Border + Sashing quandaries
Honestly, I love my Kaleidoscope Groove quilt design, but bringing the concept to life in cloth has proved trickier than I thought. Not the sewing - that’s going swimmingly - but it’s the fabric choices that have been puzzling.
In this post, I’ve captured my evolving design process. I know that half of you are going to disagree with the choices I made, haha, so that’s also a lesson for us all. There really are no wrong choices!
version no. 1 - Rainbow sashing, dark cornerstones
You saw this version last week. Something about it felt too visually complex. An easy solution would be to ditch the sashing, but I wanted to keep the sashing and cornerstones for the overall design concept.
version no. 2 - Gray sashing, dark cornerstones
The rainbow sashing might be distracting from the kaleidoscope blocks, which should be the star of the show. Gray sashing feels cleaner and more modern, but something still feels off. I was tipped that the dark cornerstones might be the problem, so that’s my next move.
version no. 3 - Gray sashing, rainbow cornerstones
What if I bring the rainbow back in the cornerstones? Now the sashing/cornertones feel like supporting characters and the more dynamic kaleidoscope blocks feel prominent. Yay!
version no. 4 - Rainbow border
I’m ready to sew the outermost blocks, which should flow into the surrounding negative space and borders. Before I sew those blocks, I need to flesh out those details. My design has a 3” border all around. Gray would be an easy choice, but then the sashing will merge with the borders and obscure the irregular sashing design.
Maybe a rainbow border? Hmmm - no. That’s super distracting.
version no. 5 - Birds without borders
I am excited to use this bird fabric for the large chunks of negative space around the blocks! It has such a cool vibe and works well with the attitude of the design. But it’s also busy. To keep things clean, I’ve decided to ditch the outer border entirely. The quilt will still be big enough at 54” x 61”.
Now I feel eager to sew those last blocks and bring the birds into play! Fingers crossed - - -
I love my Crossweave quilt design with its playful X’s and pointy diamonds. And then to sew it in fabrics by my very favorite designer, Anna Maria Parry; well, that was the cherry on top!
Do you know what? I am finally making quilt ideas regularly enough that it all begins to flow and comes much easier. Making clear goals was necessary. Now I am finally nearing the end of the challenge and can look back with gratitude at all the ideas that I have generated. Yay!
Happy Friday! I have been making a ton of progress on my personal 30 Days of Quilt Design challenge. I think that I am really getting the hang of designing with PreQuilt! Come see my latest designs; plus, WIN A PRIZE FROM PreQuilt!
Imagine bringing to life your quilty ideas with the click of a button? Are you curious? Intimidated? Now is the ideal time to give digital quilt design a try. It’s free with the demo PreQuilt version. There’s a fun contest going on (hello 30 Days of Quilt Design). And I just know that you have ideas, good ideas! Come on and give it a go!
What, really?!? I never sew on solid white; but, for some reason I am convinced. Maybe because it’s summer? Maybe because it looks so yummy graphically? Well, whatever the reason for this change of heart, here comes a scrappy, dottie rainbow on white.
Our challenge runs now through September. The idea is to post your quilt designs, one per day, and number then to see if you can log 30 Days by September 30th. I highly recommend this exercise! At the heart of creativity is discipline. It’s about showing up and trying, day after day, until something magical is born. Come to the experience open-minded and see what happens!
Have you heard of PreQuilt? It’s a mind-blowing app made just for quilters, which allows you to easily design and visualize quilts. I have been using it since its launch in 2018, and am proud to welcome PreQuilt today as a Stitched in Color advertiser! Stay tuned for a great giveaway and a discount code for new subscribers!!!
At this point I have sewn two sides of the improv round. It’s looking so cool! I love the wildness of this project. The colors always felt like summer to me and now the patchwork has a busy, brash summery buzz too.
A design wall allows the fabrics to speak to me along the way. Rather than following the prescribed route, sometimes we changed course. I am sure for the better. Here are several color choice processes facilitated by my design wall today.
