Monday, April 20, 2015

Marsala and An Uncertain Crossroad

My Marsala Challenge quilt top is finally sewn together! It's been such an interesting color to work with. When I first read about the color, I couldn't believe it had been chosen as the Pantone color of the year. Wowsers! Such a drab color. Now I can't believe how much fun I had working with it. Kinda funny to think there were actually fat eights and fat quarters of this stuff already squirreled away in my fabric totes!
A quick look at An Uncertain Crossroad on the floor...
And well..., yeah. Nobody had to twist my arm to buy it. If you really stop to think about it, this color is a foundation sort of color--an earth tone. Colors from nature are always among the first ones I'm drawn to even if some think they're on the shh... ugly side! Come to think of it, my favorite quilts have always seemed to incorporate a few questionable colors. Nature plays very well with colors like marsala, so why can't we?
Love the chunky circles!
For this challenge, I didn't want to run away from the color at all--or try and bury it in the details. I wanted to give it some respect! And although it was tempting to overwhelm the marsala with some of its prettier cousins, I decided to play with how the color might work as a base for making other colors shine or possibly intensify. All the very light strips of sashing in this quilt are what I consider to be the very lightest version of the color marsala. Some are more dreary looking than others, but used as an accompaniment for the unassuming marsala, they work very well. I really like how they provide a strong, vital foundation to help make the rest of the quilt sort of 'pop'.
An Uncertain Crossroad
As many of you know, I've also been playing with quarter circles for awhile. It was an easy jump to come up with the idea of blending the marsala challenge with yet another circle quilt. The older 'crossroads' block just seemed to perfectly bridge the gap between the antique look {where I get so much of my inspiration from} and the {slightly} more modern look I was hoping to achieve. It was a really great block for playing big slices of colors off of a receding background and I got to do my needleturn applique thing too. Win, win, all the way around.
And again....
Too, I love how my instincts steered me towards cutting the circle units in four different widths, making sure that the circles would come out less than perfect.  The crossroads in my life aren't usually what you'd call a smooth transition, so the somewhat jagged edges of these circles feel very right to me. For once I'm not adding a border onto my 61" x 72" quilt top as this one looks very happy as is! Time to link up with the Marsala Challenge over at On the Windy Side and play crafts. Thanks to the hosts for all their hard work and effort in getting this together!

27 comments:

  1. Looks terrific from all angles

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  2. Gorgeous. Love this quilt. Definitely no border, it looks fab as is.

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  3. No border for sure. I can't exactly say I like the color marsala, but you really made it work. I think it goes particularly well with those greens.

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  4. Such a beauty! You will be needing my address to know where to send it when you are done. ;-)

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  5. Wow, the quilt looks so good hanging from whatever it is hanging from. Gives a distance view and easy to see the subtle and some not so subtle color changes.

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  6. it looks great - it is an unusual color and I don't think I have many of that in my stash at all but it really worked for you didn't it. Great!!

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  7. What a fantastic finish. The circle design looks wonderful on top of the Marsala background. You finished this fast.

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  8. The result is beautiful! I love how you made the color stand out, it really is a star this way and looks very elegant.

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  9. It looks fabulous! And I thought it was an ugly color ... :0)

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  10. Love your quilt, I love browns and usually mix them in my quilts for the homey feel they give !

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  11. I really like that you tossed in some of nature's brighter colors. The greens and aquas give the quilt some pop - but still feel like "earth tones". Nicely done!!

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  12. I love the colors, I love the pattern and your quilt top looks fantastic, I love it!!

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  13. Definitely a winner in my judgement!

    I like the color Marsala more than previous Pantone color picks.

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  14. I would have said (like you) I don't like Marsala. But you're correct; it is such an earthtone. In fact, it's the red-brown dirt of my home. It creates such a richness in this quilt. The overlays add depth. You handled all the color and fabric choices so well. I don't think any are solids but they read like that and add to the style and impact. The blues and greens are needed and well placed. Just lovely!

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  15. Very interesting color and pattern. It works!

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  16. Wonderful! I love this quilt and your thoughtful post about it. I love the Marsala color as the background for the circles. Lovely!

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  17. I love the name, and it is a great modern design. Nice finish!

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  18. Wow, I would have said I didn't like Marsala. I think I may have to change my mind. You really made it work with this quilt. It makes a lovely background for your wonky circles. Love your descriptions of "crossroads" in your life. They're usually never smooth! I like how you judiciously added other colors for sparkle, but you never overwhelmed your background. Earthy but not dark or stodgy. It's really lovely!

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  19. Definitely a beauty of a quilt. You nailed all the colours perfectly. The fact that youve got those gorgeous wonky circles adds interest and gives this quilt a great story too.

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  20. Wow! That is a stunning quilt! Crossroads are never easy.

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  21. Very successful color play! I like this quilt's quirkiness.

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  22. I love the way your different colors and shades play off of each other...a beautiful quilt !

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  23. This is such a great quilt all around. You took a color I would have turned my nose at and really really made it work!

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  24. I love your take and attitude towards marsala, and how you used it in your quilt! It pairs so well with the other colors in the quilt and what a great block design as well! Beautiful work.

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