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23 May 2013

Scrappy Quilt - Neutral Background

It took a little while this time - but it's happened again....

I have a plan that's been forming.  And a new quilt is taking shape in my head.

It all started on May 4th, when I seen ChrissieD's blog post here.  This post was called Bonzer Trunk Show - Up Close With Sarah Fielke's 'hand quilted with love' Quilts.

Sarah's Paint by Numbers quilt wiggled it's way into my mind and has refused to leave.
And now that neutral background has become my latest obsession. Now, I know it's not something that is new to everyone.  Maybe I am the only one that had yet to realize how wonderful it can be on a quilt...

Also, I must admit that the Scrappy Swoon that made it's way onto Google Images via the Hopeful Homemaker has also had an impact. This Swoon block was originally created by Camille Roskelley of Simplify.  Her Swoon quilt pattern is available here.  But I really admired the scrappy version.

So, gazing at all the images of the scrappy neutral backgrounds and the scrappy swoons till my eyes were burning.  And cramming them into my mind (and onto my Sew Fresh Quilts facebook page) until the two were become quite nicely acquainted....

I did spent a lot of time, Googling around, looking for block inspiration, scrappy examples, neutral backgrounds....

When I run into this free tutorial by Jessica of Common Threads on Craftsy called the Inverted Star block.  What inspired me with this star block was the use of warm and cool colours....

Aha!  Now we have a neutral, scrappy background....  Some kind of scrappy version of a block... Made with warm and cool colours.  Choosing a block was almost all that remained.

I decided to go with the Inverted Star block and the Weathervane block, both very similar blocks - enlarged to enable a scrappiness - but not so large that the whole quilt is made of only one block!  The centers of both blocks contain a negative space - one a star and the other a square.

Out comes the grid paper and a freshly sharpened pencil.... How big is this quilt planning on being?
The old pencil crayons fill in the little scrappy squares of the blocks and their background... and then the centers - What to do with the negative space in the centers?  No. Not white. Sleep on it.

I was treated to a day out with my friend Linda today.  We went to a little Red Work workshop in Waterloo.  And then viewed some quilts at a couple of small shows.  Went to a nearby quilt shop whose fabric did not get my attention. Had some great ice cream.  And then went to Len's Mill Ends fabric shop in Hawksville.

Here I found some great additions for my neutral background - from right to left - a grey, shimmery stone-like fabric, some text prints, a light green I could not resist, and a map layout found on the clearance rack.  I was satisfied with my find!  Went to the cutting table, which was unmanned - or womaned..... And it was there that I found the beauty on the left.  Expensivest fabric I ever let myself indulge in.  It went against everything I was raised to live by concerning expenditures.... But it didn't take me long to decide that no matter the cost - that fabric was going to tie it all together.  Fill in the negative space, go with the blue and green cool colours of the block AND go nicely with that negative background without becoming one itself!  Besides it matches the light green fabric that I could not resist!  And I DESERVE it!  And am happy with it. And I'm in love with it. And it completes me!  Ahem...  Er, was that a little too loud?





4 comments:

  1. Oh, I can hardly wait to see what you've come up with!! Love that "tie it all together" fabric - it's gorgeous!

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  2. Loving the color combination and excited to see how everything turns out! I'm working on myself to get confident enough to use text prints!

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  3. Awesome! Should be a really great quilt! Looking forward to it.

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  4. Thanks for letting us in on the beginning. I will enjoy seeing what you create with these lovely fabrics.

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Your kind comments certainly make my day!