Last night I finished piecing a quilt top that I've been lovingly making this week.
I cut up my precious Freshcut that I've been hoarding for years because I found the perfect pattern. I decided it wanted it to be a bit more warm, summery and punchy, so I added some red solid and gold shot cotton and some random Amy Butler that I thought would look good.
I spent yesterday afternoon and evening piecing, and them spread it out on my bed and waited to be wowed by my beautiful new quilt top, but I was disappointed. I do not love it like I thought I would :(
I think I'm going to replace that big golden square on the middle right and one of the browns in the top two rows.
Any other ideas on how I can make it better?
I really want to love it.
I snapped a quick photo of my 'sewing space' while I was working on it. I usually sew at the kitchen table, but my Husband had some work to do in the evening and commandeered the table so I had to de-camp to the living room. I quite enjoyed my make-do evening of sewing :) The photo is rubbish but I tought you might enjoy/be amused by it!
I made a new cushion for my bed that I do love. I used some leftover Freshcut squares and some of a California Girl charm pack, and whipped this up. It's supposed to co-ordinate with the unloved quilt.
I have some major Thankyous for some of my lovely lovely blog readers. A few weeks ago I showed off the hexagons I've been working on and declared my love for American Jane and retro prints. Some very very lovely people sent me some fabulous fabric :)
This is what the amazing Gertie sent me. She told me had a charm pack and some leftover jelly roll strips, and then sent me a whole quilt-worth of fabric! I was gobsmacked when I opened the package!
Then Kathy sent me some more American Jane fabulousness! some more Snippets, punctuation, and 2 fantastic panels, and a very cool tea print. Again, sooooo very generous! (I don't know if you have a blog Kathy, if you do, let me know and I'll update this)
The other day the lovely Emily found a couple of retro charm squares and thought of me. How sweet is she? They will make a couple of perfect hexagons for my quilt.
A big big Thankyou to the lovely Jo as well. She offered some fabric for charity quilts and I jumped at the chance. She was also incredibly generous and sent me a huge package. There's no photo though. I've already started using it all. Thankyou so very much Gertie, Kathy, Emily and Jo, I have fabric warm and fuzzies :)
Have a great weekend!
Fiona x
I love surprised in the mail don't you! Fab post!
ReplyDeleteWelllll, since you asked :-) I would simply (HA!) look at the pillow beside the top and decide which fabrics I had in the top that I am glad I didn't add to the pillow (does that make sense to you? Because it does to me, LOL). If it were for me that would involve removing the large patches of browns (my monitor shows 4, row 1, 2, 8 and 9) and I would replace them with the solid pink and/or turquoise that show up in the pillow. I would definitely take scraps of what i planned to add and lay them over what I planned to remove before ripping a single seam, but I HATE seam ripping, LOL. Good luck! I love the pattern and that pillow!
ReplyDeleteLooking at the cushion that you love, I would suggest removing some of the red solid from the quilt top.... Sorry if that's loads of work! I'm always nervous about making suggestions on other people's quilts!
ReplyDeleteWow, amazing fabric gifts! You did well. Much more photogenic than the bundle of crap I sent ;-)
ReplyDeleteoh, and for what it's worth, I would kill the red entirely (because, you know, unpicking is FUN) and replace it with white - I think you need some lighter stuff in there to make the prints have something to stand out from, if you know what I mean. Or maybe the odd narrow bit of white sashing around some of the print blocks?
DeleteI love Rachel's suggestion for working out which colours are bothering you - what a great idea! How about something (embroidery? Perle quilting?) in the unpieced solid squares? They keep drawing my eye but I can't work out if it's because I really like them or because they're a bit bold compared to the rest of the quilt...actually, maybe you need more of them (some of the turquoise, perhaps?). Yes, try a few more and see if that helps.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I really like it as it is!
P.P.S. I may have a few 30s charm squares but they'll have been prewashed - I'll have a look and see if I still have them xx
I think the solid reds (three in the bottom left) are quite strong. So either chop them or add more! It's just a wee bit unbalanced - maybe like Archie says more solid squares would work. It's a lovely quilt, it just neds a wee somethinsomethin to make it gorgeous!!
ReplyDelete*needs! There's nothing remotely ned about it. That would require a Kappa trackie charm...
DeleteLovely post that you have received and I love your cushion
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely goodies you've received! I'd add some blue to the quilt instead of the gold as it looks fab in the cushion :)
ReplyDeleteOh bum, sorry you're not wowed yet! Maybe the solids need to be in 4 patches or something so they're not quite so overpowering? Love the cushion, and did have a giggle at the sewing space (glad himself actually got back too!)
ReplyDeleteOh you are brave, I just hate unpicking stuff so I avoid it at all costs. I think you need to either get rid of the red entirely, or add at least double the red, dotted around the quilt. I like bold accents so I would add more red, but taking the red away would give a softer feel if that is what you are after. I know how disappointing it is when you have a lovely fabric line and love every piece but somehow when it is put together it is less than the sum of its parts. It is a very nice quilt though, maybe let it grow on you!
ReplyDeleteI am happy the Snippets has a new home as I love the hexies you have made already. I am confident it will look much better in your quilt than in anything I could cobble together!
Dilemma!
ReplyDeleteMaybe try popping some more squares of the red on top of some more, taking photos and seeing how it looks before unpicking.
Maybe one in the top row in the middle and one, say 3 down on the right, and maybe a couple more golds, on the bottom and left edges - I am going for the easiest unpick option - you will know when you see it - good luck xxx
Sorry you're not being wowed with he top, there's some great suggestions, looki at the pillow and really narrow down what it is you love about it, and put that into the quilt. fabulous mail, and I really loved seeing your sewing space :)
ReplyDeleteI have been there before too... Sometimes it helps to leave it for a while and come back to it...I often find I get quilt fatigue when I've been sewing for some time... Quilting and binding often transforms a quilt too. I'd be inclined to uese a solid binding for this quilt.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hadley is onto something - put some fabrics on top of the ones bugging you and then you can photograph them. I'm sorry I love red and solids but I would either take them all out - it is a really nice bunch of similarly valued soft colours and the solids just fight that soft pretty thing. I would just add more prints.
ReplyDeleteI love the red and gold, I'd use some more... I also think you've got loads of great suggestions there, and I really really hope you start to love it soon!
ReplyDeleteps Murph looks very well behaved there sat amoungst a pile of precious!!
That quilt top is beautiful! Well done getting it finished... especially considering your "sewing room" :o)
ReplyDelete