Yesterday was a treat. The sun was shining, Elora was playing happily with a neighborhood friend, and I was able to spend loads of time in my sewing room. My goal? To start on Collaboration, a spin-off quilt for Positivities club. I got a great, leaping start!
Time, space, patience - these are my weaknesses. I have, for so long as I can remember, tended to rush through life. My instinct is to run, not walk towards the next good thing. When I find myself in a place that doesn’t suit me, I move.
How to write about this quilt? I do absolutely love how it came out. LOVE! This was one of those enchanted maker journeys. Designing the quilt and choosing the colors/fabrics was more a process of recognizing the inevitable than planning the ideal. Everything about it feels absolutely meant to be. And yet.
Today before I sewed the last long seam of the quilt top, I paused and stood just staring at it. I came to realize that this quilt is one of my favorites that I have made in the last years. It’s very much my own inspiration, unrelated to other types of patchwork that I have seen, plus the palette is exactly me right now.
Choosing for color, choosing for beauty, choosing for me. My heart like bright pink confetti, feminine and strong.
I was feeling uneasy and stifled on January first when I sat down to sketch a new quilt. Art is a safe and peaceful way to free yourself; so, I could have sketched something wildly expressive. What actually came out on my paper was the very picture of inhibition - pretty, symmetrical, contained.
This is where it begins. I can hole away for hours putting pencil to paper in my graph paper quilt journal. Some parts come easily and others are erased and re-drawn over and over and yet over again. Today you’ll see what I have created! My fingers and toes are crossed that you like it!!
Honestly, I love my Kaleidoscope Groove quilt design, but bringing the concept to life in cloth has proved trickier than I thought. In this post, I’ve captured my evolving design process. I know that half of you are going to disagree with the choices I made, haha, so that’s also a lesson for us all. There really are no wrong choices!
This week I am spinning a web of star blocks. Fancy, twirly, glowing stars on dark green, teal and blue backgrounds. Each block invites an individual color composition. But the real design challenge comes in putting multiple blocks together.
This month I have been keeping a secret. Or really, it’s been longer than that. Certainly my marriage has been dying a long, slow death of many months and years. For a long while the edges of that growing reality were soft and slippery until their form became a solid thing that could not be denied.
“Work-in-progress” sets such a forgiving and patient tone, don’t you think? That is definitely the attitude I’ve needed for this baby quilt, since I have constantly second-guessed myself in the making process. I have struggled in part because I really, really want it to be lovely for my friend and also because I don’t have much experience with soft color schemes.
I make some quilts as gifts or as charity projects or for my children. That is an outward-looking, outpouring process. Then there are the ones I make to let off steam. These are usually scrap quilts, and when I sew them it is as if the fabric and colors are pouring into me, filling me back up with energy, perspective and joy.
Like everyone else, I’ve fallen in love with 1930’s Dutch houses. On a walk last autumn I began playing a game of picking out my favorite stained glass. That’s when it struck me - a quilt inspired by these houses, a sort of ode to their loveliness, would be a true pleasure to sew. Here’s what makes these houses special and how I’ve translated those characteristics to patchwork.
My design wall is empty. Do you know what that means? It means that I’m free to indulge in some Christmasy sewing. Woohoo! Over the next few weeks, I plan to sew a forest of Christmas trees while I prepare behind the scenes for my next sew-along.
Sewing serves a lot of roles in my life, but one of those is self-care. When I’m stressed, sad or processing something difficult, sewing offers an immersive, tactile experience. At times that experience can be an escape, but more often is a way of slowing down and working through my feelings.
Wild Oranges has a big-picture story, which you can read when it is laying flat. But, I also wanted to create a design that would be beautiful crumpled up, twisted round and dropped in a heap on the sofa, as I know it will be. For me, this totally hits the spot!
Have you been wanting to sew an orange peel quilt? It is such a charming shape, with its soft curves and pretty points. My Wild Oranges design has a concentration of dark values and orange peel blocks at the quilt center. The quilt softens around the edges with a calmer energy.
with improv curves