Friday, December 19, 2014

PATCHWORK LAP QUILT

 I've repeated this so often.....but it bears saying again.....I'm not that fond of piecing....and I really don't enjoy machine quilting.....

With that said, I must use up some of the fabrics I've been hoarding for years!
 These are Primrose Gradations hand-dyed fabrics, purchased at least 10 years ago. (No longer in business)  Love, love, love the colors and the quality of the fabric.  However, the dyes were never washed out completely or set properly.  It's such a hassle to now go back and treat 1/4 yd. or even 1 yard cuts.  

So.....this is an experiment....I plan on doing that AFTER the top is pieced...if it doesn't work out well....I'll report back.
I blogged about this patchwork design approach here  On that quilt I used two different sizes of rectangles (one large - one smaller).  However, because most of the fabrics I wanted to use for this quilt were not large pieces, I decided to cut as I went....making the sizes to fit the spaces. 

The idea was to avoid having the seams of the narrow horizontal setting strips line up.  Yes, this took a bit longer but it enabled me to efficiently use a lot of those smaller hunks of fabric.
Here's the top....it is actually straight but I have a devil of a time obtaining that in a photograph.  That's because my design wall is a office divider that leans against the wall......

This will probably be the last look.....as it won't change much with the straight line machine quilting I'm planning to do.  

Check out what others have been up to this week:  Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday,  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, and Crazy Mom Quilts.



13 comments:

Julie Bagamary said...

Great piece Mary!!

Valerie the Pumpkin Patch Quilter said...

I really love the colors here - I'm all about green right now. I've been making everything green or including green. I'm the opposite - most of the time I'd rather machine quilt than piece. I wish I could be a piecer. I'm a sometimes piecer. I'm a piecer out of necessity...and my quilts are usually canvas for quilting. :)

Kathy said...

On a piece like this, if there is some dye running, it won't really matter. It will just be a chance for those colors to get to know each other better! I'd almost HOPE there was some crossover bleeding! I love that patchwork design, too!

The Inside Stori said...

Kathy....what an Excellent way to view any bleeding that may occur.......thank you for the new perspective!

Kaja said...

I like how this looks and like Kathy, almost hope there will be some bleeding of colour.

LA Paylor said...

that's a great post Mary. I love piecing so it looks very enticing to me. I'm going to link your post to my sewing group so they will see a fun idea. I like the limited palette so the line is what's shown. LeeAnna at not afraid of color

Vera said...

Pretty fun design. Well done.

The Idaho Beauty said...

Primrose gradations - I'd forgotten about them. I may even have some of it. Thanks for the heads up if I discover I do. Ooo - you're braver than I am. I hope the washing and setting of the dyes after construction works because this is another fabulous top. I would have thought all that particular green would have been too much but it's not.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous quilt top Mary. I love the green. Marie x (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

margaret said...

love the colours too, re the dye do you wash with colour catchers s that should catch all the excess dye, I use them all the time

The Inside Stori said...

Re: Margaret's question....I'm going to try Synthrpol.....past experience with this particular fabric....I know there is a LOT of excess dye.

Norma Schlager said...

I'm a big fan of green and piecing so I love this piece. Be sure to let us know what happens when you wash it. You just might get some interesting results.

Nanette said...

Shout Color Catchers.
They're sold in most grocery stores next to the starch and fabric softeners.

I swear by these things. Toss a couple in with the quilt when you wash it. Even if it bleeds, the color catcher will attract the dies instead of the quilt.