The Defying Gravity Quilt is all done. There was a lot of good tennis on TV over the last few days, and I stitched through most of it. I was quite surprised to turn the last corner.
This was my view yesterday morning. (Did you think I was joking?)
Julie saw the photo of the quilt in my lap (above) and mentioned the "scrappy goodness." Yes, this is a scrap quilt, but SCRAPPY does NOT mean RANDOM. I am always very aware of the fabrics I put together.
I thought you might like to check out all the different fabrics.
The fabrics are all scraps, but they look like they belong together.
This particular diamond is dark on one half and lighter on the other because this block sits between a light green diamond and a dark green one. So this one is a bridge.
There are all kinds of blues, light blues, cool blues, warm blues. If you want a block to look unified, you can't mix different blues too much. There can't be a lot of contrast in the block itself. You can't just slap two blues together and think it'll work because they are both "blue."
Lavenders are hard because there aren't very many of them manufactured in a particular year. Several of the ones in the block above are over14 years old. This shows the benefit of keeping small scraps. (because you can't make a scrap quilt without them.)
This block pushes the boundaries, but if you look at it and squint, it "reads" as light pink, and it fits where it is placed in the quilt, which is the most important thing.
As far as I am concerned, all other things being equal, fabric selection determines the success or failure of a quilt.
So Scrappy does NOT mean RANDOM. Scrappy is every bit as thoughtful as the most thoughtful "art" or "show: quilt. It is by no means "careless." But then, the best quilts are never carelessly designed or made.
8 comments:
So happy that you got to bake with your grand!
Your color eye and ability are amazing and that does so much in creating interest in a quilt without having something screaming I am not right for this place. You are second in my favorite quilters in use of the perfect colors but first calls her blog Exuberant Color and I know you are a fan. I don't have your ability but do have appreciation for ir.
You don't joke about tennis!
This is going to be gorgeous, as usual.
I had one of those unexpected giggle moments - I went to the prior post and enlarged it to study today's comments a bit more. And suddenly I saw a tiger looking at me. The center orange block, right under the yellow ones. My brain somehow made a tiger out of those center swirly bits.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you are cooking with your DGD. Such sweet memories for you both and sweet chatting time for "the now". :-)
Also enjoyed the block tour of this quilt!
You are right, scrappy does not at all mean "random"; and you, my friend, can places scraps together with pure aplomb! This quilt is just beautiful.
In reading through the commentary and illustrations about your lack of "random" and sense of "reasoned" placement of fabrics, I couldn't help but think of your tutorial on making fabrics work for you. p.s. I absolutely adore Defying Gravity! And those chocolate crinkles are one of our older son's favorite cookies.
Lavender, I had no idea that a colour would not be printed as much. Wimbledon, wait for sparks as the top players near the finish.I have my favourite, and always hope each year he will come through..Some new names in the ladies singles too. So I hope you have lots of binding ready.Loved the close ups of each colour.
Absolutely love this quilt! I have to admit that I am also "somewhat" intentional when I'm sewing with scraps, which, is ALL the time :) However, my definition of scraps is using lots and lots and LOTS of different fabrics. If the fabric happens to be a piece leftover from something- fine- but I'm not afraid to cut yardage. I had a friend say she couldn't make a scrappy quilt because she didn't have any "scraps". You can imagine how hard I laughed. If you have fabric, you have "scraps" IMO. Thanks for inspiration-
Kathy
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