Saturday, July 29, 2017

Blue Plumes, the Quilt That Snuck Into the Lineup

Another quilt top brought to the completed stage! I'm guessing this is a close to a monochrome color palette you'll ever see around here and I'm happy for the experience. It's very intriguing {in hindsight} to build a quilt completely around the applique too. Will have to think on more those possibilities for the future!
Blue Plumes a finished quilt top!
In the end, I left off the applique pieces which would have overlapped the top border. No matter how I fussed with the pieces, they just always came off as awkward looking when viewing the entire quilt. As a compromise to coming up with a 'finished' look, I migrated some applique elements to the corners. It's not obvious, but those pieces are actually two or more seam allowances larger than the rest of the applique in the quilt.

Once I placed the lighter blue petal in the center of every corner 'flower', then it all just sort of clicked into place.*ahh..  Sometimes it feels like nothing will ever work and then you'll find me pulling the quilt top out for weeks, trying this, trying that. It's a tricky thing, playing with color in borders. You never want it to overshadow the rest of the quilt, but rather use it in order to draw the eye around the quilt and provide a sort of balance. I love using it as an extension as to where the energy is being directed in a quilt. Border work can definitely help change the dialog. In this case, it firmly takes the power away from the very lightest blocks--they were shining a little too brightly--and says, 'No! Look at all of us, we're important too!'
Such a soft, different look for me....
I have a feeling this top will look better after some quilting. Don't they always? And I'd apologize for the rumpled looking effort on display, the bad pictures and the various bits of threads you always find in my pictures, but no. I won't.
So happy I didn't let this idea slide!
The other night when I went to bed the headboard & foortboard caught my eye--wouldn't that look amazing painted? And I just laughed. If there's time to be painting the headboard, you can believe I'll be quilting instead! As it is, the time it takes for photo shoots, no matter how lame, is generally just flat out annoying. Wait till the kids are out of the house, wait till the light is good, make sure stuff is out of the way in the background, etc. etc. etc. My heart isn't in that part of the process, which is oh-so obvious.*sigh  Now you can understand why I'm not leaping over to Instagram. Lots of pictures and little writing? The comparison with other quilty accounts would be deadly....

30 comments:

  1. {No instagram/facebook--ery for me either or Tweets...just blogging..just sayin' ;))) }

    this top came out really well--I like the way you worked through that border problem (they are always a dithery kind of thing for me).
    I don't do much (not really anything) with solids...you did really well with yours...Hugs, Julierose

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  2. Great finish! It is such a soothing color palette. I have a wall I need to paint because it doesn't match the quilt I want to hang on it. But, I can't be bothered right now. I, like you, want to spend my time quilting.

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  3. Audrey bonito tu nuevo edredón, me gusta!!!
    no trabajo mucho con azul, nunca se comprar telas azules
    buen domingo

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  4. I'm trying instagram but can't say I find it all that thrilling - a sentence a photo - I tend to talk a lot! how to cut myself off at a sentence is darn right hard LOL

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  5. I love this one - the appliqué - its so unique! Your pictures look lovely - I always think they're lovely.

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  6. I really like this one. Did you find that appliqué or did you draw it yourself? It's fabulous!

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  7. works beautifully you put so much thought into your quilts we could all lean from you I tend to rush and want a thing finished before it is even started. I do do instagram but feel we have lost too many bloggers to it and as you say it is just pictures with very little detail, rather like pinterest, I so enjoy reading about the making of things as well as seeing the photos.

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  8. Your colour palette is really beautiful Audrey ! You have your own style and I enjoy following blogs and Instagram feeds that are completely different from each other.

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  9. Another beautifull quilt. Love the pattern. Warm greetings

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  10. What a beautiful quilt, I love it! And I like a lot the corners!
    Your pictures are always lovely and I why would you apologize for threads etc when showing quilts? :)
    Best wishes!

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  11. Even in an unusual palette, it's still Unmistakably Audrey!
    I'm not an Instagram fan, either. I really like for there to be lots of words with the pictures, whether I'm reading or writing. 8)

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  12. I love how this turned out - the color palette is wonderful, very soothing and yup, different for you! Brava!

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  13. I love the modernness of this quilt as well as it's old-fashioned look. It's just beautiful.

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  14. You have a great eye for design! I am really drawn to all of your creations....No need to apologize for your pictures, I am just grateful for your post....We all aren't professional photographers and so much emphasis is put on the quality of the photos that are posted that I am sure like many I am intimidated to post a picture. I do Instagram but I too prefer blogs. I know it takes a lot more time to write and post a blog where as Instagram is click, snap and post. The new generation likes the instant gratification and quickness of Instagram......

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  15. Congratulations on another great top! I agree with your call on the top row -- it gives more of a clue to the way quilt developed. To me, that feels more authentic. Sometimes, less is more!

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  16. This is such an interesting top. Seeing it hung over the railing the lighting gives a hint of the dimension it will take on with layering and quilting. So many intriguing possibilities for quilting this one, can't wait to see what you decide on.

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    1. p.s. Please don't even consider giving up blogging! I love hearing your back story behind all the quilts you create. And so many of us don't have the time or interest to get involved with Pinterest, Instagram, etc. And your photos are just fine!

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    2. What a great finished top. I think working within a monochromatic color scheme is actually a challenge. You constantly want to be adding another color to achieve the differences in value, texture, etc. but limiting yourself to one color makes you dig a little deeper. (At least for me).

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  17. This turned out great--actually 'stunning'

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  18. What a lovely quilt. As Kaja said, it's very hard to work with such a limited palette. I'm trying it now with some strips I found. Whenever I glance at the corners I see a pieced border that extends into the outer border. Then look again and see your lovely applique. Great decisions all the way around.

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  19. Such a very pretty gentle looking quilt, lovely use of solids! Lots of thought & love here, I'm inspired to branch out a bit more with my efforts!

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  20. And there we have yet another beautiful Audrey quilt! The corner appliqué is just perfect!

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  21. Spot on! The border and corner flowers do exactly the right job and the whole thing is mellow and calm and gentle and I like it a lot!

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  22. I love how you treated the corners with applique. That is the "just right" finish for this quilt top. And I'm with you on the thought that if there's time for painting or other projects, why wouldn't you just be quilting instead? Even blogging time is grudgingly given...

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  23. Absolutely gorgeous! I'm also glad you picked this back up and finished it. And as for Instagram? Nope! Won't catch me there either. I like words with pictures! Lol!

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  24. Audrey,
    I love the blue and brown! It's lovely! That's the color scheme we have in our bedroom. It's so soothing.

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  25. Love the muted, restful scheme...and you are certainly on a roll this summer! :)

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  26. I'm woefully behind on my Blog reading and commenting! I love how this one turned out. I honestly wasn't sure about that design element at first, but it really came together and I love it. As for painting the bed, ahhhh, no! I paint with my checkbook which is why there are so many unfinished things hanging around the house! Why cut into precious quilting time?

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  27. Just gorgeous, i really like the colours you've used!

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  28. You found a great resolution for that top edge, the border, and the corners, Audrey. This looks like such an exclamatory quilt and (to me) practically shouts love. I really like the blocks behind the applique and how each is consistently the same.

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