This week I cut some long wide strips of most of the quilt's solid colors and threw them up on the design wall without much thought. Then I started chopping them up adding narrower strips here and there as well as some squares/rectangles.
My main objective is to introduce long horizontal lines to contrast with the short vertical lines of the rows of printed coins without overpowering the printed rows. I'm taking a lesson from Kaja's style of piecing by making small sections without joining them all together at once. For example, the row I chopped up has 7 sections. I'll wait to join them until I have the other rows laid out so that I can tweak placement if I need to. I'm a little uncertain about that area with the pink/salmon strip and curry square. I might lengthen the pink/salmon strip and put the curry square somewhere else (or maybe reverse them), but we'll see how they look after I get a few more rows made. I think the dark brown will play just a small role--a tiny square/rectangle here and there. It is so much darker than the other fabrics that it tends to want to take over when it's cut bigger, but I do like how it keeps my eye moving around.
Meanwhile, I'll keep putting this puzzle together without a guide, or maybe I should say, model. I do have a guide in my general objective. I'm using a ruler and keeping those little inserted strips about the same width, but otherwise my ruler is merely a straight-edge, not a strict measuring tool. It's really quite fun!
I still want to make a few changes to the outer edges of some of the printed rows to balance them out a bit, but I'll wait until I have more of the sashing done before I do that.
I'm linking up with Kaja at Sew Slowly and Ann at Fret Not Yourself. Either link will take you to the party. Go check them out, and see what fun other quilters are having with improv. I'm going to do the same, even though there are two squirrels of the quilty variety jumping up and down in front of me. I doubt I'll resist them for much longer. More on those later...
9 comments:
Totally understand about those noisy squirrels! I really like what you are doing with the alternate rows for your coins -- keep going!!!
Those long blocks are definitely alternate blocks. What else could they be? You are,smart to hold off on stitching the rows until you are finished or totally satisfied. Great going with a wonderful color palette.
This is lookin gso exciting! I love your overall colour combo and I those tiny 'pops' of dark brown are effective, a nice contrast against the lighter tones.
I like what you're doing with your sashing/alternate rows. I agree with your assessment. The pink/curry area needs something more done. I think they shouldn't both be the same size as they are about the same value. And you're right about the brown - little bits of it for an accent are great but I wouldn't do much bigger than that. I don't know why this wouldn't qualify for the two-block challenge! It's really looking good - keep going!
Wow, this is looking good! I like the idea of adding these horizontal rows- it's already very effective - and like those little brown squares too. You are right about them moving the eye around. Thanks for linking up with AHIQ; I am finding this a really interesting project to follow.
I love that you are taking your time and having fun too! So interesting and pretty. :)
Oh, yes! Looking great!
I really liked this last time you shared it, and it is looking great with those sherbet solids in the sashing. Carry on!
I love the salmon and curry together but they definitely overpower the rest of the quilt. I'd move the salmon to the right since there's another salmon below it currently. This is a beautiful mix of prints and solids. Most intriguing. And you're making a two-block combination here. Time does slip away; so many more quilts to make. Thanks for linking your thoughtful post with AHIQ. You add so much to the conversation.
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