Monday, January 27, 2014

Big Stars, Little Stars, and Keep Quilting!

My stars.  In the two photos below are different size sashings (if that's what they're called when they're in the middle of a block).  The "wing" blocks are the same size, only the stars and sashing are different sizes.

This star is 1 1/2" wide in the center.

This star is 1" wide in the center.

These are two blocks are side by side.
(The outer sashing is there so I could see the real size of the finished blocks.  I will probably use different fabrics in the quilt.)

It helps me to see more objectively when I take photographs and post them.  I don't know what it is about seeing them online that helps, but I think it does.

After I decide which size, I have to figure out how to cut and sew them.  I think the points are sewn like flying geese except at the end of long strips.  I just need to research or play with what size squares to cut and sew diagonally.  Learning is so much fun!

As I was trying to decide which size stars (and, therefore, sashing) to cut to connect these blocks, I decided to do some research to see if there's a "standard" or preferred proportion.  The "wing" blocks will finish at 4".  Is 1" too narrow?  Is 2" too wide?  Is 1 1/2" too narrow or too wide?

I came upon a blog post at Diane Gaudynski "A New Tradition in Quilting":  Embracing the Old, Exploring the New that did not give me an answer but gave me encouragement.  The post was about scale and proportion, specifically about how photographs can give a different impression of size than a real-life view gives.  Anyway, at the end of her post I read:

"Keep quilting! Your work gets better every day."

I really appreciated reading that.  This art and craft of quilting does not come easily to me.  My mind bogs down with colors, fabrics, scale, proportion, quilting designs....  I take heart in the thought that I'm improving!

I'm linking this post to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

I hope all of your quilting efforts are going smoothly.
--Nancy. .

2 comments:

  1. I like the wider sashing in the first star!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always have to take pictures of my fabrics and then how they look together before I make a final decision on a project. Then I take pictures all through the project. It just looks different on the computer screen - any mistakes just jump out at you!

    ReplyDelete

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