Friday, January 29, 2016

No Peacocks but One Squirrely Fabric

appliqued stars with circles on scrappy backgrounds

I devoted several hours today to playing with circles on stars.  I was trying to avoid peacocks -- stars that are too bright or showy or draw attention to themselves above any other block.  Some blocks have more contrast but I don't think I have any "show-offs."  Do you see any?  (Because I'm not using Lighbox, you can click on any of the images to enlarge them in a new tab to see more detail, then click again to enlarge again.) 

Every star is a different color but I notice that red seems to want to dominate as the layers are added.  I've begun to sew circles but I know I'll keep looking and evaluating as I sew and change as I go along.  That's a wonderful thing about applique.

There 36 blocks.  The challenge is deciding whether to set them 5 by 7 blocks,  6 by 6 blocks, or whether to make more stars so I can set them 6 by 7 blocks.  Using 2" sashing and a 4" border all the way around, the 5 by 7 set will finish at about 71" x 94".  Set 6 by 6 it will finish at about 82" square.  I'm not hugely in favor of square quilts but 94" (with blocks set 5 by 7) seems on the long side for a twin quilt.  On the other hand, a 6 by 7 block setting will finish at about 82" x 94", about queen size.  Hmmm.  (Yes, one other option is to set them 5 x 6 blocks and have it finish at about 62" x 82".) 

This is the squirrely fabric.  What color would you say it is?
appliqued star on scrappy backgrounds
I think it looks green until it sits near true green.  It looks a little gold, a little coppery, maybe even a little like army green, but no one color exactly.  I like the challenge of unusual colors but this one just doesn't seem to want to work or play with any of the colors.

At the end of today I had these arrangements.
appliqued star with circles on scrappy backgrounds

I suspect this one will get changed tomorrow.
appliqued star with circles on scrappy backgrounds

Of course, none of the circles are sewn yet.  I'm sure some will get rearranged tomorrow.

These circles in stars make me think of wool penny rugs.

I'm linking this post to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  Thanks, Cynthia!

Happy quilting to you!

--Nancy.
.



5 comments:

  1. Even if that color is vexing you, it looks great in the mix! I love what you have going on there!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This quilt keeps getting better and better!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't see any peacocks amongst the blocks! I like the is it green/is it gold fabric but then I'm an autumn kinda gal! I find deciding what size to make quilts difficult too - the long rectangle of a single bed is very different from the near square shape of a large bed so they require very different block arrangements. Maybe that's why so many of my quilts end up being lap quilts or throws!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your stars are looking great. The color balance is nice and even. No one blocks call out above the others. Have fun with the sewing part.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have really done a great job balancing the colors on this one. It is going to be lovely! Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...