I started preparing for my next project and got out all of my batik 1.5" strips. I was horrified to see that I don't have anywhere near enough light fabrics cut. I was so sure there was a good variety in these boxes. I will have to spend a day cutting light fabrics before I can begin. (But I love to play with my fabrics and cut, so don't feel sorry for me).
Here is last year's amaryllis bulb blooming again this year. I have the pot sitting on the floor and the flower stem is taller than my window sills. It has 4 flowers on this stem.
Now I am going to try to explain why I thought my Strips 'n Curves quilt that I have shown every day this week was dull and needed a facelift. I will have to go back 25 years to an experience I had. I owned a quilt shop and I made a quilt out of all one fabric line and it hung on the back wall of the shop. One day one of my customers walked in and was looking at it from a distance and asked "Is that a printed sheet?". It taught me a lesson. When all of the fabrics in a quilt are too closely matched there is no life/interest point in it. Every fabric has the same exact flavor. That is why I never use all fabrics from the same line. This quilt that I made hit me with the same feeling as one all from the same fabric line.The strip piecing in the Strips 'n Curves quilt was way too smooth of a blend. I have been doing colorwash quilts for 18 years and I tend to blend the fabrics too well and in this case it was a quilt that really needed a little texture in it. If you have a chance to look at the books Strips 'n Curves or a New Twist on Strips 'n Curves, you will see quilts with more variety in values and not such smooth blends.
I don't usually start out with one fabric and choose all of the others to match it but I did with this one. To me it was all over mush after it was pieced with no focal point. I know that statement is a little extreme but that is how unhappy I was with the pile of blocks. I feel that now the zebra print will be the focal point and the purple print will be the unexpected spark.
The moral of the story is (in my opinion) if you are decorating a room with a quilt, you may want a more matchy look. If you want to make exciting quilts (no room in mind for them) you may want some unusual combinations in color or texture of prints for the pure joy of making a work of art. I think you probably know that mine usually fall in that second category. So, all I really did was disappoint myself, and with 54 blocks made I felt I needed to "fix" it. It all goes back to my favorite quote "To thine own self be true" (Shakespeare). If you like them really matched, do that. If you like them bold, do that, etc.
As far as pressing seams open, this book called for that. I will talk more about this later.
24 comments:
Thanks for the explanation, Wanda. I tend to like more color and not too "matchy-matchy"
I did make one top (not yet quilted) that is all from one line of fabric. I like it, but it is a bit bland. Since I like color pops in my paintings, I have decided that I will generally do my quilts with a bit of zip in them too.
A million years ago I heard Mary Anne Hopkins put it very succinctly:
"You want to have some darks in your lights, and you some lights in your darks."
That usually does it for me.
I like your explanation. I think I agree with you. And I also like the modified version of the quilt you've shown better than the original (although I liked to gold/yellow color when you inserted it too, but that is just because that is my color of the moment). I always try to choose a couple less matched fabrics for my quilts. Sometimes the women in the quilt shop seem to disapprove, but I'm OK with that. I also like to break the "pattern" every once in a while, with something unexpected. I think this helps too.
"You want to have some darks in your lights, and some lights in your darks."
(duh... some days I should just stay in bed)
I love the layout for your die cuts!
what a great job of explaining the "matchy matchy"! I have one, and only one, small quilt that I made from fabric from one line and while I still love the fabric the idea that its a "preprinted sheet" from across the room definatley applies! the overall quilt is boring...
my tendency when I end up with a bunch of blocks and not enough "interest" is to use the resulting top as a background itselt, adding an applique to the surface to provide the focal point and interst -- nothing too detailed, but something... Your willingness to stick with the project and backtrack is inspiring
I so agree with you. You've improved the quilt so much. I have to admit that when I first saw it, I had no idea it was a "Strips and Curves" quilt. The strips blended together so much that I thought they were one piece of fabric. The quilt is much more interesting now.
Thanks for your explanation on why the original quilt was boring. I like this concept of adding some sparkle to the quilt top and not have it all matchy matchy, yet your top still has a wonderful cohesiveness to it. I've seen some so called scrappy quilts that just look like a jumble of colour and fabric and you don't know where to look. I guess this is where design comes into play.
