Porange Grows

In order to get the seams to match in the hourglass bocks for the Purple and Orange quilt, I had to do some pinning. So while I watched tv, I pinned the blocks I had ready.

Then the next morning I sewed the blocks, trimmed them and threw them up on the design wall. 

I have added space for the extra row I mentioned yesterday.

I can tell you the more blocks I add, the better I like this. I think it glows like a jewel.

Porange continued

 OK, this penchant for creating a name for a couple that combines their names is kind of silly. Ben-ifer (for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) or Polin (Penelope and Colin on Bridgerton). Yeah, I get it, but until I get a better idea for a name for the new Purple and Orange quilt, I'm just gonna call it Porange. Better suggestions welcomed.

This is the outer rows, or border as it were. Normally this quilt would have 12 row of 10 6" blocks, so that would make it 60" x 72". Works for me, I'm less than 60" tall, but my nephew is six feet tall, or 72", so this had to grow a tiny bit. I suppose I could add an additional row (not really a bad idea and I have enough fabric...) Anyway the blocks shown above are going to be 6" x 8" so now the quilt will be 64" x 76". If I add another row it will be 64" x 82". The blocks in the corner are 8" square. The blocks in the middle will be 6" square. This is based on a quilt from Sujata Shah's book Cultural Fusion Quilts, which is still in print. You want more details, you'll have to get Sujata's book. It's worth every cent.

When I cut the fabric for this on Sunday, I cut exactly enough fabric to make exactly enough blocks. So having all the pieces cut, it is pretty simple to get these blocks together. First job is to pair them up, then slice them, then sew them, then press, then slice again and then sew again and press again. Maneuvering these curved pieces through the sewing machine (without pins) means hunching over, and, as I have said, that gets tiring. I can do about 20-30 in one sitting. 

I had to buy some purple and orange fabrics, and me being me, this time I bought some fabrics that were more than just blenders. And me being me, I wanted to play with the fun fabrics first. You can figure out which ones those are.

While this is exactly what I expected it to look like, it left me a little underwhelmed.

Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing BAD about this. It just doesn't get me all jazzed up or excited. My friend The Selvage Fairy commented once "... It's interesting to me that the worst thing you can say about one of your quilts is that it's 'nice.'"

It reminds me of a lot of black and white fabrics. We all know how much I LOVE Black and White together. But sometimes fabrics that are equally black and white just look gray to me. And that to me is not BLACK and WHITE. 

I think (Lynne gets on soapbox here) that's the same problem with a lot of Red, White and Blue quilts I see. Yes, many Quilts of Valor are included in this category. The Red and Blue are often of equal value (light/dark) so from a distance they blend together into ... mush. If the Red and Blue shapes are next to each other, they lose their definition and become a blob, or mush. (Lynne steps down from soapbox.)

So when I made my Red White and Blue quilt, Fourth of July, I deliberately chose Reds that were closer to Red Orange and Blues that were cool, clear blues, and I kept the two of them apart.

Fourth of July Quilt

So the Red sings and the Blue sings. But they are separated by White, which allows them both to shine.

The purple and orange quilt, while certainly being PURPLE and ORANGE, kinda blends into something like mush to me, and mush isn't exciting no matter what you do with it. I can't really keep these colors apart, because adding white or beige would dilute the orange and besides, my nephew asked for PURPLE and ORANGE.

Normally when faced with such a conundrum, I generally LEAVE THE STUDIO, and stop looking at it. But before I went to bed I just had to go back in there and give it another look.

Then I had an idea. I mention this because SOMETIMES being tired, with all your brain cells NOT FUNCTIONING, your creative brain will allow you to see or try something your conscious brain had previously rejected.

And THIS, I like. So I am going down that road instead. 

Stay tuned.

Moving Along

 

The Yellow Macnas quilt is now a flimsy. I have turned my attention to the new purple and orange quilt for my nephew. These are the fabrics I cut into squares for his quilt.

The design will be very similar to the Orange quilt I made last year, Carnelian. It is modified hourglass blocks made with curves, from Sujata Shah's book Cultural Fusion Quilts.

The quilt will have three different blocks - a large square block eight inches square; a rectangular block six inches by eight inches, and then six inch square blocks which will make up the body of the quilt. The four large blocks will be in the corners, and the rectangular blocks will make sort of a border.

Rather like this. Bear in mind I've got to make a lot of blocks before you can see what the design will really look like and I can tell if it will really work or not.

I've made the four blocks for the corners, and here are the pieces that will form the "border."

I do them in small groups because I get hunched up over the sewing machine and my shoulders get sore.

The original quilt (above) was made with mostly blender-ish prints, but as you can tell from the first photo above I have included fabrics with larger prints and prints that have additional colors, so we'll see how it all turns out.

Incidentally, I think this is one of the best "beauty shots" of any I have ever taken. The fence the quilt is thrown over has since been painted bright white and reflectors have been added to it, so it is no longer quite the setting it used to be.

***Mary Ellen, I have never taught a bird class outside of New York and New England. Contact me directly through my email address (at right) for answers to your question.