Matchmaking

Here's another "matchy" set. I like these. It's funny, to put these together. It's easier, and I think more successful, if you don't think about them too much. They are supposed to resemble each other, but only sort of.

I've got a lot of blue fabric on order to make the sample quilt I will use in writing the Zebras tutorial (I'm gonna make a blue Jealousy quilt) and in the meantime, I'm going to use my stash to work on the Oh So Modern variation. And if I told you that before, I'm sorry. It's kinda been a very stressful week, y'know?

The third one down is too dark. Part of the reasons why I get stuck is sometimes a good option is in another stack being matched with something else. I have no objection to repeating a fabric, but it's more fun (OK, better bragging rights) to say that in a quilt like this each fabric is used only once. That is not a requirement in this quilt. At any rate, I won't sew this up until I'm sure, and right now I am not.

i like these four, but I am a bit concerned they are WAY TOO MUCH together. If this busy quartet is the busiest one in the quilt it will stick out like a sore thumb, and I don't want that. I want all these fabrics to play in harmony.

Please note I am not asking for your opinions or suggestions. I'm just sharing what I see. I'm still feeling my way around. Nothing is carved in stone yet.

These are looking good.

Some of these are a bit risky, and some are not. It's going to be fun working this out.

I wrote about which thread I use here. Last year I bought some Master Piece thread by Superior Thread at a quilt show, and I am just now getting to try it out.

Last week I was reading Mrs Goodneedle and she showed a new seam ripper. I thought it was so spiffy I went to the vendor site, and when I found out they were three bucks each, I ordered four. (The fourth is already in my travel kit.) It is called a Razor Ripper.

I might be a seam ripper junkie.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

I get a lot of comments about how I put fabrics together, both on the blog and in real life. Truth is, I don't think much about it, but like my friend the Selvage Fairy said to me the other day, "There are things that you know that you don't even know that you know."

These two shared some of the same colors and I liked the lushness of the flowers with the inherent sensuality of the bras.

Well, sort of.

Green on the left, green on the right. This one's easy peasy.

Years ago I brought a salad from the salad bar to the lunchroom and sat down to eat. One of the design engineers came over and looked down at it.

The contrast of the hard shapes on the left, and the soft lines on the right, along with the same colors in both makes this a nice pair. The print on the left also includes a small stuffed olive, though one isn't visible here.

"Lynne, every single time you bring a salad for lunch, it is beautiful. Do you consciously arrange everything like that, or do you just throw it all together?"

Blue with curves on both fabrics. One is tightly packed, the other has more empty space around the print. Generally I like some kind of contrast between the two.

I looked down at the salad. Romaine lettuce and spinach, hard cooked egg slices, cherry tomatoes, red and yellow bell pepper slices, shredded carrot strips and chunks of feta cheese. There may have been other things in it, but I don't remember.

I thought the gold was common to both fabrics, and I liked the juxtaposition of the gentle flowing curves on the left compared to the more plant like and more tightly packed elements on the right.

"I like all this stuff," I said. "These are things I like to eat in a salad."

I admit this is over the top, but I love the exuberance in both prints. The curves in the left one contrast with the straight elements of the fabric on the right.

 "I don't think about making it beautiful when I am putting it together." I stopped and thought for a minute.

I think this pair is hilarious. The rock and roll on the left, and the recipe for chicken soup on the right. Reminds me of a teenager's band playing in the family garage. At some point, the kid's gotta go inside to eat.

"But you know, I was trained as an artist, and I studied composition, how to arrange things in a beautiful way."

The one on the left is definitely Asian, and the one on the right just has the same feel, and shares some of the same colors.

"I think I've internalized it so much that I don't even know I'm doing it."

This hardly needs explaining. Roses, left and right. Still, we have contrast galore.

 "That's it," my coworker said. "You're an artist first all, the time. It's how you see things, and it's what you do. Some part of you that you're not aware of, is doing it, but yes, you do it on purpose."

On the surface, these two aren't at all alike, but look closer. They're both densely packed florals and they share a lot of the same colors and shapes.

 It can also be called "trusting your gut." It's not guessing. It's really about using all the experience you possess to solve the problem in front of you.

Oh come on, stripes and circles? What could be better, even if the circles are really colorful bugs.

I've learned over time that "my gut" makes good decisions, so I can trust them without thinking.

Similar colors, the same airy "feel" and the swirls of each make this a fun pair. To say nothing about putting cats and birds together!

or "over-thinking" which is just as bad, if not worse.

I'm going to let you figure out why this pair works.

Because there's nothing worse than killing the fun, the surprise, the verve, the life, the zing, or, dare I say it... the Magic!