Wednesday, October 23, 2013

What You See Depends on What You're Looking For

When I look for the diagonal lines in this layout, I find them.  When I look for bright snowballs, I see those.  When I look for reds, or blues, or greens, that's what I see.  Interesting, isn't it?  Perhaps that means there's no focal point?  I don't know if that's good or bad.  I guess the only time we really see a whole quilt at one time is when it's posing for a photograph.  Otherwise, we see bits and pieces when it's in use or when it's folded.  Still, I like the idea of the pieces of a quilt working together to make a unified whole.


Because it's a quilt for a baby girl I wanted to make one that's a little feminine and light/bright but not too bright.  My fabrics run toward darks and brights with not many in between.  I tried to limit the palette to reds/roses/pinks, blues, greens, and yellows.  A few peaches and turquoisey fabrics crept in, too, all from what I had on hand.

The blocks are 5" before sewn, will be 4½" after being sewn.  Without borders the quilt would be only 31½" x 41½" which I think is too small for a baby quilt.  I'll add a border, maybe two, and I'm thinking of adding applique flowers, vine, and leaves.  We'll see...

Just to say:   masking tape has its limits on a design wall when it comes to using a wall in your house.  I didn't count but my guess is that about 20 sticks is the limit.  I've moved some of these blocks around a lot and have had to replace the masking tape.  Ha.

If you have any thoughts about changes to improve this little quilt, I'd love to read them.

I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog and WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thank you, Esther and Lee.

--Nancy.
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9 comments:

  1. 9-patch and snowball is one of my favorite quilt patterns because it's so versatile. I love your blocks just as you have them -- it's a cute a and colorful quilt that will be perfect for a baby. A couple of small borders would be nice -- I like to make them a size that a baby can lie on, but also be able to drag around when she starts walking.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Martha. This is the first 9-patch and snowball I've made. I was afraid the snowballs would be boring but I don't think they are. I just have to decide how to quilt them.

      I was talking to my daughter about size and she thought larger so she could use it longer. She has a 16-month-old son who is still using his baby quilt but she's afraid he'll outgrow it. I told her he (and new baby girl when she's a little older) can have a second quilt.

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  2. It's adorable, Nancy - love the pattern and your fabric choices, perfect indeed :)

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  3. Such a sweet quilt. The color is so very cheerful!

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    1. Thanks. I wanted cheerful without being too girly. I hope it still looks that way when it's finished!

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  4. My eye goes right to the brighter green circle in the 4th row.
    Margaret

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    1. I see what you mean, Margaret. Now that I'm looking for it, I can hardly see anything else! I wondered it if might be too bright but there's that yellow one in the second row and the coral one in the third row from the bottom that seem just as bright. I wonder if the placement draws your eye to the green one or if it's truly just too bright for the quilt.... Thanks for sharing a comment. I appreciate it.

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  5. I think it's great. Babies love bright colours!

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

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