Sometimes you don't get what you think
Last April, I went to a quilt show and saw a quilt that inspired me. I took a photo and when I got home, I drafted out what I wanted. I was looking for floating floral squares anchored by a diamond. I never use black, but because the quilt I saw used it successfully, I used black, but made it scrappy blacks so it would not look all solid. I made a sample block to see if I liked it. I made 4 samples to see how it looked together. Fine. The 30 blocks had lots of pieces with precision. I used the Accuquilt to cut the squares and triangles which works wonderfully- no trimmng, preciseness. I used the fork pins to hold the intersections and was satisfied with that.
Today, I put 25 of the done blocks on the wall to motivate me to finish the last row of five. When I stepped back, I was not happy. I seemed to have lost the floating quality. All I see is black diamonds, not the florals which I wanted to be the focus. I do not where I went wrong. Now, sadly, I am sewing the last five blocks to put on the wall. This was going to be a quilt for me, but now I am not liking it.
How does your quilt differ from the inspiration quilt? Are some of your florals too light in value to hold their own?
ReplyDeleteIt is a pretty quilt even if it didn't match your vision.
I understand what you're going through. I'm going through something similar with sashing a sampler quilt at the moment. Nothing I throw up on the design wall looks 'just right.' Looking at the vintage/antique inspiration quilt photos you posted, it appears the black fabrics in that quilt had faded quite a bit and the florals also. Maybe yours will require a bit of aging in some sunlight to achieve that same soft effect. The added dimension achieved when you quilt it will also create a softening effect. Don't give up on this one, it's too pretty to throw in the towel!
ReplyDeleteWhat are you thinking of binding it with? That might make a difference...
ReplyDeletewhat about adding a thin border of your favorite color... or yellow or a yellow floral. I say yellow because I see lots in the blocks. I hate it when my mental image is better than real life. A problem I often have!
ReplyDeleteI don't exactly remember the photo inspiration, but I bet it is a value problem that is making it different. Is the background too white, maybe. Would a cream to beige fabric have worked? I still think it is a beauty. Use the black to do a narrow border to anchor the whole design....then a light final border. It might still just float:)
ReplyDeleteMy two cents - from a slightly different perspective - ;)) Following Wanda's lead, I went back to see how your quilt differed from the inspiration quilt. Instead of your florals being too light to hold their own - I think they might not be light enough. In your original post - you said - "it had this wonderful quality using florals and black, which I rarely use. I took a photo with the phone, drafted the block, and made a sample block. I made sure I used florals that had some saturation and not too light like the one I saw. The effect I was hoping for, a floating of the florals, I think is happening." The "too light" might be what made the original "work" - ;))
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice quilt, even if it doesn't match your vision. Maybe with a light blue instead of the black, would help it to float???
ReplyDeleteI do see where you are coming from with the black diamonds but perhaps, as others have said, the addition of a narrow border of black would fit or maybe as Cheryl says above perhaps a lighter blue would fit.
ReplyDelete