Your die cut project looks interesting.
I never knew why I don't like buying a line of fabric and here you explain it brilliantly! I have always loved picking my own fabrics and the couple of quilt kits I have done, that are put together with a line of fabric always seem to disappoint. I think picking out fabrics is the best part of making a quilt.
I'm loving your quilt so far and I would like to have those boxes of your strips...should I send you my address? All kidding aside...my husband just came in and wanted to see your blog since he hears me raving about you all the time. :)
I totally agree that too matchy matchy can be boring. I usually err in the other direction- chaos, but I like chaos except in my life. Lol.
A great Saturday post. Enjoyed your photo's and theory.
J~MT
Wonderful colour matching! Some colour combinations give me a physical well-being, a lot more than the arc thing, sorry...
I think there are 'timid' quilts and 'brave' quilts. Sometimes the brave ones are failures, but the timid ones are never interesting. If we're making bedding, ok, it's not art. If we're making art, it has to have something original, something daring, something that's our own in it. Good for you, persevering until you have a quilt that's striking and, most important, yours!
Hi Wanda,
Good explanation of your theory (Wanda's Theory of Relativity). I love it when quilt teachers (that would be you) talk about why they do the things they do. Even if all the class doesn't agree, it expands your view.
My husband and I have a term we use that is along the same lines, and it's "go with your gut feeling". It usually does not steer you wrong if you are in tune with your intuition.
Vicky F
HI Wanda,
Very nice post about color theory- the mushiness is indeed a challenge in quilts- I once made a convergence quilt top that remains a top because the colors all mush together even though I thought I got the value right.
Life's best lessons often come from our mistakes-
Great post Wanda- I love your amaryllis.
Regards,
Anna
I'm with you, Wanda. Too matchy is boring. I buy fabric because I LOVE it not because it's in a certain line or designed by a well known designer. BUT until I develop a well-rounded stash I have to keep shopping for fabric I love and WHAT a problem to have.
Yeah, I've got a quilt that illustrates the same issue. It is boring! I guess that's why it remains unfinished in a stack, it needs to be quilted by why spend the time on a quilt I do not like? :) Here's to another year and lessons learned!
I like your explanation and all the chit chat on this subject. Color and value are so important. I'm giggling about your "problem" of not enough 11/2" strips....that problem won't last long if we know you!
I appreciate your explanations about your strips 'n curves quilt; it really helped my brain comprehend what my eye was appreciating.
I've learned a lot from the die-cut layout, too. Your value/color arrangements, and the concentric "rings" around the circle in the center are really thoughtful and fun to look at. Now if only I could create like that! :-)
First, I love the layout in the die cut quilt. I think you are right about the variety. You probably won't get a much better layout. But I love it! As for your strips, if you don't have enough lights it is always an excuse to purchase. My theory and sometimes a good one. Your explanation of adding the "punch or zing" to your quilt is a very good one. As time goes by and I learn more and more about quilting, color, etc. I find that what you say is very true. It also makes for a much more interesting quilt!
Thanks for the explanation Wanda. I do hear you... for me, it is where is the zinger. No zinger, no fun. As you say, to thy own self be true!
Last century (heh) I fell in love with Teresa Kogut's Flower Bears line. I bought everything I could get my hands on and gleefully cut and fussy cut it for a version of Mary Ellen Hopkins' Bakers Dozen Doubled quilt.
It is soooooo uninspiring. It's been sitting in my UFO pile for at least 9 years (!) - I don't want to quilt and finish it, I don't want to dump or donate it, and I haven't been inspired enough to rip all of those little squares apart and rescue it.
Currently it's in my Beginning Quilting show and tell as a (negative) example of color theory. :-/
I've never bought an entire line of fabrics and used them in the same quilt. There was a sameness that I didn't like but your explanation makes the whole thing make much more sense to me!!
I love what you're doing with teh die cuts!! Makes me want to print a bunch of Drunkard's Path blocks on batiks and K. Fassett prints and play!
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