Having at least one large (over 60") wall art quilt in my inventory is always a priority. Along with my booth mate Judy Simmons, we have access to display a few quilts at the entrance of Woolworth Walk.. It's faublous to have such a visible location to hang our bigger work which isn't possible in our booth.
I've been focused on much smaller pieces for a very long time and had the urge to dig into start a more challenging one.
Clearly I've been out of practice....the picture in my mind thought this was a good idea. NOT, definitely NOT! I love the random sizes and placement of these blocks and was feeling confident after arranging them since I had made a similar piece a few years ago.
Holy cow, my brain must have turned to mush after this prolonged isolation. As I began sashing the blocks I was still ignorant of the problems ahead.....sure the black background looks great BUT....how on earth could this be pieced?
I'm a good record keeper, so I dug out my files to find reference notes for that previous similar, but not the same quilt. None....no where to be found.....ah ha.... I didn't save them because it was such a terrible way to make a quilt. I decided that it'd be one and done. Obviously I didn't remember that.
The huge stash of Japanese style fabrics that I never thought would diminish, actually has. Finding interesting motifs to cut in standard sizes is no longer available. So in case you haven't figured it out.....what I did the last time was to appliqué the blocks to a whole cloth backing..........photo below. Why oh why did I not recall that before going so far with this one...... Well, I'm not calling quits yet.....there must be a piecing solution I just need to find it.
6 comments:
This post makes me smile for so many reasons, mostly ones of kindred spirits. Once sharp-minded and able to remember most every detail of every quilt I'd made, where every piece of fabric resided in my hodgepodge of storage solutions and where the answer to every question lie in my many reference and pattern books and binders of saved magazine articles, that is no longer the case. I'm not sure it's an aging thing as much as an energy thing, where one subconsciously realizes that the energy needed to keep tabs on all these things in one's mind is not worth expending 100 percent of the time. Frustrating when one wants an answer, a dredged up memory NOW though.
Keep at it - the solution is in there somewhere!
And your comment Sheila made ME smile...... We both know if this was always easy we'd be bored and move on, perhaps to become a potter instead?!! LOL
Design question--curious if you have tried dark blue or even royal purple for background? And I'm keeping an eye on those fish that keep trying to fly!! Piece it either a row at a time or a column at a time, and they don't all have to be the same size. You got this! Stay stubborn and TAME this beast!!!
I've found that large pieces featuring too much purple do NOT sell. On the other hand, black sells the fastest. I assume because it tends to blend in to many decors. The fish were relocated even before your first comment......LOL. I understand what you are suggesting.....but piecing a row at a time in the typical manner using spacers to make them even is not straightforward, mainly because I'm adding two strips that extend from each side of each block that connect with an opposing block. I've just eliminated another block and rearranged again, however the top "row" is sort of stitched together. All outside blocks will be easy....it's the inner section that is the challenge....I see many half-seam sewing in my future.
Oh you've set yourself a challenge! But the fabrics are so beautiful, it will be well worth solving. We await!
I second Mary's observation about too much purple not selling. I went through a period where purple kept showing up in my pieces. I knew the average person probably would not be drawn to them to display in their homes even if they were drawn to the pieces for other reasons. I came very close to selling one that was moody pinks and purples, but the man suddenly turned away with a smile and said, no, I just can't. I'm already getting enough grief for buying a house painted purple on the outside! Definitely made me laugh but confirmed how difficult it is for people to let this color into their decorating schemes.
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