Proportion, Size, Symmetry, Balance -- How Does a Quilter Decide?

One of the things I love about traditional quilts is the rhythm created by blocks repeated across the surface of a quilt.  Even when colors vary, lights and darks change places, or many or few fabrics are used, I can usually see that rhythm (sometimes held in place only by sashing between blocks, other times interrupted by faded fabric).  Those variations create interest for me.  I see the whole then devour the quilt one block at a time.

I also love the balance and symmetry that I see in old quilts.  Of course, not all old quilts have balance or symmetry in the blocks or across the surface.  Those quilts that don't are, perhaps, more interesting and I try to imagine the creative ethic, experience/knowledge, and circumstances of the quilter.  What prompted her to choose those colors, or to use one odd block with 35 others all the same, or to make the quilt the size it is?

When making quilts --modern, traditional, improv, any quilts-- I give too much thought to quilt sizes and proportions.  Maybe it's because I'm still learning how to "get it right."  Not that there's any particular wrong about a quilt size but there are some sizes and proportions that seem more pleasing to the eye and are possibly more useful.  In fact, when I'm riding in the car with my husband driving and I have a quilt book in tow that I've finished reading or looking at the photos, I sometimes go through it quilt by quilt and write down the sizes of each.  Weird, I know.  What I've found is that quilt sizes and proportions vary a lot.  A whole lot!  (One of these days I'm going to type the numbers into some kind of order so I can compare.)

For instance, a few quilts in Unconventional & Unexpected:  American Quilts Below the Radar, 1950-2000, had these measurements (in inches):
61 x 78
61 x 81
62 x 71
62 x 77
62 x 80
62 x 85
63 x 79
63 x 81
63 x 87
64 x 80
64 x 87
65 x 78

I struggle with quilt sizes.  In a blog comment someone told me the quilt size I chose would depend on the bed I was going to use for the quilt.  She's right, of course, except that I don't make quilts for beds, I make quilts to keep people warm, maybe on a bed, but just as often for a nap.  And I make quilts to play with fabric.  But I also want quilts that are a comfortable size:  not too long, not too short, not too wide, not too narrow.  (I'm sure you've seen a hired man's quilt, at least in a book:  narrow and long.)  Proportion matters to me.

But it's not just the physical sizes and proportions I think about, it's also the balance in a quilt.  In an on-point setting, a row can end with four blocks or five blocks (or any two other numbers depending on the size of the blocks and the width of the quilt).  When the ends don't have the same number of blocks it looks odd to me.  Uneven, unbalanced.  To my eyes, the same number of blocks on both ends and on both sides looks balanced.

I have three quilts that seem too long. 

First:  String-X.  

Finished it measures 69" x 93".  That's 7' 9" long!  Who needs a quilt that long?  Each diagonal string block measures 7", each set of our measures 14" x 14".  When I was deciding the layout of the quilt I knew I wanted the ends to be balanced.  The quilt could have been 7", 14", or 21" shorter, but only by leaving a row of blocks off of each end would it still have been balanced.  I could have had a quilt that measure 69 x

Second:  Plaid Churn Dash.

This quilt measures 64" x 89". The blocks are 7 1/2" square.  Again, it's a quilt with the blocks set on point.  (Maybe it's only on point settings that create this problem of quilts that are balanced are too long.  I don't know.)

And last, Red Wings (my most recent quilting finish).  It hasn't been bound or washed and dried yet, so the measurements will change after all that happens.  As it is now, it measures 64 3/4" x 97 1/4".  It's an inch shorter than String-X was before being washed and 2 1/4" inches narrower.  It's just shy of 8 feet!!!  I knew it would be long but I wanted those balanced ends.   

Here it is with one row folded under on the end.  It measures 64 3/4" x 89".  The overall measurement is better but it doesn't look balanced to me.  One end has 5 half-blocks, the other has 4 half-blocks (which are cut off toward the bottom of the photo).

Lastly, here it is with two squares folded under on one end.  It's balanced with 4 half-squares on each end, but it looks squatty to me.  It measures 64 3/4" x 81", nearly 7 feet.

I've seriously thought of cutting off the end of this quilt, even though it would mean I'd have a bias edge to deal with, but I can't make myself cut it to 81".  It could end up only 73" or 74" long.

The other consideration when deciding the size of a quilt is shrinkage.  By the time I finish hand quilting I've lost at least an inch in width and two in length.  Add to that (or subtract from that, if you will) the shrinkage from washing and drying and the loss in width could be from 2 to 5 inches and between 2 and 7 inches in length.  (To date the only bats I've used are Mountain Mist Cream Rose and Soft & Crafty 80/20 cotton/poly.)

If you've read this far you're a trooper and I thank you.  I hope you'll go one step further and tell me how you decide the size of your quilts.  Do you choose it by blocks:  x # of blocks by y # of blocks?  Do you go for length and width without consideration for balance?  Do you try to balance the ends and sides to have the same number of blocks?  Do you consider shrinkage when you're deciding the size of a quilt?

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about proportions, sizes, symmetry, and balance when making a quilt.  I appreciate it!

I'd love lots of responses to my questions so I'm linking to
- TGIFF : Go West Flimsy at The Carpenters Daughter Who Quilts
- Off the Wall Friday at Creations... Quilts, Art.... Whatever
- Fabric Frenzy Friday at Forth Worth Fabric Studio {Blog}
- Fabric, Thread and Yarn at France Nadeau
- finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts
- Can I get a Whoop Whoop?  at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
- Midweek Makers #27 at  Quilt Fabrication
Thanks for hosting, ladies!

--Nancy.
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