Works in progress this week . . .

I worked on the following quilts, in some capacity or other, this week.

I think this answers the question -- do you multitask?

Ummm. Yes, I do.

Gravity Quilt along: Cosmic block

Continuing with my scrappy, unplanned, batiks and blenders version of the Jaybird pattern. . .

This block would be one instance where I don't love how the stash fabrics I used worked out in this particular block.  But I'm going with the theory that the quilt as a whole, with all the blocks together, is going to be awesome.  I was really scraping the bottom of the scrap bin a bit with these blocks, and had almost caved to buy some more fabrics for the upcoming blocks, when, happily enough, I came across a box that had a bunch more scraps in addition to a couple of UFOs.  So, the resolution to use only what I have on hand holds.

Check out the quilt along at Busy Hands Quilts. 

Gravity Quilt along -- Block 6: Ultraviolet

Finished my blocks in my scrappy batik version of the Jaybird Gravity quilt.  What had looked like a huge pile of batik fabric scraps covering every shade in the spectrum turned out to be not quite enough in some color families.  It's hard to see, thanks to the busy textures, but in a couple of places I had to piece creatively.  These two blocks fill my magenta spot, and either the pinky-yellow or the orangey-pink.

Check out the quilt along at Busy Hands Quilts. Generous prizes, and lots of tips for construction, as well as inspiration of seeing other people at work on this gorgeous design. ">

Gravity Quilt along Blocks

Jump start your scrap-pile into a coordinated scrappy quilt

I'll share a tip for those of you who would like to make a scrappy quilt but who feel like you don't have the knack. It's also a great short cut for those who are pro and experienced at fabric mixology, but just want to jump-start a scrappy quilt project.

Start with a pre-cut pack, charms or a jelly roll are easy to work with. Fan out all the fabrics and get a good look at them. If there is one colorway or design that you don't like, go ahead and set it aside, but don't be too exclusionary-- this is going to be scrappy, after all.

Then, with the fabric line freshly in mind, go through your stash and scrap bins and pull everything you think could work with the pre-cuts-- either based on color or style. The more the merrier. It's fine if you use a little piece that will only make one appearance in the quilt. I give myself a couple of rules: If I add say, more green, I need to add at least 3 more greens, so that it becomes a range of related greens, not just one mis-matched green that shows up and kind of sticks out from the matchy bunch. Also, often there will be one or two prints that incorporate all the colors used in the fabric line -- you can use that to help you find the scope of scraps to pull from you bins. While there might be a lot of read-as-solid-pinks in the fabric line, when you look at the mother-lode print, you may see that a couple of shades of red work too.

Now that you've pulled a tonne of scraps, it's time to do another edit and maybe refine the direction that your project is going-- you might add more of a certain color or delete a whole color family. More than once I realize that I'll be happier splitting this into 2 quilts, say one done in cool colors, the other in warms. Or one done with pastels, the other with more vibrant fabrics. Sometimes I decide to keep everything and add even more variety.

When you like the color/print fabric range you have out, you can choose a neutral background fabric or collection of scraps. I like to audition not only the expected white and beige, but also greys, black, or a solid in an unexpected color, just to see if a surprise background might be called for.

I have several quilts where I've used this short-cut-to-scrappy with good success.

Here's one where I got lots of compliments for my color selection--it;s a Dresden Plate using just one charm pack of Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille. I chose to minimize (though not completely delete) the pinks and add more green and aqua from my stash. I took the green range pretty extreme, but still within the palette established by the inspiration fabric line. Then I added a fairly intense aqua blue for plate centers and corner blocks and binding. I like the end result because it's a scrappy yet coordinated quilt, and while someone who knows her fabric lines well may recognize the Vintage Modern line, the end result is unique, not exactly like any of the other dresden plates made with that line.

It's also a thrifty way to make what feels like a very contemporary quilt -- the color scheme is very "now"-- but I only used one charm pack (on sale for $8) together with my big stash of older scraps.

I've had a lot of people look at that quilt and marvel that "all those colors and patterns work together-- you wouldn't think they could." Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked all those colors and patterns out of a basket on my own, but by working off an established collection, and editing repeatedly, I got something I'm quite pleased with.

Some other "rules of scrappy design" *

• Color value is more important than shade.  Using a camera and converting to gray scale can help you spot places where the value selection is off.
• If you aren't happy with a fabric on your design wall, either cut it smaller or add other fabrics that are close but not exact matches.  The smaller the pieces, the more liberty you have in mixing unexpected elements
• Remember that any 3 yellows (or insert color of your choice) may clash, but any 30 yellows will pretty much work -- so add more diversity to get a better blend.
• Sometimes your quilting will be the thing that melds the whole discordant collection of colors and patterns into a unified whole.  Sometimes it will just take a lot of washing in hot water and time in the sun to make them all work together.  (heh-- joking there)
• An unexpected background fabric color can pull a quilt together wonderfully.  Audition a variety of backgrounds -- not just neutrals (though they are often what I end up with).
• Also try out a variety of border and binding treatments.  I've had some excessively scrappy quilts that didn't quite gel until I added a narrow inner border in black.  While I'm not a huge fan of big border treatments or the classic 3 layer border approach I was taught way back in the day, I have found that sometimes a scalloped or wave border is just the perfect thing to pull a scrappy quilt together.

*Not rules, more like guidelines.

Gravity Quilt-along June and Block 5

Some more random thoughts re. my experience in making this quilt strictly with fabrics from my stash:

• My batik stash (supplemented with some tone on tone and subtle textural prints) is working out fine, but one thing I find is that my color selection for each block is dictated by the shapes and quantities I have on hand, not any approximation of the colors used in Jaybird's pattern.

• This block goes together very easily, despite looking a bit more complicated.  I see myself adapting the central "flower" shape and using it in another project, maybe a crib quilt or a table topper.  

• I'm glad to have the specialty rulers-- super sidekick and the hex n'more.  They make accurate cutting so fast and easy.  The only times I run into issues with matching key points is when I've got variation in weave of the fabrics -- so for example, a tight, smooth batik next to a kona solid -- sometimes the fabrics are are responding to pressing and manipulaton differently and that's giving me tiny imperfections.  I tend to be of the "Never mind if it won't be noted from a trotting horse" school of thinking, so no worries.

The quilt along by Busy Hands quilter, complete with good tips and prize drawings is worth checking out -- click here:

Gravity Quilt along -- June

I've been adding to my batik, scrappy, strictly from the stash Gravity blocks steadily in the last few weeks. Check out the quilt along hosted by Busy Hands Quilts at this link