Cacophony was the word that came to mind tonight as I finished the last of my 4x4 sets of 3" squares.
I went for the mismatched look as the idea of organizing color and patterns escapes me. One day I may find the time to learn more about color, but for now I am happy with the results.
Going through the fabric and cutting it up took me down memory lane, Harry Potter Halloween Costumes, my kids' quilts, Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, pillow cases, curtains, quilts for friends, and fabric from my daughter's projects. I must confess some of the fabric mystifies me as to how it ended up in my fabric bins.
I learned a lot about precision cutting (I still need more practice) and matching seams/corners up (I'm pretty pleased with my seams/corners overall). My 4x4 squares are not all equal and I think if I try to put them all together the seams will not match up very well.
My solution will be to add borders to each square and then trim all squares to the same size. In the end each square will be approximately 12". With 30 squares the top will finish out around 60"x72". This blue dotted fabric seems to work with the squares and add a little pop!
Your quilt is going to turn out great and your idea of using a border (called sashing) around each square is the perfect solution for quilt squares that might not be exactly the same size. You do have a natural eye for color and I don't see any reason for you to bother to learn more about it. I just took a class about color in quilts from Gail Garber, a nationally known teacher and quilter (check out her blog), at the quilt show my local guild puts on every other year and she told everyone in the class to throw away their color wheels! The only people who need them are the ones who dye or paint fabric (like me) because if you mix the wrong colors together when you are dyeing fabric you can end up with mud. As an expert Art Quilter myself, I was thrilled that she made this statement. Too many quilters are timid when it comes to color and most of them stick to the same color palate over and over again. Your quilt with its wonderful mix of plaids next to prints and no reason for putting one square next to the other one is just what is needed for a quilt like this. As long as you have a mix of light, dark and medium colors you can't go wrong. What you need to remember is that fabric stretches and even if the squares are not all the same size I would try to square them up before you put on the sashing rather than after you do it. I do make traditional quilts sometimes and I used to have a terrible time matching seams unless I paper pieced (probably one reason I love being an Art Quilter). A few years ago I took a class from Jackie Robinson and I learned the correct way to do sashing from her. Her book "Favorites" by Jackie Robinson is my bible when it comes to putting together a traditional quilt. I don't know if it's still in print but if you can find a copy of it get it. It was put out in 2000 and it's only 44 pages long but it is full of quilting tips that you won't find anywhere else and her advice helped me be able to make squares the same size and that was something I thought I could never do! Her advice on how to do perfect 1/4" seams is invaluable and will help you get squares that are the same size. And I first learned that if you set your seams first by pressing (not ironing) the stitches on each side you will find that it sinks the thread into the fabric and it's amazing how easy it is to then open the fabric and press the seam in the direction you want. I could go on and on about this book but if you want to learn the easiest way to have your quilt squares turn out the same size, how to add sashing the easy way, and the right way to stitch your quilt together try to find this book.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I have a question about is the choice of your fabric for the sashing. I think since you have so many patterns in each square that a plain fabric without the dots would be a better choice. You have picked a great color but I think the polka dots are going to be distracting. You are using sashing to make your squares look like they belong together and because you have so many colors and no plain fabrics in your squares you need a fabric without any pattern to tie them together. Now, that's just my opinion and I may be wrong but I would use the polka dot fabric for the backing (and more of your other fabrics on the back if you don't have enough of the blue polka dot fabric).
I can't wait to see how it looks when you are done.
Hi Joanne,
DeleteThanks for the comments. I'll look for the book as it sounds like the perfect gem to have handy. One thing I did find that made matching seams easier was nesting, so I'll definitely try "sinking" the thread. I also found the makeshift design wall a huge help for matching up seams. Better than counters or the ironing board.
I'm going to be away from my machine for the next week and will not be moving forward on the quilt ... this will give me time to rethink the sashing. I can totally visualize the blue dot on the back of the quilt. I just need to find the perfect blue solid or maybe a rust.
Again, thanks for your kind and thoughtul comments.
Tracey