One of the things I like about Charlotte's quilts is that she talks more about value than color. Value and good contrast are important to a successful scrap quilt. My Stars Around the Corner quilt has all kinds of scraps in it: batiks, Civil War prints, novelty prints, blenders, and a full range of uglies, but I can already tell this one is going to work.
Unlike Gyleen's Bricks,Cobblestones and Pebbles, which I consider a scrap quilt fail.
The only directions we were given for this quilt were to chose a soloist fabric and not to use the soloist in the rest of the quilt. We were encouraged to use disparate scraps, but this approach didn't work for me. I've seen this pattern work well with a controlled color palette. but if a designer of a mystery says any scraps will do, I trust the designer. This quilt top is a good size now for donation, but I have already made more of the nine patches and a few of the kleenex box blocks. So I need to decide whether to do the next round or not.
I think quilt fails are a necessary part of quilting. If you've never had one, maybe you aren't stretching yourself. Get out of your box and try something new with your scraps. They are just sitting there taking up space. Use them up and donate the top if you don't like it. An ugly quilt will keep someone warm just as well as a beautiful quilt. My BC&P quilt would be great to take to a soccer game, the beach or on a picnic. I might keep it in the trunk of my car or send it to college with my son. It's the kind of quilt that a kid could spill red kool aid on, and you wouldn't really care.
9 comments:
I like to refer to the ugly ones as the humble quilts...they're the real ones. The ones that memories are made with, in and on. They're not fancy, they're honest. Just doing they're job quietly...providing all the same creature comforts as the flashy, perfectly planned and pueced counterparts.
Humble quilts make the world go round...and that's all they were ever meant to do.
I love yours!
Your Stars Around the Corner is going to be fantastic! I absolutely love it. You're right about fabrics for scrap quilts. I tend to choose color groups when I make mine.
That star mystery quilt is looking good!
I think of every quilt as a learning quilt. Sometimes it is about learning how to better piece a particular block, other times it is about better ways to use colors. Mysteries are very hard in that respect, because like you said, you have to trust the designer. But you are now a better quilter for having made it, and it is part of the reason your new mystery looks so spectacular! Your quilt is still beautiful.
I agree with both of your assessments. But gosh, that first one is so gorgeous it's working overtime. Look forward to seeing it finished.
I agree with you completely. I am doing both. I chose a somewhat limited color pallet for both, but Scrappy Stars is so much more successful. And I'm disappointed about BC&P, because I was really trying to let go and trust the process. I'm donating it to a charity that will longarm it for me. Ah, well.
Valerie's words and both of your tops are perfect. Stars Around the Corner is particularly beautiful.
Those are both beautiful. Your color choices are just fantastic!
The stars around the corner quilt is looking amazing.
I feel like the other quilt can still be made to look quite nice. My imagination is telling me it would look good with a low-volume (but brownish) border and a brown binding with purple and blue scrappy highlights.
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