Fibermania

QAWM: Day two

My darker blocks are showing more contrast with the lighter pastels and greens. I placed about half of all of the blocks up and after I took a photo I noticed that there was a secondary pattern in one corner, the lower left. The red stripe was accidentally connecting. Oooh. That is cool, so I rearranged some of the blocks to see if I could continue that zigzaggyness.

I rearranged the blocks in the middle rows which was enough to convince me that this simple change in block orientation would work even if the strip color changed. What fun!

So here's the totals. I made 30 big blocks of lights/mediums and 30 big block of darks. Each was divided into four, making 240 small blocks. Good thing I didn't decide to do that from the start, or it would have seem like an impossibly taxing assignment. Having done it, I know it wasn't.

Anonymous said...
I was hoping for something more unconventional, something more Melody.

My response is that I can't do Melody using a majority of prints. And prints is what I want to use up. When one looks at the work I have done over these 28+  years it is clear that my work uses hand dyed fabrics and non-traditional designs. Patterning is made from my fused details which make it specifically mine. With fabric that is already patterned and not solid, I can't inject my personality. And also these prints don't have that watercolored look that my dyed fabric has which is also a mark of my work.
In search of a more arty look I went to my pal Sandi Cummings book, Thinking Outside the Block which gave me oodles of wonderful ideas for mixing traditional blocks (of prints) with hand dyed fabrics. I know now what I will do with the next quilt top that I make in this marathon of piecing.

On another note, I mentioned that I had dark and twisty reasons for not using this print fabric for all these years, and I think I can explain a bit of my resistance. For one thing I was intent on focusing on my own designs which is exactly what I just tried to explain above. And I didn't feel I had the time to divert my attention from my own work to make something that wasn't going to promote my career. Now that I am retired and stuck indoors because of the cold snowy weather, it seemed like the perfect time to let go of all those negatives and embrace the fun of quilting with no ulterior/business motives other than to play with fabric. I didn't want to struggle to come up with a stellar innovative design idea. That would have put me in an unwelcomed dither. Simple is best anyway, and somehow I managed to screw that up the first day as it was!
I don't want to state a destination for the tops I will be making either. That is something for another day. I feel great having made a dent in my small print collection, and as I have accumulated a small amount of leftovers already I can see some small works coming out of this too, which coincidentally will be more like what I usually do.

I will be setting these blocks on point which means that the edges need to be filled with triangular shapes. I knew there was a sort of formula for cutting these to size so I went to my longtime quilting guru, quilter extraordinare, Wanda Hanson and asked for advice. Here are her wonderful directions:

Hi Mel,

If you add 1.25” to the diagonal measurement of your blocks, cut squares that size and slice them diagonally both directions (makes 4 triangles) you will have triangles with the straight of grain on the long edge which you want on the outside edge of a quilt. I like a float of the setting triangle fabric so I cut them 2” bigger than the diagonal measurement.
There is also a ruler available with instructions from the Little Foot people. With it you can cut a strip of fabric and cut your triangles from the strip.
Love,
Wanda
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I just saw that I had headed these last two posts with QWAM instead of QAWM. Duh! I fixed it.