Deb's Quilt

 

I asked Deb to come over and take a look at what I had on the design wall. She was happy. She loved the fabrics I had chosen and I was glad to see we were on the same page. I did a lot of tinkering after she left and this is the layout I will sew together.

When Deb visited we talked about borders and binding and we looked at some fabrics for each.

Now I do not usually allow this kind of input in my quilts, but when I toured Deb's house, she wasn't kidding. It was a lovely, serene home, but it was very neutral. I knew that if it were up to me I would add more color, but this quilt is for Deb, and I wanted to be 100% sure she was good with the design and the fabrics I had chosen.

Although it is quiet and neutral, it will be a very beautiful quilt in its own way. Deb has told me the quilt will have a place of honor living on the back of the couch in her living room.

Now I've got to sew this together. Of course, before that happens I will scrutinize the design to make sure it is up to snuff. I can already see some things I might change - like some of the lines are too much the same in some rows or columns.

OH! The quilt needs a name. Suggestions welcome!

The Beige Quilt

  I am making a beige quilt.

Yes, you heard that right.

You all know how much I dislike beige. But when someone you love says she is a "no-color kind of girl," you honor that.

I am making a quilt for my cousin Deb, who lives nearby. When I called her and asked her about her colors, I knew her colors were low-key, but I was surprised when she said "no-color."

"My living room sofa is cream and I have black and white throw pillows. Come over and look around." We made plans to get together in a few days. In the meantime I had to do some thinking. I knew I would be able to figure it out, and I knew I could make it beautiful, I just didn't know what I would do.

It took me about five days before I figured it out.

I decided to make "Crossroads" from Amy Walsh & Janine Burke's book Colorful Quilts for Fabric Lovers.

The quilt has six inch blocks with a thin insert in each. There are three blocks, one divided in half, one with the strip close to the edge, and one 2/3 of the way through. The basic blocks would be various creams, and the inserted strips would be darker blues, greens and other dark values. I went through my stash and pulled fabrics and brought them with me when I visited Deb.

She loved the idea, so I went home and started cutting fabrics.

The light fabrics are in the first photo, above. The colored insert strips are in the photo above.

I started sewing the blocks together. It didn't take long.

I threw some of the early blocks on the wall to see how it was going to look. I knew I wouldn't know for sure until I could see all the blocks on the wall.

It isn't "me" but I know I can make it look great.

A Quick Side Trip

I had to use up all those mashed-potato beiges and creams somehow. They wouldn't fit in the bookcse I use for my fabric storage. So I've got a little something in the works.  The blue-green batiks are part of a Bali-Pop I bought last year for a project that never went anywhere.

This is going to be a nice gift for somebody.