Monday, November 3, 2014

The Next Quilt in the Hoop and Playing With Ideas For a New Quilt

So I took the plunge. Sandwiched and pinned my Quarter Circles quilt! I finished up the hand quilting on the Scrap Attack #2 yesterday and well.., you know me. Never good to have an hoop empty laying around.
The new quilt in the hoop
Still not sure exactly how I intend to quilt this scrappy quilt. Sometimes though, I don't figure it out until the quilt is actually in the hoop, on my lap and needle in my hand. Occasionally I even start stitching, change my mind and take out half a hoops worth of stitching. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Eventually I will get a clear picture in my mind of how it needs to look and then I'm off to the races. lol  NOT! Hand quilting is not ever about the race although I do love a good finish and have been known to work a bit more feverishly towards the end.
Quarter Circles next up!
After working on the darker, moodier colors of my last quilt, I'm ready for some lighter fabrics all the way around. These particular fabrics sort of called out to me over the weekend. {Oh the lovely subtleties of some cream based prints.} My imagination was practically vibrating while I was picking and sorting through all the available prints in my stash.
Playing with low-volume prints
I stacked them together in a way that helps tremendously to narrow down the ones that shriek 'I don't belong with this crowd!' Of course your opinion and mine will probably clash on this particular subject, but that's the inherent beauty of quilting. Fabric choices/combinations are one of the easiest ways to celebrate our individuality.
Add this?
I tossed out the dark paisley and added in a gorgeous panel fabric I won over at Barb's awhile back. Of course that made me change directions in how the layout might or might not happen. Panel fabrics are such a delight to experiment with.
Add that?
Adding in that fabric also made me realize how one dimensional my thinking was in relation to the color I was playing with. It usually helps to have a bit of contrast in our quilts to help emphasize the best parts. How about a blush of pink? And that floral print on the right side? Don't worry. I tossed it immediately after the picture was taken. Ack! What was I thinking? Can't have anything competing with the star fabric.
A bit of color....
I played with the idea of adding in some coral and orangey reds. But every piece of fabric I laid down next to the others made me feel sort of ill. So finally, in an absolute bid of desperation, I added in some rich, purpley browns. Really, that wasn't supposed to happen. Those bossy brown fabrics just sort of adamantly demanded to be added even though I sometimes feel like brown is a color that gets used as a crutch in my narrow window of design ideas. Yep, I even resisted for long enough to take a break and change over the laundry downstairs. Talk about willpower. I am the girl!

Then, when I came back upstairs to the quilt room, it was really easy to do the quick! how-does-this-look-with-a-fresh-eye test! Ahh shoot... about two seconds later, I totally capitulated. Lots of sighs and grumbles under my breath about the lack of originality in my tiny little pea brain, I'll tell you that much. I SO don't want to lose the wispy, low-volume, mixed print ideas that are percolating in my brain! But we are who we are. As my sister likes to say, sometimes it's best if we 'Just rock it'!
Always an excuse to use brown....
This was part of my inspiration even though none of the fabrics used there are prints. Seeing that quilt definitely made my brain think about possibilities even though I didn't even realize what was simmering for a few days. Maybe if I use the dark browns very small and quite sparingly, they won't overpower the rest? I know, I know. It's a take-off of a certain color range you've all seen around here once before. Maybe this quilt will have it's own style! Stranger things have happened....

22 comments:

  1. You get so much handquilting done you amaze me! I love the look of your new quilt for the hoop. The red and white strips look like candy canes - a perfect project for this time of year :0) I like the color scheme you are building - I can't wait to see what develops!

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  2. I"m liking it, Audrey! Been thinking of something along those lines myself, using a stack of Roberta Horton plaids I've been hording for a zillion years. When you see my latest quilt, you'll know why I need a change!

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  3. Oh, the fabric chosing prosess. My favorite part of quilt making, but also the most tiering!
    So fun to read about your thoughts on starting a new quilt.

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  4. I'm so glad you've begun quilting on my personal favorite! I'm right there with you when it comes to the design - don't know what I'm doing until I've got needle in hand. I happen to be working with some low-volume tones too - it's not as easy as it looks!

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  5. I like the colors you show in that last photo together, I'm sure they will be great. I too decide how to quilt once the quilt is in the hoop or the frame and have picked out also

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  6. It's so much fun reading your posts. I can't wait to see how this one grows.

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  7. I love your quarter circles quilt. I wish I could achieve that blending of medium tones........but I can do the bold red border! Maybe some gorgeous quilted circles?

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  8. Oh and I do admire your fabric selection process, wish I had that discipline too!

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  9. Your Circles quilt is beautiful. And I especially loved the step by step walk thru of your fabric selection for the next project. Fascinating. (As you said, we each see things differently---if it was me I d try the project with only the delightful pales, at least at first. So refreshing to the eye! )

    lizzy gone to the beach

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  10. I don't think I've seen or recall this quarter circles quilt...such a beauty!

    Fun read about your fabric selection...can't wait to see what you'll be doing next :)

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  11. Will be interesting to see what you end up using color wise. Selecting fabrics is my favorite part of making the quilt. Then the actual preparation part.

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  12. oh my love that pile of fabric, browns and shirtings and a hint of red/pink you are talking my language.
    Kathie

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  13. That circle quilt is very special, never seen anything like it, love the fabric choices in that last picture!

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  14. You're right, quilting is not a race or a competition. It's just a beautiful way of expressing our own personalities through fabric and color and design.

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  15. I strongly identify with this issue of trying to do something new, but then wondering if you will be able to live with the end result.

    Mary Corbet has a good blog post on UFOs today. She concludes that it is a balancing act between the new and the old, which I think is right on!

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  16. What a great combo of fabtrics. I really like the warmth the pink/coral shades add.

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  17. I am so looking forward to seeing how the circle quilt decides to have you quilt it! The only thing better than playing in the fabric stash is adding more fabric to the stash. Great choices!

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  18. LOVE that end stack of fabrics so much !

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  19. I am such a loser at picking out fabrics so I really enjoyed seeing how you go through the process. I love all the fabrics you chose... Even the browns!! Looking forward to seeing what you decide on....and how you hand quilt your beautiful next in line!

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  20. I love, love, love your circles. It will be interesting following your quilting journey there.

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  21. Well, haven't you been having fun! Can't wait to see which quilt you make.

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  22. Love to read about your thought processes. Very entertaining! So interested to see how you hand quilt your Circles quilt:)

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