The idea is to choose my favorite quilt, show it & tell the story. This would of course require that I actually take pictures before I ship them off (sad admission for a professional record keeper, but there we are). But there is one quilt I do seem to make over & over again. It appeals to me in so many ways: it is graphic, it is simple while looking complex, & it is so forgiving we taught it at Arbor House helping new residents learn how to use their machines (& prove to them, no really you CAN make something) & that would be the Foundation Free String quilt.The idea for the blocks had tumbled around in my brain for a while, but gelled when I saw the cover of Gwen Marsten's book Liberated String Quilts. I backed into the sashing (I call it Reconciling the Disparate; I am a big Daisy Parker fan) while trying to put together my guild's bingo block squares & discovering we had a size variation of more than 3/4" across the blocks & a shocking number of the squares were not square. This layout takes care of all that.
I really have lost track of how many of these I have made myself (10? 20?) & how many I have taught (30? more?) & I never stop being amazed at how different each one is, even when people share the same random pile of scraps. But of all of them that I have made, this is my favorite.
When C***** told me she had painted her bedroom black I thought "oh dear" & then when I saw it I could not believe how peaceful & restful it was. Black walls, windows with filmy white curtains & light blue accessories. It sounds gloomy but it really is one of the nicest bedroom color schemes I have ever seen. & this quilt was made especially for her in that room. I think what I love most about this quilt was my complete conviction that it would not come together (the black & white is tooo contrasting, the blue tooooo flat), but I used them because they were the colors I had to work with & it it turned out to be more than the sum of its parts.
//thank you Park City Girl for hostessing this great idea! & welcome to my 100th post.
This is lovely! Isn't it funny how, when given someone else's colour scheme we impart on that quilt journey with trepidation - and then somehow the quilt fairy sprinkles her magic over the stitching and it all comes together beautifully - this is one of my favourite things about making patchwork quilts - you can throw together colour and pattern combinations that you wouldn't be seen dead walking down the street wearing and they just come together so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI really like the black and white and the prints that you used! And the bedroom sounds lovely, especially the white curtains!
ReplyDeleteI am one of the unimaginative who think paint doesn't come in colors and all my walls are white. But black? The quilt is most attractive though.And the white curtains sound great too.
ReplyDeleteI love how they don't line up :) Very pretty.
ReplyDeleteI love this quilt. I like blacks and whites together and the way the blocks don't line up. Gives me a wonderful idea to make one.
ReplyDeleteVery neat quilt! Great use of the black and white.
ReplyDeleteI like it! I'm enjoying seeing so many different awesome quilts.
ReplyDeletehow nice you adopted a color scheme from a bedroom to make a quilt. very nice.
ReplyDeleteLive and learn--I didn't realize how great a string quilt can look in those colors!
ReplyDeleteGreat quilt! Love the setting and the black and white, great job!
ReplyDeleteAn unexpected color scheme for such a peaceful quilt. The colors are bold, but the combination somehow ends up almost muting the quilt into a comforting mixture. The pattern may be simple, but the graphic nature makes this quilt fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful. I am not a black and white person. I prefer browns and creams as my basics, but I am loving more and more the black and white when I see it in others quilts.
ReplyDeleteI love the tumbling blocks! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI really like black and white and even thought of decorating some with it. I have really bright walls and thought black and white would mellow it some.....anyways.....I love your quilt and love that so many are given away what a wonderful way of sharing your talents and gifts.
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