finish up all the little units and lay them out. Wow, I am so pleased with the result.

If you start at the center you can see that the lights (or the darks) go around in a spiral, with a couple extra rows at the top and the bottom. This flimsy measures 64" x 84".

I made the template for 4" finished units by drawing a 4" square on template plastic, drawing a diagonal line from the 1" mark at the top to the 3" mark at the bottom, and adding 1/4" seam allowance on all four sides of the resulting shape. To use it with a rotary cutter, I cut six of these pieces, stacked them up, and glued them together with glue stick. With care it's thick enough that you can rotary cut, but you have to be careful not to nick the plastic too much.

I cut 4-1/2" WOF strips from light and dark batiks, opened them all face up (some batiks have a right and a wrong side), stacked about 4 layers of fabric, and cut as many pieces as I could across the row. I didn't keep a record of how many different fabrics I used, but I know they hardly made a dent in my batik stash.

Note: If you try this, mark your template UP and always cut your fabric right side up, otherwise you'll get blocks with the slant going the wrong way. You can rotate the template as you cut, but don't flip it over. You might also want to clip your cut pieces together with a note on them to indicate which side is up, if you're using them as leaders and enders. I made a few where I couldn't tell the right side from the wrong side, sewed them wrong sides together, and they came out backwards.

This flimsy is going to have to go in the "to be quilted" pile for awhile; I have deadline projects that I have to finish first. I don't have a purpose or recipient in mind for this quilt, but I like it so much I may just keep it for myself.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts