Rainbow Bricks mini quilt
Ok, I thought that might happen! Many of you couldn't help sharing what you would change about my mini quilt in progress. Good thing I'm a good sport (wink). There were so many different opinions that I'm glad I didn't read those comments until after "fixing" my quilt top. Best not to get too conflicted! And, really, there were as many right answers as opinions shared. I could see merit in each train of thought.
As it turns out, there were several who said I shouldn't change a thing. Like comment #21: "There's nothing I love more than having something not belong in a piece of sewing. Otherwise I often think things are too predictable. I like it. lots." So keep this in mind next time you struggle with the little details. We're all our worse critics!
That said, I went ahead and changed the darker tan square at the upper edge of the mini quilt, which you can see in the above original photo. When I had selected that piece, the lighting made it appear paler than it is. Once finished, it stuck out to me, centered as it was (by accident) over the rainbow bricks. I hope that replacing that area with a lower volume fabric helps the viewer's eyes settle on the focal point a bit easier.
Today I quilted her up! This is free hand, straight-ish quilting completed free motion with the feed dogs down. I believe this is how Carolyn Friedlander machine quilted Aerial Grove, my inspiration for this mini. Free motion saves a lot of time when you'd be otherwise rotating the quilt. Even so, it took over 3 hours to quilt this 19" x 21" piece!
I pushed myself to experiment with different patterns, trying to create a variety of textures. My favorite element may be the matchstick diagonal lines over the tiny polka dot strip. Or maybe the big crosshatch section on Kona Oyster? Though the quilting was quite laborious, I'm tempted to try this style again on a larger work with larger scale quilting. It does add so much interest to the low volume portions!
My Rainbow Bricks mini quilt is bound in a Carolyn Friedlander Doe fabric and backed with triangles at the corners for easy hanging with a dowel rod. As always, I favor my zigzag binding method for a quick, secure finish.
Ok, this one is off in the mail! Now I'm crossing fingers that the recipient finds this "organic" quilting charming, not sloppy...
As it turns out, there were several who said I shouldn't change a thing. Like comment #21: "There's nothing I love more than having something not belong in a piece of sewing. Otherwise I often think things are too predictable. I like it. lots." So keep this in mind next time you struggle with the little details. We're all our worse critics!
That said, I went ahead and changed the darker tan square at the upper edge of the mini quilt, which you can see in the above original photo. When I had selected that piece, the lighting made it appear paler than it is. Once finished, it stuck out to me, centered as it was (by accident) over the rainbow bricks. I hope that replacing that area with a lower volume fabric helps the viewer's eyes settle on the focal point a bit easier.
Today I quilted her up! This is free hand, straight-ish quilting completed free motion with the feed dogs down. I believe this is how Carolyn Friedlander machine quilted Aerial Grove, my inspiration for this mini. Free motion saves a lot of time when you'd be otherwise rotating the quilt. Even so, it took over 3 hours to quilt this 19" x 21" piece!
I pushed myself to experiment with different patterns, trying to create a variety of textures. My favorite element may be the matchstick diagonal lines over the tiny polka dot strip. Or maybe the big crosshatch section on Kona Oyster? Though the quilting was quite laborious, I'm tempted to try this style again on a larger work with larger scale quilting. It does add so much interest to the low volume portions!
My Rainbow Bricks mini quilt is bound in a Carolyn Friedlander Doe fabric and backed with triangles at the corners for easy hanging with a dowel rod. As always, I favor my zigzag binding method for a quick, secure finish.
Ok, this one is off in the mail! Now I'm crossing fingers that the recipient finds this "organic" quilting charming, not sloppy...