I'm hoping to start quilting this week. I've been saying that for a while now. But this week is looking like it might be the time. I've got the stuff done that I had to get done for my MIL, it's not tax time yet and the weather is turning nasty again. All good reasons to get my wee stash out. I gave myself an early birthday present tonight and bought me a cutting mat. Wow. That's a few years worth of birthday presents right there. But, I had to have it if I'm going to get started so. . . . I got my rotary cutter as part of my Christmas gift from Secret Santa. Alas, I just noticed that it's not the Olfa one that I had my eye on, but here's hoping that it works as well.So. What is my first quilt going to be? I borrowed some books from the library a while back and photographed anything that caught my eye. I did the same with some books my friend Jo loaned me last summer so I have lots to inspire me. The photo at left shows the one that I'm going to attempt, or some version of it.
My stash is still very small and was purchased with a completely different quilt in mind. I've decided that one is far too ambitious for a beginner and will postpone it. Meanwhile, I think I can use what I have in the new project. Will have to add to it, of course. And I think I'll have to do that soon because I will need to get a picture of the whole quilt before I can start any of it.
I have fat quarters (mostly) of four hues - oranges/reds, yellows, greens, blues/purples. I think I can make what I want with those colours. I'm thinking starting at top left with yellows, melding into oranges then into reds, then purples, then blues, then greens and finally, perhaps, ending up at the bottom right with yellows again. Not sure about that last bit. It might make it too balanced. But I like balance in most everything else so why not in a quilt. The individual blocks will be unbalanced with the various angles of the strips, so with the overall balance of the blocks themselves and the colour sweep, it might just work.
Once I have purchased all my fabrics, I have to figure out the most economical way - both in terms of time and materials - to proceed. I was thinking of sewing a bunch of fabrics (say the reds) into large (perhaps 12"x12") blocks, and then cutting the 12x12 into 4x4 or whatever size I've determined the individual blocks should be.
I want this to be a double bed-sized quilt, so what does that mean for quilt dimension? Double beds are 54 x 75. A quilt needs to hang down at least 1 foot per side so that would mean quilt has to be 75x85, at the very least. Will have to ask about this. The final dimensions will determine how large I make the individual blocks.
I'm getting excited about this and am looking forward to starting. Hmm. Wonder how much more fabric I will need. I definitely need more darker and warmer golds since my yellows are all rather monochrome right now. I love my greens and blues. Need more reds.
The quilt as it is shown in the pic seems to not use patterned fabrics, or if they are, the patterns are very subtle. Shall see.
Anyway, if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.
