Project 9 - Interlacing Circles - Fabric Selection

This project has cause me quite a bit of confusion - not with the pattern, but with fabric selection. Here is Carrie's version

The top is made up of nine patch blocks and rail strip sets using 4 fabrics.  I made a mock up of this pattern a while back.. remember?   I wanted to use an Art Nouveau floral fabric I had, and then just selected colours I thought would go nicely with it. At this point I was happy, I just needed to purchase the matching fabric for the floral - a purple/green leaves print.  Also while shopping, I selected a dark purple to use instead of the mauve.

I put my selections together and bundled them off to a Quilter's Guild meeting I was attending to get an opinion, as I wasn't quite sure about my choices (hey, it was my first meeting, I had to take something!).  Their advice was that while the colours were ok, the values were out of balance.  I had 3 darks and 1 medium, which wouldn't do at all!  They suggested a mauve instead of the deep purple.  Damm???

I dutifully resurrected my mauve fabric.  Now I had 5 fabrics and was at a loss on which one to lose.  I sought out the advice of the  experienced and talented ladies of the Craft Forum.  These are the 5 fabrics........

The fourm ladies were very helpful (as always) and by an overwhelming majority, suggested I drop the leaves print.

Choosing fabric is hard!

Then the subject of values came up again - which seemed to point to the dark purple being dumped.  One very helpful member (thank you so much Robynne) even went to the trouble to make mock-ups using the photo I posted.  You can see them here......... http://forum.craftmagazines.com.au/showthread.php?t=4768

I decided, after much dithering, to dump the yellow in favour of a cream print.  Now I had 2 prints and 2 plains, like Harriet's version.  I also had 2 dark values, 1 medium and 1 light, a much better balance.  I'd use the yellow for the border.

So I cut and sew some strips and I'm not liking what I'm seeing.  It all looks a bit blah - where's the zing?  And where is my beloved Art Nouveau quilt top gone?

Finally, I decided to sacrifice the fabric I'd already cut and go with my gut instincts - going back to almost what I had in the first place - Floral/Yellow/Purple/Mauve.  Check it out.

Compare colours - cream or yellow?

All of this fluffing about has taught me a valuable lesson - learn the rules thoroughly, promptly forget them, then go with what you like.  Eventually, with a bit of experience and experimentation, it should all come together.

I've finished the piecing and hopefully will post a pic of the assembled top soon.

Cheers

Mock Ups

No sewing yesterday or today, the log cabin quilt is currently on hold - it's a busy time of year! 

The next lessons are on drafting, base grids, mock-ups, planning and changing finished sizes (block and/or quilt).  I tried doing this previously for the triple rail quilt.  The book says that drafting etc are necessary so a quilter can break down blocks to their basic elements and re-create them.  These skills are also handy if you are working on a pattern and something goes wrong.  If you have drafting skills, you have the knowledge to figure out the problem and fix it.

The 1st exersize involves drawing up a pattern on graph paper and colouring it in.  The example used is Interlacing Circles (Project 6 from the book).  To do this, you need to have selected some fabrics.  I had a vague idea of the colours I wanted to use and the exersize really helps in getting this right.

There is a purple fabric in the mock up which I would like to use but haven't purchased yet, but you get the general idea.  I like the colours and the fabrics (a bit of an Art Deco feel I think) and will probably go with these when I get to the project.

The next step is to cut up fabric to the grid size and glue it to graph paper in the block design.  I have limited fabric supplies, so I used photocopies instead. 

The mock up is for Project 4 - Country Lanes Table Runner which requires 5 fabrics including a large scale floral print.

This is the large foral print I've chosen

These are the 5 fabrics I chose from my stash

I started off selecting the large floral print, then tried to chose fabrics which worked with it.  I changed my mind several times and ended up making 4 mock-ups, before deciding (although I could change my mind yet).

My original plan was to use the calico print as the main background fabric, but as you can see - it just didn't work.  The small print is too busy.  I opted to use the light green as the background instead.

Better!  In fact I removed the calico entirely, replacing it with the brown and used green & black for the 4 patch squares instead of brown & black.  Hmmm - still not happy though

Hmmm - still something missing.  I seem to have lost one of the 5 fabrics!

This is where I left it.  I could work with this, but maybe I should purchase a different fabric or 2 to improve it.  This block just seems really busy and messy.

Selecting fabrics can be quite difficult for me.  While I liked the pre-cut fabric combination, once they have been chopped into bits, the result is not always so pleasing.  On the other hand, the first one I did, the Interlacing Circles, was put together really quickly, no changes and I liked it instantly.  Sometimes it just works and sometimes it just doesn't.

Project 1 - The Sampler

The sampler is to be completed over Vols 1 & 2 of the book series. This is to have a 'try out' of the techniques before cutting into a bigger project, such as a quilt top.

The centre block is the part to be made in Vol 1 - Freshman Year. It give you practice on various techniques such as preparing fabric, accurate cutting, measuring, pressing, and that all important seam allowance.

It was not difficult to do and didn't take very long. I should I think re-do this as there is some distortion from pressing.