Saturday, April 18, 2009

and now for something completely different

for a while now i have wanted to start a big at home project. most of the work i make i have to do in the hot glass studio or in my shared studio space. not a lot of it is at home stuff. so i needed a project i can work on at home. now i do a bit of sewing already, nothing fancy, and i have made some quilts in the past. (five to be exact) but they were all done in a bit of a cowboy kind of fashion. (i made the rules up as i went). this is my first attempt at making a quilt the proper way.



the pattern i have selected is by amy butler. i love her fabrics and this pattern was free from her web site. it is a simple brick pattern, but seeing as i am making this for my bed which happens to be king size i thought that simple would be a good way to start.

now i am not the kind of person who finds using and matching colour easy. i usually wear black head to toe and often in my glass work the colours i use are simple and or monochromatic. but i really like quilts that use lots of different patterns and somehow seem to blend together effortlessly. so this is going to be my attempt at making a quilt with colour.

i went today with my quilting friend and she helped me go through the shop and select fabrics that will sit well together.




this is the selection of fabrics i came out with. it all started with the fabric seventh from the left and we just kept grabbing other ones until i had a nice balance of colour and pattern. i am very pleased with myself and think this is a nice selection of colours that aren't too bold or harsh. they all seem to be tertiary colours and a bit muted, but somehow it works and still seems quite colourful to me.

today i also got a lesson on how to use my new rotary cutter, so now all i need to do is clear some space at home and start laying out the fabric to cut the bricks. i will follow up with updates on this project as i go.

3 comments:

rah! said...

woot! you're right, you couldn't have explained those fabrics to me, I wouldn't have believed you!

how exciting!!!!!!

good luck cutting and ironing, I can't wait to see them for real!

(helen likes them too)

andi said...

super funny! I am making the same quilt pattern right now. Not as lovely though, I am using left over fabric from my stash for a quilt for Eli's dad.

Marcia said...

I love your fabric choices, they are absolutely stunning. I'm sure your quilt is going to be amazing! I've been thinking about doing a quilt lately too. Something small to start off with because I've never made one before. I think I'll take a page out of your book and attempt to stick to tertiarys also. I know I have a tendency to end up making things look like a circus whenever colour gets involved. Nice work Christine!