Monday, November 2, 2015

Will These Corners Work?
(And a Conversation with My Husband)

I have this quilt laid out, ready to cut and stitch the sashing and cornerstones.  But then I wondered:  Will doing the corners this way work?  It seems to me like it should but then I'm still relatively new to quilting.  Is there some problem coming up that I'm not aware of?

I've been eyeing the blocks over the weekend, in daylight, in dark, thinking about the arrangement -- lights, darks, inner sashing, etc..

On Friday or Saturday I asked my husband if he would look at the quilt and tell me what he thought.  He didn't volunteer so this morning I asked again.  Our conversation went something like this:

"I think every quilt you make is wonderful.  They're amazing."

"Thank you.  But what about this quilt?  Is there anything you notice?"

"Well, I see that red one in the middle."

"Oh," I said, "which red one?  Aren't they all red?"

"They have red I in them.  The one right in the middle.  That one stands out to me.  I like it."  You probably can't tell from the photo but there is no center block.  The center of the quilt will have a cornerstone.  I was wasn't sure which block he meant so I pointed to one.

"Yes, that one."  And then he said, "I don't know anything about quilting."

So I talked about the range of reds from light to medium and dark, and about the light lights and the darker lights.  I talked about placement of blocks and explained about center medallions or blocks evenly spaced across the quilt.  I told him I often missed details.  My eyes just don't pick them up until after the quilt is finished because in progress, I'm just too close to the quilt.  I asked him what he saw that I might miss. 

Pointing to one corner of the quilt he said, "Well, there are several purples all together right there."

"Purple?!  There's purple in this quilt?"  I looked to where he was pointing and found several burgundy/maroon blocks not far from each other.  As I rearranged the "purples" he drifted away and the conversation ended.  We've had similar conversations about reds and oranges.  He'll point to something that I clearly see as orange and call it red.  You never know what another person sees. 

I know the photo's not the best but seriously, what am I not seeing in this arrangement of blocks?  (There will be blue sashing between the blocks and cornerstones of dark gold.)  If you make scrappy quilts how do you decide the arrangement of blocks?  What do you decide first?  What do you look for when you arrange/rearrange?  (I'm still a novice here.)

Thanks for any thoughts you have to share.

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


--Nancy.

P.S.  There's still time to link to this week's Quilty Inspiration.  Please do link a post.  It's a link-up that I hope will succeed.  I think the inspiration behind a quilt is such an interesting part of the quilting process.
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7 comments:

  1. Seeing your blocks laid out upon your beautiful wooden flooring, I was totally fooled into thinking that you had already sashed it with tan or gold fabric. I thought that it was beautiful! Please try spreading out a large piece of the fabric that you intend to use, I think you said it's blue?, and lay out your blocks on that blue and then photograph it. You will learn what it looks like and see if you like it without having sewn a single stitch. Oops! I checked back on your link and you did that already. I still kinda like it with the flooring colors.

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    1. Thanks for the comment. I went back and forth about backgrounds -- light, dark brown, or blue -- and finally decided on the blue. Since I spent time today cutting the sashing I'm not going to change it for this quilt. But, I have blocks left over, maybe 12 or 15, and am looking forward to creating a different-looking quilt with those blocks. Perhaps I will use fabric the color of our golden oak floor for either sashing or alternate blocks.

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  2. Maybe I'm too new at setting blocks on point (I'm just now quilting my first quilt where the blocks have been set on point), but I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Sorry. But I will say that I LOVE these blocks and love the blue you've chosen for sashing. On your #2 goal for November that you've posted, is the tan in the photo the fabric you've chosen for the cornerstones? I like it ... I think this will be a fabulous quilt and cannot wait to see it all together.

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  3. I often see things as blue that other people see as green! Fair play to him for trying! My only advice is to trust your instincts!

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  4. I really like your layout! I don't spend a lot of time laying out blocks. I start with the most outlying colors (those that stand out) and get those scattered out across the quilt and then fill in the rest. Thanks for sharing your lovely quilt with Oh Scrap!

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  5. Your blocks are beautiful and the layout looks great to me! I am not necessarily great with color myself. But your conversation with your husband cracked me up! Mine just said to me today, "Did you ever build anything with that fabric you were collecting?" We were in a fabric shop and that cracked up the other people in the shop!

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  6. We all see differently, so it can be hard to decide what to do when you have been working on a project for a long time. I always take photographs, since they show up the quilt better as a whole as oppsoed to seeing just the small bits you're so close up to while working on it. What I also find helpful, is squinting at the quilt, or even better, making a black&white photograph to see the contrast. It can be quite a surprise and it will show you the balance of the colours in the quilt.
    Thanks also for the linkup, I have been thinking of making a series of blog posts on the topic of inspiration, and the linkup may just push me enough to get going!

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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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