Thursday, March 26, 2020

Playing Around

I think one of the reasons why my quilts turn out so great is that I never stop pushing ideas around. I never settle. It took me a few tries to figure out how to make a dark diamonds quilt and the result was Dark Majesty. It took me months to figure out how to make a black and white divided-in-half Crayons quilt, but the Black & White Crayons is the quilt my pal Julie thinks defines my work.

I know there's a quilt in that oh-so-modern variation, (the first one in yesterday's post.) I just haven't found it yet. I'll figure it out. It may take months, but I'll crack that nut eventually.

In the meantime, I wanted to play around, so last night I went into the studio and came up with this.
To fill in the empty space, I'd need to make more blocks.

And the more I look at this design, I think shifting it over a bit would be better.

Oh yeah, this is better.


I like this. And yes, these are the same blocks I've been playing with the last couple of days.

NOW, here is something I have observed. These zebras can be really bright, and hard to look at, like in the examples above that have a strong light/dark contrast in the pairs. But these designs can be really successful when the pairs do NOT have a strong contrast, like...


the Golden Zebras,

the Jealousy quilt,

or the Firebird quilt.

 So even though the really zingy examples might not float your particular boat, the variations shown here can be adapted to much more subtle, but equally successful designs.

I would have discovered NONE OF THEM had I not pushed the ideas around.

7 comments:

Dorothy said...

Truthfully, I absolutely love them all. But I must admit that the black and white one makes my eyes go bonkers. Gets my attention :-)

Pandy said...

Wow, love the new design. I wasn’t taken at all with the design you posted yesterday. Today, I have a totally different opinion. Love the “shifted over” design you came up with it.

Bambi Pearson said...

I think the firebird quilt is absolutely gorgeous! The color selections were spot on.

Judy P. said...

It's official. Yes, I am officially obsessed with these. Must make one. I blame you. :)

Curious Carol said...

We met one afternoon at Quilted Threads in Henniker, where I asked you if were Millie's Mom. I'm a longer time reader and finding it tough to sit at home. So I would like to try a black and white quilt, big enough for my lap and our gray kitty, whom would look handsome on that color and may need an other color for contrast.

Guidelines for selecting B& /W fabrics
Suggest a pattern or design that has straight lines. Starting to sew again now my oldest is 40. I'm 39!

Carol Nelson

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

The newest design is the best of all you have tried! It's a winner in my opinion. I agree, we have to keep playing until it yells "I'm the one".

Millie said...

Curious Carol, try my Slashed Squares tutorial. Easy to make, big blocks, goes together real quick. See the Slashed Squares link in the header. You can get the tutorial on Etsy. I made a black and white one I just love.